God's Investment

We have heard time and time again the scriptures regarding, “to whom much is given, much is required.”  We each have our own ideas of what this means.  My brother-in-law said something to me the other day that explained this in such a literal way that it gave me great pause.  We were talking about God-given talents and skills and he brought up the words of Jesus in the New Testament regarding the master that gave his servants talents.  The one with five doubled it and gave him the original five plus five more.  Similarly for the one with two.  He went on to say, “If God gave me five talents, I am required to use those five talents to win five because to whom much is given, much is required.”  That very literal interpretation of those scriptures caused me to think about my talents and how I can use them to double God’s investment.  God believed in me enough to give me certain talents – whether one or several, it doesn’t matter – and it is up to me to invest those talents in such a way that God’s kingdom grows.  So what talent has God invested into your life and how are you using it?  Perhaps he has given you more than one talent, are you prepared to double it?  I don’t really think our age, our gender, our past, our present or our fears will be a good enough excuse as to why we aren’t giving God a return on his investment in us.

Matthew 25:14-30

14.   For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

15.   And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

16.   Then he that had received the five talents went and traded the same, and made them other five talents.

17.   And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

18.   But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

19.   After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

20.   And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21.   His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22.   He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, though deliveredst unto me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23.   His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24.   Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

25.   And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there though hast what is thine.

26.   His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gathered where I have not strawed.

27.   Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

28.   Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him which hath ten talents.

29.   For unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

30.   And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So I again ask you, how are you using God’s investment in you?

Voices

As my mind was sifting through conversations, sifting through my faith journal, sifting through what I believe, a particular incident that happened recently came to mind.  I was once again frustrated with the status quo and went to lay down to think things through.  As I lay there I had the thought of “just quit praying about it and move on” but my heart immediately and vehemently responded with “but what if this is the last prayer I have to pray before the answer comes?  What then?”   So it is this incident that took all of 20 seconds that inspired the prayer that I prayed which in turn inspired the below writing. 

My heart and mind is in conflict.  My mind says that nothing is changed nor will anything change in the future.  It tells me that I am frustrating myself for nothing because what was – will be.  My mind tells me to ask God to release me from these hopes and dreams of a future ministry and cause me to be satisfied with the status quo.  My mind longs to be released from believing for salvation/healing/revival, released from interceding, released from trying, released from speaking.  My mind just wants peace.  My mind wants to settle for “good enough.”  But my heart… oh, my heart says “good enough IS NOT good enough.”  My heart wants to take this next hill with fervor because my promise may be just on the other side.  My heart longs for me to hold on because today could be the day the answer comes.  My heart says to keep believing as all things could come to fruition next week, if I just don’t let go.  My heart tells me not to give up because through God all things are possible.  My heart has a clear vision of the future, if I just stay on course. 

As I am in this very human conflict, it comes down to which voice I let rule my life, my day or my moment?  Which voice do I allow to speak loudest?  Is it the voice of my mind that longs for logic and sanity over the walking by faith in darkness?  Or is it the voice of my heart that tells me to relax in God’s plan?

In this world there are an abundance of voices.  Voices on the radio.  Voices at work.  Voices at home. Voices at church. Voices at the store.  Voices on the phone.  There are voices everywhere including the voices of your mind, your heart, your soul, your conscience, your desires, your flesh and spirit.  Then we toss in the voices of the spirit world.  Voices from satan and his angels.  With all these voices coming at us, battling for our attention, we sometimes miss the voice of God.  We sometimes allow that still small voice to be overpowered by the other voices in our world.  Each day we make a decision about which voices we are going to allow to rule our day.  Each moment we make the choice of which voice will reign supreme – the loud voices of our world or the singular stillness of the voice of God.  I cannot be persuaded that God doesn’t speak to each of us, that God doesn’t direct each of our steps.  It isn’t a matter of being a certain level of holiness, or a certain level of Christian in order to have God speak to us.  Saul was a man who was fervently persecuting the followers of Christ.  Yet God spoke to him and guided his steps.  That lets me know that anyone that WANTS to hear from God, can.  Anyone that longs for God to guide his steps, can.  It is just a matter of which voice you will choose to hear.  Will you choose the voice of the one who died for you or will you choose the voices of your friends, therapists, or your own desires.   Which voice is speaking the loudest today?

Back-Up Plan - Do you have one?

