Should We Make New Years’ Resolutions?

December 28, 2013 by journeyintolight

Well, it’s that time again- time to make New Year’s Resolutions!

I have to admit that I am ambivalent about making them. I have often failed to achieve them and wonder if it’s even God’s will to make them. After all, doesn’t God already have my life planned out?

In the past, my New Year’s Resolutions have been my goals for the year. I had goals for every major area of my life. I like to plan so it was easy for me to make them. Yet, I wonder to this day if they did me much good.

So, why make goals?

The Scriptures support that God wants and expects us to plan and make goals. “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand” (Proverbs 19:21).

One reason God wants us to plan is to see the danger ahead and take action before it is too late. “A prudent man sees evil and hides himself, the naïve proceed and pay the penalty” (Proverbs 27:12).

Another reason he wants us to set goals is because he wants us to set our sights on what he wants us to do. “Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17).

We are not wise to make whatever goals tickle our fancy. He has called each one of us to certain goals that he has planned for us to do. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

He doesn’t want us thrashing around chasing after every impulse of ours. He wants us to be like Paul who said, “I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26).

Our “running” and “boxing” need to be directed towards God’s targets.

So, how do we make goals that are God’s goals?

One thing we could do is to commit the goal-setting process to him. ”Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him and he will do it” (Psalm 37:5). At the end of the goal-setting or New Year’s Resolution process we need to aim for our goals being his goals –they need to be what God wants to do in and through us during the new year.

We would be wise to always remember that, “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We can do nothing of eternal value without our goals being his goals.

God usually guides us step by step. So, our goals may change some during the year. We need to ”Trust Him with all [our] heart and do not lean on [our] own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5-6) as the year goes by. Our goals need to be the product of daily communion with God as we partner with him throughout the year to achieve them through his strength.

Are you going to set some goals or New Year’s resolutions? If you have decided to go ahead and set some goals, commit the process to God in prayer. Ask him to bring to your mind one goal he wants to either accomplish in you or through you during the year. Ask him what he wants you to do to cooperate with him in achieving this goal. Thank him for what he is going to do.

 

 

Posted in Vision | Leave a Comment »

Are You Okay?

December 21, 2013 by journeyintolight

There was a popular book in the 70’s called,  I’m Okay, You’re Okay. I never read the book but understood the message to be that we needed to accept one another, even if we were different.

But are we okay? This week a magazine did not think my article that sought to correct some misconceptions they had about spiritual formation was okay. I felt that they not only did not think that my article was okay, but also felt like they didn’t think I was okay.

Later in the week I failed to meet my performance standards in an area of weakness. I did not feel that I was okay as I was going through the experience.

However, in each instance I turned to God and thanked him that I was okay to him. I thanked him that “He has perfected [me] for all time” (Hebrews 10:14).

So, even when others or myself did not think I was okay, I turned to God to get my acceptance.

Then, why do so many of us fail to regard ourselves as okay?

One reason is that we believe that we need to meet the standards of others or ourselves to be okay. It is a rat race in which our being okay is on the line every day. We think that we are only okay if others or ourselves regard us as okay. We fail to rely on God’s acceptance of us as a gift of salvation.

Another reason we doubt that we are okay is our pride. We would rather earn being okay rather than accept it as a gift. Being okay to God is not good enough for us. We have to be okay to everybody–which is impossible without driving ourselves crazy.

A third reason that we question if we are okay is that we have been programmed all our lives to get our acceptance from others and ourselves. We have not been trained to look to God. And yet this is the only reliable place to go to be okay.

Then, how do we live in the reality that we are okay–not necessarily to others or ourselves, but to God?

How do we accept the fact that only God’s viewpoint counts?

How do we live in the reality that we are not only okay to get into heaven, but also okay to boldly and confidently enter his presence at anytime (Ephesians 3:12)?

One thing we can do is to deeply understand the full meaning of the Christmas story for Christians. Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection not only made us okay for heaven, but also okay in the face of rejection from others and ourselves.

