Love Or Lie?

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar...
1 John 4:20

I recently learned that a brother in Christ, who had broken trust with me and caused hurt to many others, had finally been found guilty of his crime and imprisoned...literally hand-cuffed and hauled off to jail. Can you guess how I responded to the news? I was happy! A feeling of self-righteous vindication welled up in me.

Then God reminded me of the many times I had broken trust with Him and caused hurt to others. The fact that my failures were not illegal doesn’t change the fact that I’m still reaping the consequences. Neither does it mean that I need God’s grace and forgiveness any less than my incarcerated brother.

Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you...Luke 6:28

Lord, please help me to bless rather than curse, and pray rather than gloat over this fallen brother, so I can say “I love God,” and not be found a liar.

My God-Given Task

I’ve always been a very task-oriented person. Give me a job, and by George I’ll get it done! Give me a deadline, and I’ll mark it down and meet it! Got something that needs doing? Ask me! I’ll say yes! Am I over-committing my time and energies? Absolutely! Does that matter? Absolutely not! People need me, and I need to fill their needs.

But after fifty-some-odd years of all that “task-i-ness,” I still wonder, “What unique ‘task’ does God have in mind for me...have I come anywhere near accomplishing it yet...what is my specific purpose in service to him?”

With no real answer in view, I just continued to go and go and go, and do and do and do. Then recently, God finally said, “WHOA!” My body caved to exhaustion, and I went down for the count for a few days. I couldn’t complete the simplest task. I had to say “no” to commitments I had made in good faith to people who were counting on me.

So in my distress, I turned to God’s word, and he relieved me with these truths:

“I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied...I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives.” Ecclesiastes 3:10 & 12.

“Offer right sacrifices, and trust in the Lord.” Psalm 4:5

Rejoice...do good...offer right sacrifices...trust in the Lord. Those are difficult challenges for a task-oriented person—so general—so intangible—no specific deadline to meet. But I’m beginning to realize that if I fail in these God-given tasks, all my other “task-i-ness” will only be “grasping for the wind.”

So, thank you Lord, for defining my tasks. I’m trusting you for the grace to complete them.

A Good Work

Philippians 1:6. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it...

When I started this Blog, it was in response to a strong sense from the Lord that I needed to write. I wasn't sure what he wanted me to write...I wasn't sure where he wanted me to write. He just said, WRITE!

And now, it's been months since I've added a post. But rather than beat myself up, I've decided to pick myself up, and begin again with an obedient heart.

Thank you, Lord, for this good work you began in me, and for the promise that YOU will be the one to complete it.