There are things in our life for which we pray for direction.  We seek God’s guidance and will regarding the steps we should take, the decisions we need to make or the path that we should follow.  He does, whether we stop and listen or not, tell us what we should do.  There are times when he tells us his perfect will but then it seems that instead of it working out, it just gets to be more and more impossible.  Perhaps when he first told us his will or what he was going to do, you could see how it could be, you could work out in your mind how he could cause it to come to fruition.  But then… a delay here, a bad choice there, someone’s interference and now you cannot see how it can ever be as you believe God told you.  The situation went from “Possible but unlikely” to “Impossible and unlikely.”  So what do you do when it makes that change to the impossible?  You come up with a back-up plan.  In your mind, or perhaps on a piece of paper, you work out what you will do if God doesn’t come through.  “Ok, if God doesn’t supply the money for my electric bill as I believe he told me he would, I will just ask so-n-so for a loan.”  “Just in case God doesn’t bring me the companion that I believe that he told me he will, I will keep this one as my ‘friend’ on the side – just in case.”  “It doesn’t look like God is going to save my loved one, so I will just give up on it so I won’t get disappointed twice (once when she isn’t saved and the second when God fails me).”  There are so many examples of how we come up with back-up plans for that “just in case” moments.   

I have harped/nagged/preached about the dangers of having a back-up plan for God and his will.  I have written how we just need to have faith and believe.  I have told of how having a back-up plan sabotages the very thing for which we are believing God.  Well I must admit, I almost fell for this one too – on several fronts.  There are things that I have prayed about, sought God’s direction for, and, I believe, heard God’s voice regarding.  But life has happened… delays, bad choices, interference, etc. so I have concocted a back-up plan.  A plan that will help me “save face,” a plan that will keep me from looking foolish for believing in something so impossible, a plan that, though not my true heart’s desire, is a reasonable substitute.  After much time of battling between the real plan (the one I believe God showed me) and my back-up plan, it has come down to where the rubber meets the road, time to put up or shut up, time to believe or quit.  Perhaps it was only a battle for me because I have trouble dealing with things I cannot control and for me to keep believing, rather than settling for my back-up plan, causes me to have to completely surrender control.   After much soul searching, after much talking, I have decided that I absolutely will not settle for my back-up plan.  God’s plan, regardless of how impossible it may seem, is really the best one for me.  Why settle for second rate when you can have the ultimate?  So I will sit and wait on the salvation of the Lord – he hasn’t failed me yet and I don’t think he will start now.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I believe one day very soon I will be able to testify regarding this fantastic work that God is doing.  Until then keep me in your prayers. 

Days of Frustration

There are some days, no matter how hard you try not to be, you are just frustrated.  Frustrated at yourself, frustrated at others, frustrated regarding situations.  That is where I find myself on this hazy Monday morning… frustrated.  My main frustration is that I feel tied/bound and unable to move forward.  It is like a bungee cord that keeps pulling me back into a place I don’t want to be.  Regardless of how hard I try to move forward, how fervent my desire, how passionate my response… I am stuck right here unable to progress, unable to move, unable to get a firm grasp of the next thing.  And the fact that I seem to have no control over this is a source of deep frustration.  I don’t think that I am unusual in my desire to be in control of my destiny, to be in control of my present and my future.  It is a very uncomfortable (and frustrating) place for me to not have a plan, to not have some sort of idea of what the future holds, to not be in control.  But every time that I go to God with my frustrations of not knowing, not being able to plan, not being in control… all I get is stand and trust.  “But God, it appears to be getting worse instead of getting better.  It seems that it is becoming more impossible than it already was (though I don’t see how that could be).  When are you going to step in?  When are you going to clue me in on MY future?”  He just says trust.  Though trusting God should be so easy because he has never failed us, never let us down, never abused or mistreated us, has never been disloyal… I still find it difficult to just stand and trustingly wait.  As I sit here annoyed, aggravated and just thoroughly frustrated, I know that my heart’s desire is to be in God’s perfect will.  I have told him that over and over and though I don’t understand how this frustrating place I find myself in could possibly be God’s perfect will… I just have to believe it is.  Though I see impossibilities and unfairness on every side of me, I just have to trust that the God that knows all my tomorrows also knows what is best today.  So I will attempt to once again rein in my frustration and trustingly and patiently wait on my Lord and Savior.

Psalms 37:1-9

1.       Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2.       For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3.       Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4.       Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5.       Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

6.       And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

7.       Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him that prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