A second thing we can do is to reject the old ways we regarded ourselves as okay-meeting others and our standards. “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view” (2 Corinthians 5:16, NIV).

Instead, we ask God to help us believe that “we are accepted in the beloved”  (Ephesians 1:6, KJV). We are okay because God thinks we are okay!

Posted in Self- Knowledge | Leave a Comment »

The Search for Peace

December 14, 2013 by journeyintolight

I have been recovering for the past couple of months from major heart surgery. As you would expect, not everything is back to normal physically. Unusual things are happening, like my iron is low, and my energy level is not at full strength.

These imperfections often cause me to worry. I allow them to cause me to doubt that I will attain the prognosis of a full recovery.

So, when I noticed this week that a vein in my arm was discolored and was hard and protruding I did the natural thing – I got scared. I went immediately to the doctor to have him take a look at it to remove me from the danger I feared.

What a comfort he was! He said, “Don’t sweat the details. You have made it 99% of the way. The hard part was the 6 bypasses and the two aneurisms. You just need to accept the little aches and pains like what you have now” (it was an irritated vein that was the home of the IV during my hospital stay).

Thus, peace came to me when I refused to sweat the details. If God has gotten me this far, why can’t I expect that he will finish the job of my recovery? “Shall I bring [you] to the point of birth, and not give delivery?” (Isaiah 66:9).

Peace can be defined as the absence of a troubled and fearful inner world (John 14:27).

So, what keeps us from experiencing this peace?

One reason is that we often face our problems and future thinking we are alone- that we have to be our own god. Yet, we know deep within ourselves that we can’t control our circumstances and can’t solve all of our problems.

Even if we are aware that God is with us, we may doubt that he cares. Maybe he will just watch and see how I perform. Maybe “He is not a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Fear results and we lose our peace.

Many of us have a long history with God. He has done much for us in the past and we know it. Yet, we often don’t remember his past faithfulness and thus do not expect his faithfulness in the future. We are like Jesus’ disciples when he rebuked them for not learning from the past. “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?” (Mark 8:14-21).

Instead of trusting God with providing us his peace, we often choose to search for peace in good circumstances. Yet, circumstances never are good enough to give us peace of mind (John 16:33).

So, how do we change? How do we find the peace that we have been searching after?

One thing we can do is to pray. We can take our fears and troubles to God for his help. God promises that we will never figure out how it works, but we will experience supernatural peace (Philippians 4:6-7) Include thanks in those prayers too, for thanks helps us to grow in dependence on God.

“Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single [day] to his life” (Matthew 6:26-27).

Another thing we can do in our search for peace is to get to know our loving God, so that we feel his love. Our fears will never go away until we live in the reality that God loves us so much that he died for us. Only then can we experience a deep peace (1 John 4:18).

So, what can we do today to experience more peace of mind?

May I suggest that we take each problem or thing that is robbing us of our peace to God and ask for his help with it. Then, let us thank him for all the good things that he has put into our lives. Finally, may we thank him for what he will do to help us with our problems.

May God richly bless you with peace today!

Posted in Faith, Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

Facing Our Future with Confidence

December 7, 2013 by journeyintolight

A couple of months ago, my future on this earth nearly came to an end. I was suddenly facing two aneurisms in my aorta artery that were starting to dissect. Only heroic efforts by God and surgeons saved me.

Now, I am faced with an uncertain future of several months of recovery. The prognosis is good, yet pain and weakness tend to drag me down in my confidence that I will fully recover.

So, why is it so hard for me to face my future with confidence? Why is it so hard for many of you to face your futures with confidence?

One reason is that we cannot control our futures. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away”’ (James 4:13-14).

Many of us do not have confidence in a future that we cannot control. Only by pretending that we have control will we have peace of mind. Only if we think we can figure out what is going to happen to us, do we face our future with confidence (Proverbs 3:5).

Others of us have bad thinking habits that tend to project worst-case scenarios into the future. Since we do not know that the worst will not happen, we tend to think it will.

Another important reason that many of us Christians do not have confidence in our futures is that we do not rely on the great love that God has for us. We look out into the future as if we are alone and not being faithfully watched over by God. “I will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever” (Psalm 121:8).

