Month: August 2017

So Different From This Hell I’m Living

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I had a dream my life would be so different from this hell I’m living.
 
The lyrics above were sung by Fantine, a fictitious factory worker turned prostitute mother in the musical Les Miserables. It’s been reported that in preparing for the role of Fantine, actress Anne Hathaway tried to envelope herself in sadness. She even sent her husband away from her for a time because his being near her made her too happy to play the role accordingly. Her plans certainly succeeded for she played the role flawlessly.
However, the words she sang are all too often the very true unsung anthems of countless people in our world today. These victims of life live in all corners of society, silently marking time with their steps and lives, all the while watching their dreams being pulled further and further away. I think if people everywhere spoke honestly, they would admit that they’ve all felt this way at one time or another. I know I have.
Why do we feel this way? Because we feel just as trapped as Fantine did when she felt as if she had no option but to sell her body to support her child. We feel trapped because of our own burdens and responsibilities. We feel trapped because of our financial predicaments, relational connections, and personality flaws and failures. Even though these situations are sometimes thrust upon us, we often are casualties of our own choices and we know it all too well. In these times, we realize that the dreams of our lives have been abandoned, traded for security, sanity, positions, and possessions.
Interestingly enough, these feelings do not end when we give our lives to Jesus. In some ways, they actually intensify over time because we’ve placed targets on our backs for the devil. It seems that one of tools Satan uses to keep us from worshiping the Lord and living productive Christian lives is through discouragement. When He sees us giving our lives to and living for Christ, Satan reminds us of the unpleasant, annoying, hectic, and unnerving parts of our lives, forcing us to focus on them, pushing us farther from contentment and peace and pulling us into darker thoughts, leading to despair and disappointment.
But we don’t have to let our circumstances determine our attitudes. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, Paul wrote that we can bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Even though we don’t feel like doing so at the time, whenever we are overwhelmed by these feelings, we must take action. We should not and cannot continually live in that muck and mire.
Here are some things I remind myself of when my mind is leaning toward discontentment and entrapment:
  • The Lord will help us do what we need to do right when we need Him to do it. The Apostle Paul wrote: I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. That doesn’t just mean the overwhelming gigantic glorious assignments, it means the everyday and mundane tasks as well.
  • God cares about our dreams. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 37:4: Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. It’s been my experience that He understands our deep down desires and passions more than we ever could. Taking delight in Him also helps us remember that He is the lifter of our faith, and our heads, not our hopes and dreams.
  • We will see a lot happen if we hold fast to the Lord. In John 15:5, Jesus said, Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. If we remain in Jesus (focus on Him, talk with Him, worship Him, read His word, etc…), He will remain in us. We’ll know He’s there. He will help us be successful in being fruitful for Him, and we will feel more content when we see the positive results.
  • If we can’t love what we are doing, we should at least love why we’re doing it. I have a friend who shared with me that he struggles every day with wanting to quit his job. He’s looking for another place of employment with equal or greater pay and benefits, yet says he will stay where he is until he secures a better working environment. When I asked why, he said, “I can’t stand the job, but I love my wife and kids. I’d do anything for them.” Jesus said in John 15, There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. My friend is laying down his life, at least for the time being, to provide for those he loves.
  • Counting Your Blessings is not just an old hymn. It’s true. Psalm 103:2 says Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things He does for me. Another old song I heard as a child contained the lyrics It’s amazing what praising can do. It’s true.
  • Helping others takes your mind off of yourself and reminds you of how fortunate you truly are. Jesus said the second greatest commandment was Love your neighbor as yourself. My life group feeds breakfast to the homeless once a month. Serving these men and women help me remember how truly blessed I am.
What helps you when you find yourself leaning toward discontentment? Would you be willing to comment about it below?
*Photo by Marc Olivier Jodoin. Used Courtesy of Unsplash.
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Lies Christians Tell

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Honesty may be the best policy, but deception and dishonesty are part of being human. That sentence is a direct quote from a recent article I read in a National Geographic article (June 2017) titled Why We Lie. The article even stated that Learning to Lie is a natural stage in child development. I’m not one who is overly prepared to discuss human development, but I do know that it’s not hard to see that dishonesty is prevalent in our society today. It is also rampant in our churches as well, especially in corporate worship.

Let me explain.

Charles Spurgeon once said, A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. He makes a good point, and Christians should be the first ones to understand the importance of truth, especially since we worship the One who is the Way, the TRUTH, and the Life. (John 14:6) However, instead of heralding truthfulness, we often champion deceit, inaccuracy, and falsehood, especially when we’re with other Christians in corporate worship.