8.       Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

9.       For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

A Comfortable Life

In this life, both spiritually and materially, we seek comfort.  A few weeks ago, something happened that made me realize that a comfortable life is really possible.  A life of minimal disappointment, struggle and frustration.  I could, if I choose, have a life in which each day would seamlessly merge with the next.  There is a possibility of having a life off of the roller coaster ride that I seem to be on.  One part of me said, “grab it with both hands and hang on” but then the other part of me cried out, “No, don't settle there is more”.  I was astounded that there was even a small part of me that would refuse the comfortable path because I truly desire to be comfortable and sane.  I long for normalcy and routine but there is something I long for with a deeper part of my soul.  I desire an intimacy with God.  An intimacy about which could be written, “God spoke with Cynthia as friend to friend.”  My desire is to be cradled in the arms of my precious savior and I don’t know if I could attain my heart’s desire if I were to just settle for the comfortable path.  If I chose the comfortable path, over the tumultuous one, would I still be able to attain the intimacy with God that only comes through trust and faith?  When we lead a comfortable life, we don’t have a need to trust God because everything is good and provided for us.  When no one is sick, we do not need to have faith because… no one is sick.  Without having the need to trust God for our next moment, without the need to have faith that he will care for our each need, can we really achieve that closeness with him that he desires.  Sure it is nice to get material blessings each day and lead a life of comfort but after a while it is merely an expectation rather than a blessing and we have lost more than we gained.  When we reach the level of being comfortable, we don’t stretch outside of ourselves to attain greater heights or deeper depths.  So when/if I am offered the choice of a comfortable path that is merely in God’s permissive will or a tumultuous path that is lined with tears and prayers but in God’s PERFECT will – I pray that I always choose the tumultuous path. 

Getting That Which We Seek

There has been something that has been on my mind for a few weeks but this morning my mind has been consumed with the reminder that we WILL find that which we seek. 

Deuteronomy 4:29

29.   But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Proverbs 8:17

17.   I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.

Jeremiah 29:13

13.   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Matthew 7:7-8

7.       Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8.       For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

In the above scriptures there is no question that when you seek, you will find.  When we seek God’s face, that is what we will find.  If we seek joy in the Holy Ghost, that is what we will find.  If we seek self-indulgence, that is what we will find.  If we seek sin, that is what we will find.  When we seek good in people, we can find it.  We find exactly that which we seek after. 

It is amazing how people seem to get so surprised at what life brings them when it is merely what they have sought.  The thing about getting what we seek is that we also get the baggage that goes along with it.  We seek to have a child and God blesses us with a child, we also must accept the responsibilities and expenses of the said child.  We seek God’s will for our life, we must be willing to accept that his will is not always pleasant or what we would choose.  We seek to live a life pleasing to Christ, we must also accept that it will require laying aside our fleshly desires.  When we seek a life that is in God’s permissive will, we must realize that we are forfeiting God’s perfect will.  We will indeed get what we seek after… what are you seeking?  Are you seeking companionship?  Are you seeking promotion and esteem?  Are you seeking God’s perfect will?  Perhaps you are seeking a life of comfort?  I don’t know what you are seeking but I do know that God is calling us to seek his face.  Psalms 27:8 says “When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord will I seek.”  When we put our focus on seeking God and his will for our lives everything else will fall into place as it should.  Perhaps you are saying, “but what is wrong with seeking… a child, a companion, material goods, promotion, etc.”  There isn’t anything wrong with seeking those things but the Bible says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;  and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33  When you seek God and his will first and foremost, everything else your heart desires to seek will be given unto you.  So seek the Lord and lay aside all that hinders you from doing it with your whole heart. 

Perishing for a Vision

Being a person that was blessed to be born with sight, I absolutely cannot imagine not being able to see.  Sure I could cover my eyes for a few hours or days but I would know that once I took that cloth off I would be able to see.  When I go to Lake Michigan and see the sunset, whether with the vibrant reds and oranges or with the cool blues and pinks, I am thankful for my sight.  I look at my children and know I am blessed to be able to visually see them grow and develop into attractive adults.  When I looked at the very tiny fingers and toes of my friends’ premature baby, I was in awe at the blessing that my eyes witness.  When I see the harbor of Port aux Basques, the waves pounding at Fluer de Lys, or the colorful, vibrant buildings of St. John’s… when I see these things I realize how truly blessed I am to have sight.  I have witnessed so many beautiful sights in my life that I would not want to trade.  I can’t imagine my life without sight and I don’t want to. 

But there is something more devastating than to lose than your sight and that is to lose your vision (or fail to get one in the first place).  God has blessed me with visions that I wouldn’t trade.  Visions of a future working in His kingdom.  Visions of my loved ones being fervent and passionate for Jesus.  Visions of a life that, though not necessarily comfortable, is fulfilling because I am living in His perfect will.  These visions are strong.  These visions pull me through when my flesh wants to give up.  The God given visions give strength and back-bone to a life that is without direction and purpose.  These visions are dynamic, exciting, beautiful and without compare and I don’t want to imagine my life without them.  If there came a time to choose between sight and a vision from God, may my heart always choose the vision.  For without a vision from our heavenly father, where would we receive direction, without a vision how would we have the courage to stand, without a vision where would we get our hope.  I pray that my heart always seeks to have that clear vision.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish….”