A fourth reason that we have difficulty facing the future with confidence is that the world has a lot of bad things in it. Jesus warns us that, “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). How can we be sure we have what it takes to face this future tribulation?

So, how do we face the future with confidence?

We need to remember that Jesus is our partner (Philippians 4:13). He promises he will always be with us bending our futures for our good and his purposes. “God causes all things to work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

And we need to rely on our partner, who is God Almighty. “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you” (Psalm 91:7).

But what about the possibility of open-heart surgery in our future? Why shouldn’t that undermine our confidence in the future?

If comfort is our goal we will probably not be able to face our futures with confidence. But if we see our futures as allowing God to finish his work in us, we can face them with confidence. “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

And even if we know our futures will have some tribulations in it, we will not be given more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).

May our faith in God and our futures grow to become more like David’s who said “Surely goodness and lovingkindnesses will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).

Posted in Faith | 3 Comments »

What to Look For in a Pastor

November 30, 2013 by journeyintolight

A person involved in looking for a new senior pastor at a church I used to attend recently asked me if I had any suggestions that would help them in choosing the right person.

Probably the most important suggestion I have is to choose a man who understands and practices how to work with God in making his people godlier “He gave pastors for the equipping of the saints for the work of service” (Ephesians 4:11-12).

Only godly people will accomplish much for the kingdom of God. “The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he may strongly support those whose heart is completely his” (2 Chronicles 16:9)

Yet, many pastors seem to emphasize quantity over quality. They also seem to know little about how to cooperate with God in equipping their people for ministry through increased godliness. They often cling to traditions and practices handed down to them that hinder and limit the spiritual growth of their people. Instead, they need to be open and teachable to how God actually produces godliness in his people.

The following are some things I will recommend to the person who asked me for suggestions:

Look for a man who

  • Teaches and models that developing a love relationship with God is the most important thing. “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
  • Teaches and practices depending on the Holy Spirit for life and ministry (Galatians 5:16).
  • Teaches and models the importance of knowing oneself. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
  • Teaches the Word and how to live it. “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves” (James 1:22).
  • Emphasizes prayer as a key spiritual weapon in life and ministry (Ephesians 6:10-20).
  • Teaches and models how to overcome sin bondages (Ephesians 4:22-24).
  • Teaches and models forgiveness for those who have wronged them.
  • Recognizes and practices the value of body life through small groups (Hebrews 10:24-25).
  • Teaches that our life with God is a partnership where we do life and ministry together (Matthew 11:28-30).
  • Recognizes and models the value of discipleship and mentoring in helping Christians grow godlier. “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).
  • Recognizes and trains his people in how to operate in the spiritual war that they are in. “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
  • Models and encourages his people toward transformation at the deepest levels of the heart (Psalm 51:6).
  • Models and encourages his people to do a variety of practices that God uses to transform his people including the Word, prayer, retreats, and listening to God (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

So, in addition to checking for how big a church the man has pastored, his degrees, his speaking ability and his knowledge of the Word, these characteristics should be checked too.

We need pastors who can lead us into a deeper walk with Jesus.

Posted in Spiritual Formation | 1 Comment »

Why Am I Loved and Important?

November 24, 2013 by journeyintolight

I am currently having published a book I have written called Transforming Love. In the book I indicate that none of us were raised in a perfect environment of unconditional love, acceptance and worth. In addition, we have an old nature that often misinterprets and disregards receiving love and worth as free gifts from first our parents and later from God.

Because these needs were so important to us as children, we devised many strategies to earn love and worth because we couldn’t depend on having these needs met by our parents by just being  “little old me.”

Recently, the editor of my book objected to the bold statement I made that we all have devised false ways to be important and be loved that leave God out of our lives. He thought that I was projecting my experience onto others. He implied that some of us have few, if any, false ways to be loved and important.

Certainly he would agree that if we have come from a dysfunctional home, we probably have devised many false ways to get our needs met. These false ways will hinder us from accepting God’s love and worth as gifts.

