God is the answer!

This morning I was driving and singing “about the cross.” When I got to the second verse and sang, “I could sing about the state of grace I live in or the peace and joy I have when times are tough”, I began to cry as I thought about God’s grace. Then I sang, “I could talk of all the blessings I’ve been given” I thought of my life and Psalms 119:117 “Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.” I have life and a Bible; therefore God has dealt bountifully with me today. Then I continued singing, “but in the end my life is just, about the cross, about the blood, about the place that I found God’s mercy and love”, I thought of the times when I was so far from God that I had almost given up on His existence and yet today I have Him in my life, the ultimate presence, the ultimate gift, the only purpose for which to live and the only reason to work. I sang on, “and although it’s bitter sweet remembering the cost, there is something beautiful about the cross.” At this point I suppose I was listening more than singing as I tried to drive, wishing that the windshield wipers, stationary and unneeded on the windshield could wipe the tears from my eyes as I thought of the cross and what Jesus Christ the Son of God gave up to come to earth.

Should Jesus have left the splendor, security and comfort of heaven to come to earth and live in palatial existence surrounded by mortal servants at His beck and call it would still have been the greatest act of true condescension ever recorded, but He did more. Should He have come to earth to share only His wisdom with man for 33 years and then ascended in glory unscathed by the cross and beloved by all, we would owe Him our eternal gratitude, but He did so much more. Is your life about the cross? What does that even mean, “about the cross?” What does this short, powerful phrase imply for our everyday lives? What does it mean to live a life that is, about the cross? Does it mean to exist in a bubble of God’s care and perfection, experiencing no pain, no suffering, no loss, no persecution; enjoying only the fruits of a life pampered and blessed by God? To live a life about the cross, are we to expect prosperity and ease at every turn? Does God’s sacrifice on the cross purchase our ability to plan our life and its direction without experiencing the unexpected crisis or unwanted outside intervention that seems to ruin our best laid plans?

What has God taken from you? What have you lost at the hand of God? Has He taken away a loved one? Has He ruined you financially? Has He taken your well organized, routine of life and thrown a wrench in the works? Has He taken a relationship in your life that you thought was simply blissful and made it complex and irritating? What has God done to you? I doubt there would be anyone reading this that could not think of one area in their life where they feel lost, concerned, upset, empty or unfulfilled.

Now that you are thinking of something in your life where you see the hand of God working in ways that you dislike or even despise, ask yourself, what have I done to rectify this situation? Have you found solace from grief in constant music or activity, never choosing to be alone? Have you cut your expenses to the minimum and worked extra hours only to find that the unexpected financial burdens seem to increase just enough to exhaust the extra income and savings you thought would help you “turn the corner?” Have you been constantly analyzing your life and re-writing your priorities only to find that each attempt to re-organize is met by a killer combination of inaction, de-motivation and crisis? Have you read a marriage book and tried to implement it only to feel that your efforts at love and civility were wasted as your spouse responded negatively to this stimulus and you felt no choice but to retaliate, thus exacerbating the situation further? What have you been trying on your own? Is it working?

I present the answer to you today, God. “God!!!” you might say, “What about God?!?!?” It sounds so easy to say that God is the answer, but what does that mean? God and what else? Do I mean that God is the answer for my specific problem and that He is the one who will make it all disappear and go away? Do I mean that God will instantly heal my marriage, my finances and give me new direction, clearing up any conflicts I have with my own priorities? No, I mean that God is the answer, just God all by himself without any additions or specifications, just God. He fits inside no man’s box. He defies definition. He cannot be figured out. He refuses to show His complete plan. He cannot be pleased by our works for even our righteousness is as filthy rags. He cannot be manipulated by our “much speaking” in prayer. His ways are higher than our ways and He will not come down to ours, but rather expects us to ascend to His. Come to the cross and find Jesus. Come to the cross in prayer and find your true Father.

“So the answer is prayer”, you ask? No, the answer is God. Prayer is talking with God, not talking to God, but even still, prayer is not the answer, God is the answer. I am afraid that our natural tendency is to approach our problems in a completely backwards way; I know this is the case with me. We think, “once I find the answer to this problem and fix it, God will be happy with me for doing the right thing and then I will get closer to Him.” And so we slosh through the pit of self-help in a vain attempt to fix our own problems and then with each sliver of positive performance we lift our filthy rags of righteousness towards God and yell, “SEE I CAN DO BETTER, ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?” This statement is usually followed by “…God?” God is not the prize, God is the answer. For you see the purpose is not to convince God to love you or to be close to you, but rather for you to be close to Him.

On the cross Jesus gave up everything. He gave up His relationship with the Father to become sin. It was this loss that caused the only vocal complaint, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?” And so as we look at our lives and ask again, “What has God taken from us?” The answer is, “nothing.” The only thing in life that can truly be taken is my relationship with God and I am the only one who can take it. You might be thinking, “That wasn’t much help for my problem!” And you would be right, this article will not fix your problem, this article is meant only to point you to the answer which is?...God, of course.

A few observations about how to apply this truth to your life:

1. When God empties you in a given area, let Him and only Him fill the void.

-Too often, God takes something from us, whether a loved one, our security, etc. and we immediately begin the search to find a filler. We listen to music, take up a new hobby, read a new book, find a new friend or draw closer to the people in our life. God can only fill you in the areas of your life where you are empty. Take every opportunity you have to allow God to fill you. Pray, pray, pray… and ask God to fill you in that area, why?... because God is the answer and only His presence can bring truly provide a feeling of fulfillment.

2. Let go of your possessions and take hold of God’s blessings

-What has God given you? Has He given you a spouse to love? Has He given you work to do? Has He given you children to raise? Do those things! Plan your work and work your plan, but don’t get confused about the things God has given you to do and the things God is allowing you to borrow. God may give you a business to run, but the results of that work are God’s. God may give you a job to do, but the paycheck belongs to Him. God may have given you the task of raising your children, but they are not your children, they are God’s children on loan to you. God may have given you the privilege of loving a spouse, but they are not really “your spouse” they are all God’s and He has given you the gift of their presence in your life to help you better serve Him. Take a moment to think about what God has given you to do. Realize that all you have is God’s and remind God that He may use what is rightfully His to do whatever He sees fit in your life. “The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”

3. Slow down, think and pray

-If you spent as much time talking with your spouse as you spend talking with God, would expect your spouse to be attentive to your desires? Would you expect to have a good relationship with your spouse? Now let’s get even messier, if you talked to your spouse the way you talk to God, how would you expect your relationship to be? Ever hear of nagging? I think “nagging” could define and summarize about 90% of all prayers. We bring our petty little problems to God that He already knows about and remind Him of them over and over and over and over again. Why do we do this? Has God forgotten since yesterday? Does He need our advice? Does the Bible say that if we ask God for this a certain number of times He is obligated to answer us? Of course not! Talk with God not to God. Certainly bring up those things that are important in your life just as you would bring them up if speaking with your spouse. I say things in prayer like, “God I am really upset about this situation in my life and I just don’t know what to do about it. It makes me feel terrible every day, what should I do?” But, I don’t say, “God I really, really, really, really think you should do this my way!!!!!!” The interesting thing to me about praying through a list is that I have rarely seen anyone do it for longer than 30 minutes, after that you have to start having a two way conversation. So if you really want to learn how to pray and you need a list to remind you of the things that you would like to discuss with God, bring your list and pray for a full hour. I promise that in the last 30 minutes you will say 10% of what you said the first 30 minutes and receive 90% more from God.

4. Remember that God’s perfect will is always in the present.

-Too often we think about God’s perfect will for our lives as something He designed before we were born and He keeps it up on His refrigerator tracking your performance relative to this plan. I don’t know about you, but if this is true for me, He would need several refrigerators stacked on top of one another to chart the depths to which I have missed the mark of His perfection! Fortunately for me, God threw away this plan the first time I did the smallest thing that was not part of His perfect will and made a new perfect will for my life that started at that moment. I dare say that God’s mercy and grace have caused Him to throw away a bunch of plans every day as I continually do things that I shouldn’t do or neglect to do those things that I should do. The important thing is that God knows what you are capable of doing from this very moment until the end of your life, He expects nothing more and nothing less than this. When you fall short, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins! Hallelujah what a Savior!!! He has a new plan for your life that just came off the press the last time you messed up. Now just so I don’t come off sounding like “pie in the sky” there are consequences for our actions and every time we mess up God is hurt because He knows what we could have accomplished and the new plan is not as good as the original because we have sinned and done things that were not what God wanted us to do. However, that said, stop thinking about all the things God could have done with you and start thinking about what God wants to do through you right now!

I hope this article has been a help to you. I guess I wrote this article more for myself than anything else. I just needed to remind myself that God is the answer in my life. No matter what problems I face, God is the answer and as I draw closer and closer to Him, He will provide the strength I need.

Poem - Reaping and Sowing

I wrote this poem about a year ago and just found it hidding in my computer directory (thanks to Google Desktop Search!), so please enjoy and let me know what you think. Also, click on the "poem" link above for other poems that I have posted on this blog. Have a wonderful day!


To Reap and sow has great effect,
On more than just a life
We see our goals as distant plans
And effort free from strife

We durst not dream of burdened plight
Or of unending labor.
We’d rather see an easy plan
Than work for our Lord’s favor.

We sparsely so our seeds of work
In gardens thick with weeds.
Then ask the Lord why our attempts
Do naught to grow our seeds.

He says with loving hand outstretched
I want the best for you
Perhaps tis' best if others reap
What through you I could do.

We reply oh no Lord don’t
Please use me in every way.
You see I plan to pick those weeds
Perhaps another day.

But with each passing day we find
Opportunities do not wait
For those with good intentions
Who’ve drafted plans so great.

So every day we try again
To tend a perfect garden.
And every day we find a sin
And ask our dear Lord’s pardon

He replies with grace sufficient
And sends us on our way
Full knowing that his perfect will
Steps back each wayward day

We know not all the hurt we cause
For God knows our true potential
The choices he sees as paramount
We think inconsequential


God must expect so much of man
We scarce can comprehend it.
Some say “It’s just the way I am”
God’s perfect mold won’t fit

And if I cannot fit the mold
Why should I even try?
I’ll simply find an easier way
And take a relieving sigh

Then God looks down and says “Please Wait”
I hate to see you go.
My ways are far above you ways
The mold won’t fit, I know.

It’s true I had to change my will
With each mistake you made
But every time that you came back
I forgot you ever strayed

I believe in you so much, you see
I’ve planned another way
For you see I have different mold
It just came out today.

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Isaiah Chapter 1:13-23

Isa 1:13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Isa 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
Isa 1:15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Isa 1:16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Isa 1:17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
Isa 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.