The Pain, The Pain!

“O Jacob My servant, do not fear,” declares the LORD, “For I am with you. For I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you, Yet I will not make a full end of you; But I will correct you properly and by no means leave you unpunished.” Jeremiah 46:28

It is hard to believe that God is really “with us” when we are going through an extremely hard time and neither He or any of His people seem to care. Israel had blown it big time by allowing this world and all its allurements to capture their hearts. They would have to spend 70 years in Babylon for not believing that God really wanted the land to lie fallow once every 7 years (and many other sins) But He would take them away in safety if they would cooperate.It was discipline time.

God is jealous for us and desires that we know Him first above every other thing on the planet. That takes faith because we don’t see “HIM” when we pray or worship or give and we do see everything the world has to offer. Also the benefits God offers take time and the world is into “instant”. (We get mad if the computer doesn’t boot up instantly!) So we must wait in faith for the promises of God like the farmer waits for the good seed to come to maturity. He knows that to mess with the seed prematurely is to ruin the process of growth and will surely end any hope of gaining a harvest.

God’s promise, to those who are His in covenant, is that the discipline (hardship, trial, affliction) will not destroy us but serve to further improve us. What might destroy others will improve us and actually give us a future and a hope. As the writer of Hebrews states: “all discipline is painful but it produces a harvest of righteousness by those who are trained by it”. None of us like to hear the cries of a child being disciplined but we love the good behavior it brings!

My resolve must be to endure what God has ordained until it brings the fruit He desires. This will bring glory to the God I love and my life will have been well-lived.

Beatin’ the Law Man

“Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed.” Titus 2:14

Every now and then it is good to remember the “good ole days” just so we can be thankful we aren’t living in them anymore. I mean really, do you want to wake up every morning wondering if you have a fresh zit to pop? Is it fun to wonder if that new cutie in math class likes you or is just wanting you to quit looking at her? Then there is all the paranoia.

I never really broke the law much (except for speeding) until after high school. It was during my first year of college that I “let it all hang out” mostly because of a fraternity I had joined. Now “joining” sounds like signing up at the YMCA or SNAP Fitness. This was back in the 70’s when fraternities had this process called “hazing” which determined whether or not you were worthy of joining. The brothers who were already “in” were supposed to make it hard for the new guys so only the best made it.

Some of the brothers wanted a street sign with their girlfriends name on it like Sherri Ave or Jane Lane so 3 of the “pledges” and I drove all over St Louis late at night “borrowing” street signs for the brothers to put in their dorm rooms. That is when the paranoia set in. I had become a law breaker and this thing called guilt that most people try to get rid of by going to a counselor settled in real good every time I crawled up on someone’s shoulders to unscrew a sign.

By 1:00 am my trunk had 13 street signs in it and we “pledges” decided it was time to go home with our booty. Just as a sense of real accomplishment started to settle in I noticed a squad car pull in front of us and then a squad car pull in behind us and then a bunch of red and blue lights saturated the neighborhood. I pulled to the side of the road and the police exited their cars guns drawn demanding we put our hands on the car. They kicked our legs out from under us so it became necessary to hold onto the car or else do a face-plant on the pavement. I thought, “These guys must really like their street signs!”

The truth is, what we thought was some honest fun, was really a pretty big offense and these 4 law men had every right to treat us roughly. We should have been carted off to jail, booked, released on bond the next day and then forced to make a court appearance with some heavy fines. You are going to struggle to believe this but once the cops found out we were pledging for a fraternity they told us to put the one sign back up that came from their precinct, keep the other 12 signs and never come back. Even the law can exhibit some grace now and then.

I am a Christian now, have outgrown some of the “stupid genes” and gotten a little wisdom. The paranoia I was feeling while unscrewing street signs at midnight (stay tuned for the barber pole caper we pulled the following weekend) was meant to get me to stop before doing something really bad. It was bad for the people who couldn’t direct their friends to their street address anymore. It was bad for the city who eventually had to replace those signs. And it was bad for the silly pledges who thought they could just take anything they wanted to fulfill their own foolish desires.

Funny since accepting Christ I don’t look over my shoulder anymore to see who is following me. There is nothing in my trunk to hide.

Your Intentions Matter

 But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. Thomas Merton

We all wonder if, indeed, we are in the center of God’s will. Should I have taken that job? Was that the right car to purchase? Should I have waited longer before saying yes to leading that ministry? Though we may sense God’s leading and even get confirmations that “this is the right thing to do” we are always walking by faith and are never really absolutely sure. That is why having the right intentions is so important.

When I was 15 it seemed like a great idea to wash my parent’s car. The “gonna drive pretty soon” bug had created an increasing interest in cars and I figured it couldn’t hurt to earn a few brownie points. The car was a 1967 Buick Electra 225. It was only a few years old at the time and so a washing really made the “washer” look impressive. Put bluntly- that baby shined!

There was one problem- it was really cold outside so I decided to pull it into the garage. The garage had a post in the middle separating the two doors. Drat that post! I pulled the car in at an angle to be able to wash all around the car with the doors closed, turned it too hard clipping that post and taking the “Electra 225” letters right off the side. These weren’t decals mind you. These were chrome, two holes through the car body per letter, type letters. Now the car was not only still dirty but stuck against the post, letters lying on the ground, white paint gouged into the car paint.

If you know anything about cars like the Electra 225 you know it is a bit of a show car. If I had rubbed the letters off a Ford Pinto no one would have noticed. In fact people don’t expect you to announce that you even drive a Ford Pinto because, well frankly, it is a crappy car. But the “225” well you just drive that baby around town real slow and let people see who is in that car because not everyone can afford something that nice. That is until the letters get swiped off. Then it just looks like another ghetto car.

I called my boss at the gas station I worked at and asked him to bring the tow truck and free the Buick. He was happy to do so. When he got there my dad showed up. Now my dad was a plumber and you usually just stayed out of his way unless he was taking you fishing. But today was not a fishing day. It was a “get my Buick away from the garage post” kind of day and I figured, at minimum I was in big trouble. However, much to my surprise, he laughed when he saw the whole thing taking place. He walked up, said “hi” to my boss, watched the car get scooted away from the “pole from hell”, and went in the house. I don’t recall ever having much of a conversation about those letters. He just said something like, “Don’t worry about it.” No cuss words, no flying hammers, no tantrums, just “Don’t worry about it”.

I have to believe that my dad knew my intentions were good and he let me off the hook because of that. I wonder if God is like that. Even doing our best, reading the Word, praying fervently, we might miss His will. But God sees our hearts and knows our intentions and He is happy we wanted to do the right thing. And since the universe doesn’t hinge around you or I doing the right thing all the time our honest mistakes will probably have limited negative affect. God can just call the tow truck.