However, even those of us who have been raised in loving homes struggle to receive God’s love and worth as gifts. Our nature is to work for love and worth. Maybe we do not struggle as much as others, but we still struggle.

For example, my wife grew up in a loving Christian home. She felt loved, accepted, and approved of to a large extent by both her parents and later God.

Yet, her parents’ and God’s approval were not enough for her. She needed more. She also believed that she needed the approval of others to deeply believe that she was loved and accepted.

As a result she became overly dependent on making people happy with her- even if it resulted in disobeying God. Eventually, she became so stressed about trying to get approval from so many people, she chose to learn to rest in God’s unchanging approval, no matter what others thought.

We often have a hard time recognizing our false dependencies. When I went to seminary and began to dig deep within myself through the leading of the Spirit, I was shocked!

I became convicted that I was often doing my own thing for God, largely in my power, for my glory much of the time.

Only the Spirit can reveal this stuff to us. Too often we think we are doing pretty good because we measure ourselves by ourselves and are without understanding (2 Corinthians 10:12). But only God can cut through our defenses and reveal what we are really like deep within. “The heart is deceitful above all else and is desperately sick, who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Why in our right minds would we want to know our hearts? It sounds like it could result in a lot of bad news. Wouldn’t it be better to deceive ourselves into being good moralists that try to follow biblical principles in our own strength?

The biggest reason to know the truth about ourselves is that it can open us up to receive the grace of God in our lives. “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10). We can then better experience an intimate love relationship with God and receive the power to live the Christian life.

Jesus says “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8:32). When we stay dependent on getting promotions, receiving people’s approval at all cost, and protecting a false image of ourselves, we are not free. We are not depending on God to meet our needs to be loved and important.

I challenge you to ask God today to reveal any false way that you are using to regard yourself as loved and important. Ask God to show you any person or thing you depend on for importance and love instead of what God has provided you to show his love and value for you. What did he say?

 

Posted in Self- Knowledge | Leave a Comment »

God Will Help Us

November 15, 2013 by journeyintolight

I awoke two days after my surgery and began to wonder what had happened. I could remember little from the previous five days in the hospital.

Soon I learned that I had had extensive heart surgery involving the replacement of part of my aorta artery and six bypasses. One doctor described it “as one big hairy operation.”

However, I had the best surgeon in the best heart hospital in the area and the operation went like clockwork. No heart damage and a full recovery expected.

God made it clear that he was the one who guided me to this surgeon and hospital and that he was behind the doctors’ life and death decisions regarding my treatment. He also made it clear that he was not done with me on this earth. He still had works he wanted to do in me and through me. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

As my mind cleared, I began to fear what would happen to me. God responded by impressing upon me that he was in control and would help me through this experience. “God is a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

We had a conversational relationship, as several times a day I would ask him for direction, protection, and encouragement and he provided the help.

I experienced fears, pain, and weakness each day. There were also dozens of rules to follow. One of them was not to move off the bed without assistance. Others were not to push up with the hands or lift my hands over my head.

I made remarkable progress in 7 out of the 8 measures of readiness to be released. The one area I fell short in was the systolic blood pressure. It was too high.

So, day after day, the doctors tried various drug combinations to try to bring the blood pressure down. Nothing seemed to work.

However, God encouraged me each day from the love and support I received from family and friends. Also, the nurses were very helpful and protective.

Many times I would thank God for being in the hospital and the good he was doing through this ordeal. One time a very godly nun came by and I voiced how I thought that I would never get out of this hospital. She said to be thankful for staying extra days in intensive care. She said that generally those who stay longer in intensive care recover faster when they get home.

Several times the doctors would tell me that I would be released from intensive care the next day. At least four times, this did not happen. The blood pressure was always too high to risk release.

After 17 days in  the hospital (12 days in intensive care after surgery while the normal time is five days), I was in tears and told God that only he could get me out of this place. A half-hour later I was released. “My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare” (Psalm 27:13, NIV).

My recovery at home has been going amazingly well.