To quote A.W. Tozer, Christians don’t tell lies, they just go to church and sing them.

I know we look like pillars of integrity when we stand to sing, sometimes with our hands raised high, but the question remains, do we honestly, wholeheartedly, sincerely, mean the words that are coming out of our mouths?

When I was a child, one of my favorite hymns was My Jesus, I Love Thee written by William R. Featherstone. The first stanza contains the lyrics, “For Thee, all the follies of sin I resign…” Even when I have the opportunity to sing that song now, I belt it out with all my heart, but when I reflect on the words, I must ask myself, “Have I really resigned from all follies of sin?” Sadly, the answer is most often, “No, I haven’t.”

One of my favorite worship songs now is When You Walk Into The Room by Bryan and Katie Torwalt. However, there are lyrics within the song that cause me to doubt my level of honesty with the Lord. For example, one line says “We can’t live without You, Jesus…” I’m lying if I say I always keep Jesus at the center of my life. Being a selfish person, I constantly try to live my life without Jesus’ influence. So, often, when I sing those words, I feel more conviction than rejoicing.

So, is the answer to stop singing and participating in corporate worship? Absolutely not. These internal struggles are part of the process of worship. In worship, we come to terms with the holiness of God and therefore, reflect on our own sinfulness. In Isaiah 6, which I learned in college is a textbook example of an ultimate worship service, Isaiah sees the Lord. He’s awed by the power that is before him. He hears the seraphim singing “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!” (Isaiah 6:3). As Isaiah is taking all of this in, he is completely overwhelmed by the Lord’s holiness, and then he comes to grips with his own sinfulness. He cries out, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips.” (Isaiah 6:5a)

Isaiah knew that if he were to join the seraphim in singing “the whole earth is filled with His glory” that his own life would need to reflect the glory of God. The same is true for us with the songs we sing in worship. If we’re going to sing, “The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning, it’s time to sing Your song again…” (10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman), then we should be willing to rise in the morning, remembering who He is, and being willing to lift up His name in song, and willing to submit our day to His will.

So, let’s determine to sing songs, hymns, and spiritual songs to the Lord with hearts that are pure and ready to confess. As we enter into worship, let’s encounter his holiness and repent of our own sinfulness. Let us be filled with integrity in our worship, lifting Him up in Spirit and in TRUTH.

by Categories: Church and Christian Life, Uncategorized, WorshipTags: , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Do You Ever Feel Worthless?

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Do you ever feel worthless? Good for nothing? Without purpose? Inconsequential? Expendable? Unlovable? Ordinary?

If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. I’ve struggled with these feelings myself at times.

Millions of people, just like us, wake up each day, go through the motions of their lives, all the while feeling totally insignificant and utterly useless. Often, when these thoughts of unworthiness exist, we naturally equate them to the way that God must feel about us.

In the musical, Little Shop of Horrors, flower shop worker Seymour sings these words: “Poor, all my life I’ve always been poor. I keep I asking God what I’m for, and He tells me ‘Gee, I’m not sure. Sweep that floor kid.”

I’m not saying it’s right, but those of us who sometimes feel they live in a pointless existence often feel as if God made a mistake when He created us. Like Seymour, we feel like we must live our lives day to day fulfilling mundane tasks. For the record, I’m not saying that sweeping the floor is insignificant. Floors get dirty and must be swept. Some people who sweep floors live very fulfilling and purposeful lives. Others of us though, like Seymour, are sometimes overwhelmed with a sense of worthlessness, and therefore any task, no matter how common or grandiose, can feel routine and commonplace, leaving us feeling dry and unimportant.

These feelings may sometimes come upon us because we forget that God created us in His image. In Genesis 1:27, we see that God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.

We were formed in the image of God. That means something. Our lives are not accidents. God made us on purpose. We have worth. We have value. God formed us after Himself. He loves us and has great purposes for our lives. Every single day was planned out for us before we were even born.

The Psalmist wrote:  I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made…Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began. (Psalm 139:14a, 16)

God didn’t create the planets, earth, sun, moon, stars, rocks, rivers, canyons, mountains, trees, birds, or animals to be like Him, though they do reflect His glory. Instead, He formed us after Himself, in His image. He made each one of us special.

Whenever I felt this struggle within me, I pray something like this: Lord, thank You for creating me in Your image. In that alone, I have great value. Help me to remember that today and everyday. Amen. 

Do you ever feel worthless? If so, trying praying that short prayer above. Try remembering that God created you in His image with great purposes in mind. In that itself, you have great value.

 

*Photo by Evan Kirby, courtesy of Unsplash

 

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