Take me to the King

Her heart began to race. The words her cousin had just said echoed throughout her mind. The Jews were to be killed. There was no mistaking the message that had just come to her. But what could she do? She was a Jew, living in a Persian palace, but no one knew her identity. How could she stop this? She sent a message back to her cousin, expressing her concerns. Eternity seemed to pass before she got the reply, and when she got it, she knew that life was going to change forever...

This week, I had been thinking of the story of Esther. It's kind of ironic, especially as in two weeks, Jews will be celebrating the festival of Purim. 

In the story of Esther, we hear of a young Jewish woman who marries a Persian King. However her identity as a Jew is unknown to the king. Amongst the King's officials is a man called Haman who agrees with the king, to have all of the Jews living there killed as they do not follow the king's laws. Haman constructed this lie to have the Jews killed for his own gain, since earlier Esther's cousin refused to bow to him. Mordecai, Esther's cousin, hears of this and passes this information to her. If Esther reveals her identity to save her people she could die! But Mordecai says something to Esther that changes the course of history.'Who knows, but perhaps you have been given a royal position for just such a time as this?' Immediately, Esther tells Mordecai to tell the people to fast as she is going to go before the king.

Reading this story this week has challenged. Sometimes I can be very passive and it's usually in the middle of a crisis. Once I was walking down with the road with a friend and in the corner of my eye I could see a car quickly approaching us. It jumped the curb and stopped. So did we. There was no screaming and running away from the danger. In our fear we froze, but by the grace of God the car didn't hit us. I'm the person who would be on the Titanic, moping in the corner upon hearing that the ship is sinking. In times of a crisis I freeze. But this story has challenged me to do a number of things:

1) Pray
Now this may be the most obvious one, forgive me. But when in the midst of my fear, and I am still as a statue, prayer can be a difficult task. I really have to encourage myself to get my lips to move! Matthew 7:7 reads Ask and it shall be given unto you. Philippians 4 speaks of making our request known to God. We need to bring our troubles to God. When the Jews heard of Haman's plans, they didn't just sit in the corner and weep. They prayed and they fasted. They did something about where they was. They brought it to God. In prayer we also get wisdom from God about what to do. Which leads us nicely to the next point :)

2) Look for the solution
In the midst of the crisis I usually think 'well what am I supposed to do now?' Often times we need to speak to people with more wisdom in a certain area. Or speak to a person in position who can do something about it.  Mordecai decides to go and speak to his cousin, Esther. She is in a prime position to do something. Esther also makes the decision to go and speak to the king and she does it with such wisdom. 

3) Trust in God
This last point runs through the last two points, for we won't do them if we have no faith. Praying and looking for the solution requires such faith. As Esther went before the king, it was possible that he would order her death, as no one could just approach the king. She had to trust in God. However, I love what Mordecai says to Esther before she goes to the king. "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish."  Mordecai believed that God would deliver them.

Hebrews 11:6 reads that without faith we cannot please God. We have to believe He is who He says He is, and that He will reward those who diligently seek Him. We must believe. In a time where there are many wars and disasters...a lot of national crises as well as personal crises we must believe. James says that faith without works is dead, so we can not be passive, but active. What are we doing? As Haman wasn't shy to execute a plan to kill all of the Jews, the enemy isn't shy in bringing about things to destroy our hope. In the midst of a crisis what are we going to do about it?

.....Take me to the King...

Beyond the rocks (2) ......

I'm the man standing on the rock. Staring into the horizon. Wait! Where is the horizon? It was there a moment ago!! And what's that touching my toes?! ... Water.... The water's rising. But I'm on the rock. Doesn't that mean I should see beyond the rock? I close my eyes... Take a deep breath... I picture myself seeing the horizon. I imagine the warmth of the sun exploding through the clouds hanging over me. I imagine the goodness of God. I do not lose heart. And I thank God that in the midst of the storm, my house is still standing!

Funny how, God will reveal things to you when the sun is shining and you receive them with joy. But when it rains, you look at the revelations, wondering where the truth is in your situation. Can I be real? We don't always see the sun shine! Theres a really good quote I remember. Don't forget in the dark what God told you in light.

I can't see the light at the moment, but I remember what it looks like and I remember His promises. David said I would have lost heart, had I not believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living! The problem is that in the midst of the storm, standing on the rock, we forget the sun used to shine. I love this quote. Don't forget in the dark what God told you a light!

Fear has a nasty habit of crippling and blinding us. Recently I have been meditating on Psalms 23. There is a verse that reads 'Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil'. Now I know I'm having problems when even in the light I am fearing evil. But I know I have had an awful habit of fearing evil. 'What if?' plagues my mind and this common disease takes delight in capturing its prisoners. So you know when the clouds overshadow, my mind is screaming, here you go - a reason to fear evil! And I am worried about the worse that could happen. But this scripture is teaching that in the midst of the storm, I don't need to fear evil! In fact, the writer says it with such conviction! 'I will fear no evil'! This has encouraged, yet challenged me. I will fear no evil.

Fear reflects our expectations. I expect the water to drown me, and so I am afraid. We shouldn't fear evil, because God is with us. He loves us and there is no fear in love - perfect love casts out all fear. So I will fear no evil when I understand the Lord is my shepherd and He loves me. Because He loves me and expects the best, I should expect the best as well, and not the worst. I can be real about where I am, but walk by faith that the best is coming. Even with the water surrounding me, about to overtake me....the best is yet to come....I believe I will see the goodness of God!

Beyond the rocks...

Matthew 7:24-27
We learn about two different men. One decides that he is going to build his house on a rock, however one decides that he is going to build his upon the sand. It is evident that a rock is more secure than sand, but I know on a regular basis I am building my house upon the sand.

Earlier this week, God reminded of the vintage point you have with a rock. When I think of the wise man building his house upon the sand, the sand is level. The only perspective you get is of the seas and anything else that is already on you level. However, when you build you house upon the rock you get a whole different perspective. It causes you to see higher! Understanding that, I was like, "Oh yes Lord! It makes sense! Thank you for that truth!" I wrote it up on my notice board to remind me everyday that I need to be standing on the rock...

Until the waves came. Little did I understand that the waves don't have to come in the form of a huge disaster to knock my security. The waves can come in currents of thoughts that attempt to sweep away any survivors of a tsunami of misunderstood events. But when they come they will reveal where you are standing. Hearing God's truth I thought was standing upon the rock, and I most likely was until I ran into one of life's obstacles. 

The rock, Christ, the Word, is what we should be building our lives upon. However whenever we go through trials and situations we can immediately want to jump ship and assume that on the sand will be better. Forgetting that going back to the sand will mean that we lose a higher perspective and when the waves come we will brought down to a lower perspective! So here I am, hit by an obstacle, about to take my foot off the rock and head for the sand. When I was reminded of the truth.

Will I build my thoughts on the rock, the Truth? Or will I build my thoughts on the sand, what I already know? God challenged me this year to not go back in my relationship with Him and other things. However when trials and tribulations come we can so easily give up. When the children of Israel left Egypt, a place of slavery and bondage, they faced many trials. God wanted them to have faith in Him, but instead they desired to go back to the place of chains, because it was what they knew! To stay on the rock, we must have faith, believing that God will take us to the destination that we need to get to.

Psalms 1 reads 'But his delight in the law of the Lord and on his law, he habitually meditates by day and by night. And he shall be like a tree firmly by the streams of water, ready to bring forth its fruit in its season...' Can you imagine trying to push down this tree? And the Bible says that blessed is the man who delights in God's truth and his mind is constantly planted in the Word. Not in what he thinks he knows or anything else for that matter. No one can stop the waves coming, no barricades can stop the trials and tribulation, but where will you plant you mind, your thoughts?

Will you build your thoughts on the rock, the Truth? Or will you build your thoughts on the sand, what I already know?

Growing out of the comfort zone...

The ground was prepared. It was ready. All that was needed was the sower to plant his seeds. His hands dug hopefully into the brown rough sack retrieving the young, innocent seeds from their temporary home. These seeds were not ordinary...and no they were not to grow a huge, monstrous beanstalk. But these seeds contained hope. Joy. Peace. Within them were dreams. Goals. Visions. As they concealed Words that had the potential to give birth to all of these things. The vision of the sun awakened the seeds to the life within them, and then they were cast into the wind to be carried to the ready made ground. Some seeds never made it to the field but fell on the footpath lying helplessly. Nothing could rescue them from their fate. The sky turned black, as huge, vicious birds swooped down and ate those seeds. Some other seeds flew like helicopters in the sky falling with a thud to the ground. Not deep enough for roots, the shallow soil prevented the seeds from reaching their potential. For the sun burnt the seeds and as the roots were not long enough the seeds died. Some seeds made their way towards the field, and before they reached they were stuck in the middle of their bodies. Sharp, pointy thorns protruded out of the other side of their bodies...they had no chance. The last set of seeds fell into the field, allowing for many plants to grow. This is the parable of the sower Jesus tells in Matthew 13. Jesus is talking about how we receive God's Word. As I was reflecting on this scripture I saw how it related to 2015.

2015 being the ground prepared. The ground that is ready. And the sower, God, reaching into his bag of seeds to sow into the ground He has already prepared. But how will these hopes and visions be received? 

Some of us are so cynical we have no hope left for 2015. The moment a goal comes to mind or we hear a word of promise, the darkness of our heart or the cold opinion of others snatches them away.

However there are some goals that land on soil but it's roots can't grow deep. We don't allow these goals or visions any depth. The moment we face problems concerning our goals or the promises of God, we leave the seed to dry up like a raisin in the sun. That has happened to me too many times last year. Seeds of vision that I think are going to grow have only fallen into places where the rocks of complacency and insecurities lie underneath stunting the growth of the seeds. 

Others of us allow the worries of this world to choke the life out of these dreams. Getting caught up in life's anxieties traps and destroys our visions. 

Some of these areas are actually our comfort zones. We're used to worrying, or used to not allowing our seeds to take depth in our hearts. We are also used to allowing our dreams and visions to be stolen. There may even be a fear of allowing seeds to fall to good soil, as there's an uncertainty of what will happen when our dreams or God's promises come to pass. There' s familiarity in us being used to worrying about the future and being distracted by the things of this world, that we reside there.

What does good soil look like? Definitely stepping outside of our comfort zone! It will also look like us being more disciplined, staying committed to the decisions that we make. This will been still standing in times when the plants in the soil look like they're withering. i.e. still going to the gym when it seems nothing is happening or still praying when all seems to be going wrong or continuing to push forward in that business in light of failures. With God we can cultivate good soil in ourselves to see dreams and visions come to life. 

Now we are in 2015, how are we going to deal with our dreams and visions? Dare we allow them to land in good soil this year. What does this year hold for us?

Blessing or Burden

In reflection of 2014, much has happened this year! We've seen great successes and achievements, but we have also seen disasters. But I've been reflecting on how I've seen many situations this year and what I have done with what I've been given this year.

Jesus tells the story of a master leaving talents with his three men as he is going away. I can imagine him calling them to him and giving a speech as if preparing them for war. "I'm going away," he cries, "so I am leaving you in charge of a few things." The men stand watching their master intently, as he paces the ground in front of them. What he could be asking of them? Are they able to do it? One of the men swallow hard, afraid to wipe the sweat standing to attention on his brow.

"To you," the master points to the man who has fear dancing joyously in his eyes, "I leave one talent."

The master then turns to look at the second man. "I leave you with two talents." 

Then the master treads the ground carefully until he is standing in front of the third man. He lowers his voices and speaks gently, but still with authority. "And to you, I leave five talents."

After the grand speech, the master jumps on his horse and gallops away into the sunset. That's how I picture it!

But how do the men see the talents? What do they do with them? One seemingly had a lot, and one seemingly had a little. What do they do? The men with two and five talents invested them and saw that what they had been given multiplied. However the man with one talent hid it in the ground! But why would he do that? 

The master returns, and again I can see him calling the men to him again. Upon finding out that two of the men have invested their talents and have made more he congratulates them and gives them more responsibility. However, he is furious with the other man! He demands to know why this has happened. Slowly, the man stutters as he explains to the master that he was afraid because he knew his master was a stern man and so he hid his talent. Furious, the master orders for the talent to be taken away with him and given to the man who was initially given five. The man is the sent away. What has always stuck out to me is that he said he knew the master was stern. If the master was stern, why did the others not bury their talents as they had more to lose.

Maybe the others saw their talents more as a blessing. Maybe he saw his one talent as a burden. To the other two men the talents were an opportunity waiting to be multiplied. To other man, this talent was a catastrophe waiting to happen. They were all given talents, but one man saw it as a burden rather than a blessing. 

This year I've invested and I've buried. I've been open and I've hid. I think I've hid and I've buried more than been open and invested. Why? Because I've seen opportunities more as burdens than blessings. My perspective prevented me from being blessed in situations. There are things I could have done, dreams that could have been fulfilled that haven't been because I've been afraid. Worried I might fail, I've seen things as burdens instead. I've seen the stress in something, rather than the blessing. Even when being given a blessing, if I've seen it as a burden, then that is how I've treated it. Opportunities to invest in people I've seen as burdens rather than blessings.

Last week many of us were celebrating Christmas, and hearing the story of the nativity, I was reminded of blessings and burdens. When Mary was told she was going to give birth to Jesus she saw it as a blessing. Thinking realistically about this I might have seen it as a burden. There was a great chance she would be shunned by society. An outcast. A reject. And then she was engaged to Joseph. If he abandoned her she would be on her own raising her child. A possible burden, she saw as a blessing. How many things have we seen as burdens this year that could have been blessings? 

This week I was listening to a sermon from Elevation church in relation to the Christmas story. Things changed drastically for Mary and Joseph and instead of a burden, they saw it and treated it as a blessing. Many times, changes to plans can seem to be burdens when they are in fact blessings.

Next year, I don't want to treat any situation as a burden. Every situation has the potential to be a blessing. But how will I choose to see it?

What will they say now?

'People used to say she was barren...' Luke 1:36 NLT

"I hadn't expected it. I guess I believed...but for it to happen. I mean...for most of my life it was something I had always wanted. Something I had always sought God about, but then when I reached a certain age I wasn't sure if it was ever going to happen. I was too old! How could I possibly mother a child? The dream of holding my own baby began to fade. Barren. That's what they used to say. Barren. Not known because of my character or how I served God...but for my inability to have children. But I didn't want pity, for I trusted God."

In Luke 1, Elizabeth, a woman who had been barren for many years, finds out she is going to give birth. Not only will she be giving birth, but it will be to a man who will be making the way for the Lord. Not only has her prayers been answered, but she is going to give birth to someone who has a great calling on his life. God totally transformed her life - more than what she could ask or think. 

Elizabeth was once identified as being barren, but God changed all of that. We can walk through situations and people can form different opinions of our circumstances. Many may describe our situations as barren, but in that dry place what should we be doing? What are we believing?

I love that Zechariah means 'Yahweh remembers', do we? God remembers His promises and He is faithful to the end, but the question is, do we remember? Whilst waiting, even in her bareness, Elizabeth continued to serve God wholeheartedly. How many times do we lose hope and become miserable on our journey? When Mary is told she is going to give birth to Jesus, the Saviour of the world, she is also informed of Elizabeth's predicament. The angel tells Mary, 'People used to say she was barren...' Not no more! Why? 'Nothing is impossible with God' the angel says. If Mary has any question about what is going to happen in her life, God has directed her to her cousin Elizabeth who is about to give birth.

This challenges me on many different levels, but encourages me also. We need to remember the promises of God. Luke 1:45 (NLT) reads, 'You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said'. Do I believe? How much do I believe? Hebrews 11 outlines what many great people in the Bible did because they believed God. Not in their own ability, but because they believed God. It just takes us believing the words of God. Peter walked on water responding to Jesus saying 'Come'. We need to believe knowing that without faith we can not please God and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We are not to live hopeless, mourning each day that passes. Though she be called barren, I can imagine Elizabeth joyfully serving God. Psalms 25:3 reads that those who hope in the Lord will not be put to shame. After Elizabeth is pregnant, she rejoices in God because He has taken away her shame. I love 1 Peter 1:8, where Peter writes we believe in Him and so we are filled with inexpressible joy! I may not see the results of what I want to see, but the belief alone fills me with inexpressible joy. 'I know in Whom I have believed'. If God says it, it will come to pass. 

People used to say you were barren. What will they say now?

The stone was rolled away...

'It was a miserable, bleak day. The man who we had loved and followed was dead! Accused of blasphemy they killed him! Every parable He told, sickness He healed, and miracle shown declared of His love for us...and they killed Him. So as we made the grief-stricken journey to where He was buried, we prepared our hearts to anoint His body. Suddenly the question was asked, "Who will roll the stone away?" With all the emotion that clouded our hearts and minds, we hadn't considered this. He had been buried in a tomb, blocked by a huge stone. How would we reach him? How could a few women roll the stone away? As we approached the tomb, we saw that someone had gone ahead of us...as the stone had been rolled away...'

I've written this imagining the thoughts of the women making their way to anoint Jesus' body as outlined in Mark 16. They make the journey contemplating how to reach Jesus as a huge stone blocks the tomb. Not long after, they find that the stone had already been rolled away!

As I began to read Mark 16 my mind raced over the words of the text...I've read this before...is there anything new? But then my eyes caught the question 'Who will roll the stone away?' and my heart paused the race of my mind as those words echoed throughout my soul. It resonated within me, not because I had been asking that question, but because I had been asking God similar questions, and had possibly been losing hope with certain things. 'How will I do this...?' 'How is this going to happen...' 'What happens if...' Enjoying my journey of life, I suddenly became preoccupied by huge stones! So I could relate to this question.

Approaching the tomb, they found the stone had already been rolled away. How many times have we been anxious about things, only to find that God has gone before us and made a way for us. What happens in Mark 16 not only points to everyday situations that God has gone before us to remove obstacles and so we should trust in Him, but it also reminds us that Christ died and rose again to make a way for us. Romans 5:8 reads that 'But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' Sinking and drowning in my sin, God goes ahead of me and makes a way for me to enter into His Kingdom.