The blood pressure problem is still a work-in-progress but I am attacking it through prayer, diet, medicine, exercise, and counseling. And it is coming down close to normal. I am confident that it will be eventually brought under control. “I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living” (Psalm 27: 13).

God will help me!

Posted in God's Provision | 1 Comment »

God Rules!

November 7, 2013 by journeyintolight

It was October 5, a beautiful Fall Saturday morning. I looked forward to a busy day of Saturday chores. However, as soon as I got out of bed, I sensed a tightening of the muscles in my chest, like someone had thrown a net over me and was pulling the net tighter.

I immediately recognize this as a possible heart attack and laid on the floor. I called to my wife to call the paramedics. Within minutes, our place was crawling with paramedics.

They began running a number of tests and then about ten minutes later carried me out to the ambulance. We were heading to a local hospital. They had not detected signs of a heart attack and did not think it was necessary to take me to a large hospital in San Bernardino that specialized in heart treatment.

At the hospital, they began running a variety of tests. None showed that I had anything wrong. However, as I was being positioned to have a stress test, I groaned that the pain level had gone from a 3 to a 7. This caused the technician to pause and seek counsel from a cardiologist.

The cardiologist ordered that the stress test be stopped and that a CAT Scan be done. I learned later that the stress test would have probably killed me.

The CAT Scan revealed that I had an aneurism of the aorta, the large artery in the heart. However, this hospital did not have the resources to deal with this medical problem. There were two hospitals in the area that did have the resources, but neither hospital had an empty bed.

So, they waited as I had an aneurism that could burst at ay moment.  Finally, a bed opened at 2:30 A.M. Monday morning at the large hospital in San Bernardino and I was delivered there in the wee hours of Monday morning.

The doctors began to run test and determined I also had a number of partially blocked arteries that would require surgery in a couple of years. However, the doctors were more focused on fixing the immediate problem, which was the aneurism of the aorta.

The aneurism was slightly smaller than what they required for surgery. They therefore, seriously considered using medicine rather than surgery to fix it. However, one of the doctors was suspicious that the aorta was bleeding because of the back pain I was complaining about.

They finally decided to operate on Tuesday morning. When they did operate, they quickly discovered that my aorta was bleeding, which would have killed me if it had continued bleeding much longer.

So, after a 9-hour operation, I had an partially-artificial aorta and 6 bypasses. Two major surgeries were done at the same time.

However, The prognosis is good. No heart damage and expectations of a full recovery.

So, what can we learn through an experience like this? These are some lessons I learned in a deeper way:

  • God is very much involved in our lives and makes sure that nothing happens outside of his will. His will was for me to live this time and he made sure the doctors made the right decisions. “Whether for correction, or for his world, or for lovingkindnesses, He causes it to happen” (Job 37:13).
  • We really do not know what will happen to us in the future. I had no idea I would be fighting for my life that day when I arose that beautiful Saturday morning. “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).
  • God has purposes for each one of us being on earth. Until those purposes are fulfilled, he will use his Almighty power to keep us alive. I believe he had other works he wanted to do with me before he took me home to heaven. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38).
  • God rules!

Posted in Lordship | 3 Comments »

Thank God For Your Problems

October 4, 2013 by journeyintolight

I was leaving Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri after spending nearly three years there as a young officer trying to impress the world with what I could do. Now, the headquarters had taken notice and had offered me a challenging job at the headquarters.

As I was driving the legendary Route 66 on my way out to my new job in California, I felt pretty good. I would finally get my chance to prove myself. I would also realize my bachelor dreams of experiencing the excitement and thrills of sunny Southern California!

However, a day into my trip I began to realize that I had a big problem. “What have I gotten myself into?” I thought to myself. I began to fear that I didn’t have what it took to do the new job. I felt scared deep inside.

I knew that I would be managing a $200,000,000 a year budget in today’s dollars. What I did not know was that I would be also regularly briefing a two-star general and his staff on the missile test schedule. In addition, I would be managing several engineering projects involving 60 staff.

It was a dream job that was quickly turning into a nightmare. This problem was part of the reason I said yes to an invitation to learn more about God soon after I arrived in California. My back was against the wall and I desperately needed help. Maybe God could help?

And help he did. A few months later he made me part of his family and began to increasingly honor himself through my impossible job. I declared to all that I was a Christian, and together God and I met the challenges of this impossible job.

So, why give God thanks for our problems? The answer is because he does good things through them.

In the true story above, my problem job was a big factor in me becoming a Christian. God wants us to rejoice in our problems. He wants us to appreciate how problems help us to become godlier (James1: 2-3).

But in our old way of thinking, we want to be comfortable. Pain is not our thing. We would rather be comfortable than grow spiritually.

God also wants us to be content with our problems. He says through Paul “I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

But in our old way of thinking, we hate feeling weak. We want to be strong without any help from God. We want to feel that our life is under our control. We are scared to trust God to make us strong.

A third action God wants us to take regarding our problems is to give thanks for them. “In [every problem] give thanks, for this is [My] will for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). “I cause all [your problems] to work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

But in our old way of thinking, we tend to think negative about our problems. We have a hard time believing that our problems have any good thing to offer us. We would rather complain than give thanks for them.

So, what are your problems today, and how do you view them? Do you view them as threats to your peace of mind? Or do you look at them as God’s opportunities to rejoice, be content, and to give thanks?

Why don’t you put off the old ways of looking at your problems, and see them from God’s perspective (Ephesians 4:22-24)?

This week I was faced with a number of problems. My first response was frustration and despair. However, I eventually chose to give thanks for each one of them. As I did, my frustration lifted and a new sense of peace settled over me.

So, why don’t you try doing this too? Thank God for each problem that you can think of and give thanks for the good that he will bring from each one.

Posted in Faith | 1 Comment »

Silence is Golden

September 27, 2013 by journeyintolight

One lazy Sunday afternoon, several years ago, I spontaneously sat alone in the backyard doing nothing. This felt weird because I usually have an agenda for everything I do.

At first, my thoughts were crowded with current events and problems. But as time passed, thoughts from deep within began to surface.

At times, I would pray about my thoughts. At other times, I would just listen to them.

At the end of an hour, I felt refreshed and renewed. I also had a better perspective on my life. I sensed that I had connected to God in a deep way.

I liked the experience enough to repeat it on a regular basis. I called them “veg times.” I sat like a vegetable and let God bring to mind whatever he wanted. When I got to seminary, I learned that I had been practicing the ancient discipline of silence.

Why would you want to practice silence?

One reason is that silence helps us to receive God’s help and guidance. We learn to “ceasing striving and know that [God] is God”  (Psalm 46:10). We learn that God is the one who makes things happen, and not we.

Another reason for silence is to know ourselves better. God often reveals what our thoughts and feelings are deep within. This helps us know our need for him.

We also gain a better perspective of how special and loved we are to him. We would never fully realize our great worth, acceptance and being loved if we did not take a break once in awhile from trying to earn these things. Keeping busy all the time can doom us to the rat race of trying to impress and perform our way into being loved and special.

In silence, we can better receive them as gifts from God.

God promises, “in quietness and trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Silence is a good way for us to learn to allow God to help us fight our battles.

So, how do we do silence?

We need to look to the Holy Spirit to lead the way (Psalm 139:23-24). Thoughts from our heart will often surface. We need the Holy Spirit to help us sort out our thoughts coming from our heart. “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick, who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The Holy Spirit helps us to determine which thoughts are from God and which are not. Some of our thoughts could be from Satan or from ourselves.

One big way we can know God’s voice is to determine if what we hear is biblical. God never speaks contrary to what he says in the Bible.

We also need to work hard at silence. “Be diligent to enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:11). It may drive us crazy at first. We feel like we are wasting our time and need to get busy. Satan will bring a million things to mind of what we should be doing.

Yet, we need to persevere. Through silence we can learn to better listen to God and to receive from him. Through silence we can grow in our dependence on God making life happen in and through us. And through silence our love relationship with him can deepen.

Posted in Silence and Solitude | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »