In All Circumstances (10/04/25-10/05/25)

It is, as before, tempting to break this out clause by clause and consider each in detail.  But my thought is to try and take a wider view with these later notes.  We’ll see what happens.  But the first, perhaps the most obvious thing which one sees is the repeated, all-inclusive nature of these commands we are given.  When should we rejoice?  Always!  With whom should we be patient?  Everybody.  What is cause for anxiousness?  Nothing!  What is cause for prayer?  Everything!  Nothing is left outside.  Nothing is beyond the scope of this instruction.

Let us consider, then, how each of these all-encompassing commands impact our demeanor and our actions.  Begin with rejoicing.  Understand the scope, and recall the setup.  Paul has just been discussing the dissension arising between certain persons in that church, calling them to be restored to harmonious unity.  This, I suspect, is a situation familiar to all.  It is highly unlikely that any of us have survived life thus far without ever finding ourselves dealing with strong disagreements over one thing or another.  And in the setting of the church, it may actually be harder rather than easier.  That seems counterintuitive, and because it does, I think it hits us harder when disagreements arise in that setting.  This should be my safe harbor!  How can we, sons of one Father and lovers of Truth, be so separated in our views?  This ought not to be!  Well, no, it shouldn’t be the case.  But we are fallen men even though redeemed.  We see but dimly even though we strive to know God as He truly is.  We’ll get to that in a bit.

But yes, this call to remain calmly happy is a tall order, isn’t it?  Some days I do okay with it.  Other days, not so much.  I had one such day this week, work-related as tends to be the case.  The day began with a few test failures demanding my attention, related to a task on which I felt myself running quite behind schedule, such as schedule applies to such things.  But before I could attend to either one, lo!  A call from somebody dealing with our stuff in a higher level testbench having issues incorporating some of our changes.  And there’s an hour gone, discussing something I thought done and taken care of months ago.  So, now, atop the interruption, there’s the need to dredge up memory of the details of that scenario, which will have a tendency to dislodge what’s currently in memory regarding the issue I am expecting to deal with.  Ah, so, that call ends, and poof!  Off to a different, but related conversation with somebody else, and soon another hour is gone.  Come out of that and, oh, look, somebody’s scheduled me in a meeting starting in, oh, 10 minutes, to discuss yet another aspect of this same issue.  By the time it’s over, I’m off to lunch and still haven’t had opportunity to address the matter with which I started the day.  And yes, remaining calmly happy is rather far from me at that point.  All is stressful anxiousness to get after my own work.  And comes the calming reminder from my beloved wife, who knows me too well, to recall that this, too, is part of the job.  Helping others is part of being a godly engineer.  Oh yeah.  Well, honestly, my response probably wasn’t quite so benign in the moment, but the point lodged, the Spirit worked, and something nearer to peace and joyfulness returned.  And you know what?  The work gets done.  It’s okay.

So, again, in all circumstances, remain calmly happy.  Don’t be put out by stress.  Don’t be overburdened by the demands of the day.  Oh!  How I feel that one.  Even on Saturdays and Sundays, there is ever that list of things needing attention, long enough to require sorting by immediacy of need.  And me being who I am, especially on Saturdays, the list can be so overwhelming as to induce inaction, which of course, just makes the list longer.  Sigh.  And that, too, can lead to anxious concern, that my idleness is not merely counter-productive, but trending towards sinful.  And, oh, how is this impacting any sense of Sabbath rest?  And now, we’re in real trouble.  And anxiousness mounts, and joy retreats, and what is left for me is something close to catatonic resignation.  That’s not the way.

Rejoice!  Remain calm.  Remember that all things happen for a reason.  Perhaps I can come back to that state of mind I knew at the outset, the clear recognition that there really is no such thing as coincidence.  But you know, there are times when I’d just as soon believe there is such a thing, that things are in the space of inconsequentiality.  The call I had from my doctor’s office yesterday would be in that category.  The growing weakness I see in my wife would be in that category.  And what a coincidence, that; that I find myself reviewing notes from about the same time last year, with the same expectation of journeying to Africa to help our brother pastors over there.  Coincidence?  No, I think not.  Somehow evidence that God doesn’t want us going and doing this thing?  No, I think not.  If He wanted us to cease and desist, I feel certain He would make that clear to us or to those who have been calling us alongside to help them, without resorting to causing mishap and dismay.  No, the correct answer would be that there is opposition, as there ever is, to the going forth of the gospel into occupied territory.  The old adage applies, I suppose, that he attracts more flak who is most over target.  So, then, how to respond?  Be not dismayed!  Be not overburdened.  Do not stress, but pray.

This year’s preparations have been made more difficult in that my wife is not at all in agreement with my going.  And yes, it gives rise to disquiet in me that it is so, but I am also firmly convicted of God’s will that this proceed.  So, then, whom to obey?  Yeah.  The choice becomes obvious, doesn’t it?  Shall I obey God or woman?  But that doesn’t really set aside the disquiet, does it.  Especially as I see certain developing patterns that reflect the last time.  What then, should change, and what remain the same?  Well, one change is to recognize what’s happening and to take it to prayer.  That is, after all, the message of this passage, isn’t it?  Rejoice always.  How, when everything seems troubling?  Recall the nearness of your Lord.  This isn’t – and I am probably getting well ahead of myself here – just living in expectation that today could be the day, though it could be.  It’s more to do with reminding yourself that He is with you, even to the end of the age.  And if to the end, then certainly in the present.  He’s not just waiting at home for you to come back.  He is here.  He is with you.  If there are events that cause anxiousness, pray.  If there are fresh concerns arising, pray.  Find your way back into the stronghold of God’s peace.  Pursue your work, but from the place of resting in Him, knowing that He is fully able to pursue His desired ends through your meager means.  Set yourself to the task, then, of trusting Him, opening yourself before Him, and receiving from His comfort and His power.

There will ever be those who revile you for your faith, if indeed your faith is evident in your dealings.  Rejoice.  Remain calmly happy.  Don’t go looking for trouble.  That’s foolishness.  And, as Jesus observed, each day will assuredly have trouble enough of its own.  But when it comes, remember Who walks with you, remember Whose you are.  Remember that you are in His capable hands, and there is nothing sufficient to remove you from them.  And yes, recognize that which Matthew Henry observes, that there is joy for us even in the worst circumstances of earthly life.  Honestly, we might well recognize that the worst that can happen to us in this life is to remain in it.  I don’t wish to slide over into nihilism, but this is, rather, assurance.  Nothing in this life can touch what my Savior has stored up for me in heaven.  For this alone I can rejoice, however difficult life here becomes.  I think of those facing the seemingly ever more common battle with cancer.  And yes, there’s a battle there, and the desire to remain, hopefully because, like Paul, we perceive that there is more fruitful ministry to be done should we do so.  But whatever motivates that desire, life is ever to be preferred to death, is it not?  Only, we can walk in this life with the keen awareness that the real life, the life deserving of being called living, pertains in the spirit, and the spirit persists.  When the time comes, it will be the time of God’s choosing, and we can face it with the comforting assurance that He has chosen not only the time, but us, adopted sons of His household now scheduled to come home, finally, from this remote field.

Recall that we are pressing on toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Php 3:14), walking the pattern He has set for us (Php 3:17).  It may seem as though Paul changed topics as we changed chapters, but really, the one follows upon what the other instructed.  If our pursuit is of that upward call, then it is a pursuit of holiness, completeness in being separated unto Him, devoted to Him as a spiritual offering, a holy, living sacrifice presented to Him as our spiritual service of worship (Ro 12:1).  It is for this reason that concerns arise when divisions appear.  It is on this basis that harmony can be restored.  We are both of us holy, living sacrifices.  We are both of us devoted to Him.  What cause, then, can there be for this division between us?  No!  Let us rather rejoice together that we are accepted in Him and by Him.

Ironside writes, “Joy and holiness are inseparable.”  This is a curious thing, isn’t it?  What has joy to do with holiness?  Honestly, I think for many of us, we’re stuck with in this idea that holiness must be dour and stern.  But that perspective doesn’t come from God, it comes from the world.  Ask the average man on the street what he thinks of the Puritans, and that’s probably what you come away with.  Oh, they were joyless scolds, determined that nobody anywhere ought to be having any fun at any time.  Well, no.  I would maintain that the Puritans knew great joy, the greatest possible.  But they also knew the weight of sin.  They knew, perhaps, that fun has its place, but joy has no boundaries.  That doesn’t mean we just laugh off everything around us.  That would be quite impossible and quite inappropriate.  Evil is not cause for laughter.  Pain and sorrow are not matters to celebrate with clapping and backslaps and the like.  Not at all.  And yet, if you have known a brother or sister whose joy remained indomitable in spite of chronic disease, you know how powerful a testimony of God’s goodness, of God’s sustaining strength their joy is.

And so, the call.  Rejoice in the Lord always!  Observe closely.  Paul is not calling us to rejoice in the circumstance.  He’s calling us to rejoice in the Lord.  This is critical to understand.  I mean, yes, if we understand the providence of God, and hold to the security that He is working all things for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Ro 8:28), then we cannot but recognize that whatever the circumstance, God is in control and is working something good from it.  That can get hard to hold onto when circumstances persist.  That can be hard to perceive when you’re in the midst of trial.  But it’s there.  So, rejoice!  Rejoice, God’s got this.  Rejoice.  Whatever has come against you, it is not greater than Him.  However you have failed, it is not beyond His power to restore.  So, get up and get back in the race.  Do former friends revile you for your faith?  Rejoice in the Lord.  Draw your strength and your comfort from Him, for He is your dearest friend.

Is everyone around you losing patience?  It may be the workplace.  It may be the drive.  It may be the grocery store.  It may even be the church.  Impatience beckons, and there is that within us which longs to respond in kind.  But instead, rejoice!  Again, let me stress that we are not talking about laughing in their face, or putting on a show of temporary insanity as we giggle to ourselves.  That serves no purpose.  But retreat into the peace of God and be restored.  Remain calm when all about you are losing their minds.  Be, if you will, the beachhead of sanity, and hold firm in the Lord.

And then, in all things, seek to be the servant of Him whom you call Lord.  He is Lord.  And He is our first and best example of the life to which we have been called.  What example did He set us?  “He emptied Himself [of every privilege and prerogative], taking the form of a bond-servant…  He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Php 2:7-8).  He didn’t advise our Father to choose a more comfortable and appealing course of action.  He said, “Yes, Father.  Your will.”  If you think your circumstances difficult to bear, consider once again what circumstances He bore for you.  Then, set yourself, per His instruction, to be servant to all, doing all things as unto Him.

That should be a sufficient challenge to keep us occupied today.

A Cord of Three Strands (10/05/25-10/07/25)

If our passage is so connected to what has been said already, then not only must we keep that connectedness in view, but we must be assured that what we consider now is not something akin to wisdom literature, with Paul just rattling off a loose collection of pithy sayings.  No.  These connect to what has been said, and the connect most thoroughly one with another as he proceeds.  Forbearance will not hold where rejoicing is absent, nor can we rejoice in anxiousness.  So, we find our capacity to rejoice linked with our propensity for prayer.  And then, we see the antidote supplied, the strength to forbear, the calm to quell anxiety, the delight in which to rejoice:  it comes in that realization and experience of the peace of God which is ours.  Note well, this is not an appeal by prayer that God might perhaps deign to supply us with that peace.  Neither is it a dependent clause, indicating that experience of His peace depends upon our adherence to the preceding commands.  If anything, it’s the other way around.  Our capacity to heed these commands hinges upon the reality of His peace guarding heart and mind.

You will, of course, recognize the reference from which I take the title for this portion of my studies.  A cord of three strands is not easily torn apart (Ecc 4:12).  One alone can be overpowered, but two together can resist.  Our joy might well be overpowered if it stood alone unaided.  But it does not.  It stands with and within the peace of God.  Now, I have just finished saying that experience of His peace does not depend on our obeying the commanded actions of this passage.  Perhaps I should have left the word experience out of that.  The reality of His guarding our hearts and minds surely does not so depend on our deeds.  He is our peace, this Prince of Peace.  But our experience of that peace which is ours in Him shall surely deepen and grow richer as we spend more time with Him.  We do so in study, yes, but I observe that the call here is not to devote ourselves to searching the Scriptures, as valuable as that effort is to our spiritual wellbeing.  No, the call is to pray.  Study will not, in itself, answer anxious thoughts.  Study will not, in itself, produce joy in us.  Honestly, sometimes the preparation steps are anything but joyful.  They are work, and they can, if we are not careful, become tedium.  There are commentaries which, if I am honest, I almost dread during these second-pass exercises, because I know there’s going to be the work of hunting up myriad scriptures by which they seek to make their point, and that just takes time.  And time presses in, doesn’t it?  I choose these morning hours in hope of divesting myself somewhat of that pressure of schedule, but then, there’s so much I wish to pack into the morning that still, schedule impinges.

I will note a bit of cross-pollination here, as I was preparing some of my teaching notes for this upcoming trip yesterday.  There, I am pursuing a theme of knowledge producing wisdom producing character, how the three of these together are so needful to effective ministry, and to effective witness in general.  There is another cord of three strands.  The same power of connectedness applies.  Knowledge apart from wisdom is trivia.  Wisdom apart from practice is hypocrisy.  Practice not founded on knowledge and wisdom is mere habit.  Any single strand could easily be rendered useless.  Or, I could look at the power cord I was repairing yesterday.  Three wires form the cord.  Cut any one and the cord is, at minimum, rendered useless.  It may very well be rendered quite dangerous.  It needs the connection of all three to be powerful.  Likewise, we need these three together to be effective in ministry.  We need these three together to be effective in our own race.

And so, we have this triple call, and the three intertwine, woven together by the Spirit to form an unbreakable cord of faith in us.  Rejoice!  Keep your delight in the Lord.  Be patient with all.  Set aside your privilege.  Set aside your sense that you deserve blessings, not this garbage.  Remain mindful of God’s providence.  If He has chosen this which you perceive as garbage to be your lot, remember that He has done so in the course of shaping something good in and for you.  It is not pointless annoyance.  It is, if nothing else, building character.  Undertake, then, the exercise set before you, and rejoice that you are growing.  And pray.  Do events have you distraught, or disheartened?  Pray!  Pray honestly.  Admit your need.  Admit even your bad attitude.  It’s not like He hasn’t noticed.  But be honest.  Then, also, be thankful.  Recall to mind what God has done in you already.  You have a record to refer to, a lifetime of events faced together.  And when has He failed you?  Never!  No, and He never will.  When has He been capricious or malevolent towards you?  Never!  No, and He never will.  Rather, that great cry of Paul holds.  “If God is for us, who is against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Ro 8:31-32).  There is no need in you that exceeds His capacity.  There is no challenge before you that exceeds His power.  There is no attack against you which can in any meaningful way break through His guard.  If the pain of attack has been felt, it is for His purpose and within His plan.  Learn, then.  Grow, then.  Stand fast, and having done all you know to do, stand some more.  Pray without ceasing.  Recall to mind that your Lord is near.  He is nearer than ever before, should we contemplate the day of His return.  But more, He is near.  He is with you, within you.  This is His promise to you, His bride.  “Lo!  I am with you even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:20).  Rejoice!

Having instructed us to rejoice, Paul calls us to patience.  Translations are, admittedly, all over the place on this, trying to find the right word to convey the meaning of epieikes.  The KJV and friends opt for moderation.  The NASB wants a forbearing spirit.  A simpler form might suggest be reasonable, or do what is reasonable, suitable.  But that in and of itself would leave far too much room for personal interpretation of what is reasonable in a given circumstance.  There are suggestions of patience here, and I might include a sense of humility.  There is so much that comes in under this heading.  There are, for instance, those questions of how to respond to ill treatment.  Do we return insult for insult, anger for anger?  Well, we probably do, but it’s not really a question of our practice, but rather of our ideal.  What is the standard set for us, towards which we haltingly strive?  Shall we be just only to the just, love only the loveable?  Well, hear Jesus.  “Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Mt 5:47).  We are held to a higher standard, the standard God displays in Himself, who loves even those so unlovely as ourselves.

But we are quick to impatience, slow to mildness.  That’s not as it ought to be, certainly.  Far better we should be quick to cede our privileges and slow to press our rights.  As I was reading last night in a back issue of Table Talk, that’s not to suggest we should just be doormats, ready to be stomped on by every abuse.  No, legal recourse remains legal to the believer.  But there’s a difference between pursuing legal recourse, and becoming that sort of demanding scold which current trends refer to as a Karen.  Be just towards all, even if they are unjust towards you.  Be kind to all, even when treated unkindly.  Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.  This is the consistent message to the believer.  Be the son of your Father, Who is Himself just towards all men, loving towards all men.  Now, that may feel a step too far.  It is not.  God hates sin, yet He continues to show His love toward the sinner.  Were it not so, you and I would not be believers.  Were it not so, mankind would be wholly, utterly lost.  There could be no remnant, except He loved enough to redeem.  And even those left unredeemed, still He feeds, still He causes to know the benefits of sun and rain and nighttime rest.  And, for all that, still He holds forth the proffer of the Gospel.

Now, there, we get into some murky, debated territory.  Is it held out in a fashion that they could accept, if only?  Or, with whom shall we lay the fault for their rejection?  Well, the fault for rejection clearly lies with them, for, as Paul says, God has made His existence and His essence evident to all.  Yet, it must also be acknowledged that God’s Word does not fail of its purpose.  If, then, there is failure to receive it, while the moral fault lies with the receiver, yet the purposed result remains with God.  God does not fail.  And yet, I might suggest that the depths of His mercy are still to be seen in that even the worst reprobate continues to draw breath.  Now, such mercy has a finite limit, known only to Him, and there will come that time when mercy ceases towards those who are perishing.  And that is a terror too great to be contemplated, an end to be wished for no man, not even our worst enemy and most determined abuser.  But withal, God is just.  He is just to forgive those whose sins have been accounted for in Christ Jesus.  He is just to withhold that redemption from whom He will.  He is just to punish sin in full.  He is just to adopt whom He chooses to adopt.  There is no injustice in Him.  Let there, then, be no injustice in us, His children.

Ah, but patience, moderation if you prefer, but really moderation calls for patience anyway.  After all, if we are to be moderate, it will require acceptance of people as they are, even when what they are may be kind of annoying.  This is the place Calvin chooses to focus a fair amount of energy in his coverage of the passage, and rightly so.  For this is our weakest point, I think.  How many will pray for patience?  I think that as long as I have been a believer I have been cautioned against such prayers on the basis that if we ask for patience, it must surely bring such circumstances as will try our patience sorely.  After all, what muscle ever grew stronger through lack of use?  And to be fair, there’s almost certainly some truth to that consideration.  I would put it more generally.  Don’t pray for that for which you are unwilling to put in the required effort.  I might say, count the cost before you pray.  Don’t recite the Lord’s Prayer unless you mean it.  “Thy will be done?”  Are you truly willing to give way before His will?  Have you even considered what His will might entail in this instance?  I mean, when Jesus prayed in this fashion in Gethsemane, He knew full well what was coming.  And understand, this was more than resignation with the inevitable.  This was agreement with the plan reaffirmed, in spite of the inexpressible anguish ahead.

Patience is needful.  And frankly, as it is needful, I am quite certain our Father will see to it that we learn patience through the exercise of facing irritating circumstances whether we are actively requesting such training or not.  But better, I should think, if we entered into that effort with awareness and purpose.  You are, after all, far more likely to be patient if you are considering the need to be so.  Yes, you may be surprised by a mild response to trying situations.  I think of that occasion when we were rear-ended pulling into my father’s driveway.  I was indeed surprised by my appropriateness.  For one so used to bursting forth with profanities, it was something of a wonder to me that no such explosion came forth, only concern for the wellbeing both of my loved ones in my car, and those who had plowed into us, who were, after all, in far greater risk of serious injury.

But it shouldn’t be some surprise intervention of the Spirit restraining us from our worst impulses.  It ought to be our character, reformed by the Spirit, asserting itself in appropriate fashion.  How?  How shall we retain equanimity in the face of ill treatment, errant nonsense, or what seem to us poorly thought out views?  How shall we remain at peace when caught up in the wonders of Massachusetts traffic?  How shall we continue in kindness when dealing with irritable, overworked service employees?  Are we really going to get that worked up over a bit of fruit that went bad faster than we would have expected?  Really?  I mean, these are minor annoyances, and we barely manage to deal with them.  We have people apologizing to us because they sense that they have taken two or three seconds longer getting clear of the register than was absolutely necessary, and why?  Is it simply conditioning, or does something in our face reflect that inner impatience because we just want to get done with this so we can get back to more important matters?

Here some advice from Calvin, which I think clearly reflects the advice of our Lord Jesus.  Prefer to give up your rights rather than to complain.  I come back to it again and again, but there is that book from a missionary to China, addressed to those considering the mission field, a forewarning of sorts.  “You have no rights.”  That’s the message.  You are a servant of Christ Jesus.  It’s not about the privileges of being a king’s kid.  It’s about being a servant to all.  It’s not about beating the drum of doom and gloom, and making sure everybody knows about your special insights into the end times, as if you were the next Isaiah or something.  It’s about being the person you claim to be.  If you are a child of God, act like it.  It’s not about dropping rhetorical bombs on the unbeliever, but rather, about loving them into the kingdom.  Go back to your lessons.  “Insofar as it lies with you, be at peace with all men” (Ro 12:18).  Rather than ranking on those who don’t share your particular secondary, tertiary ideas about what constitutes real Christianity, try practicing it.  Once more with feeling:  You have no rights!  It’s not about your rights.  It’s not about the world needing to bend to your will because you are a child of God.  No!  It’s about standing fast, yes, but not in belligerence.  “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.  The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly” (Pr 15:1-2).  These are things to consider as we bring our message to an unbelieving world.  And that would count those we may consider backslidden or misled as well as those who have rejected truth outright.  Smacking them over the head with dire warnings is unlikely to produce a hearing response.  There’s a place for such talk, but it’s probably not here.

Look again at the calling here.  Rejoice!  Be calmly happy in the Lord, and let your patient forbearing moderation be known to all.  To ALL!  Where is rejoicing in dire warnings that the end is nigh?  Where is rejoicing in dwelling on the sour news of governmental indiscretions?  Yes, these are evils.  But then, evil men will evil do.  And do what they will, God remains on the throne.  How are you going to rejoice in Him if your focus is on them?  Stop it!  The world seeks to stir up anger.  But don’t mistake that anger for righteous wrath.  No.  Leave vengeance to the Lord, and appreciate it as it unfolds.  But for your part?  Rejoice.  Your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.  What transpires in this current setting is secondary, apart from how you disport yourself.

Now, recognize the connection here, how rejoicing and patience intertwine.  Calvin observes that rejoicing keeps us from giving in to grief and impatience.  Would you gain patience?  Rejoice in the Lord!  Would you be relieved of your grief?  Rejoice in the Lord!  Stop looking at what the devil is doing, and look what the Lord has done.  This, of course, looks forward to the advice in the verse that follows our passage.  Focus on what’s good, and lovely, and true.  It’s there.  But the world seeks to turn your eyes aside from it to what is vile, ugly, and false.  And oh!  How we can stoke our anger at the sight of such things!  Yes, you can.  And your enemy smiles.  For in your anger you only weaken yourself.  But the joy of the Lord is your strength.  Interesting, isn’t it?

Don’t be so readily moved, so easily annoyed.  We are in an age of irritability.  Everything urges us to self-centered irritability.  Any least inconvenience to our illustrious selves is cause for uproar.  Any opinion we don’t share is cause for anger and outright violence.  This is the world you are in.  But it is not the world you are of.  Snap out of it!  Be patient with those who are hindered by the blinders of sin and sin’s author.  Be patient, as well, with your brothers who may not see entirely eye-to-eye with yourself.  Ironside draws from Cromwell’s advice to those caught up in the heat of theological debate, and it’s well worth taking to heart ourselves.  “I beseech you, brothers!  Remember that it is possible you may be wrong.”  Are we still prepared to accept that possibility?  Or have we become so entrenched in our views that God Himself couldn’t change our minds?  It’s a question worth contemplating at length.

Paul next turns to anxiousness, which we might recognize as being the very opposite of the patient forbearing that is urged.  Indeed we might set anxiety down to the root issue of impatience.  We become impatient with our circumstance, impatient with the endless trials and tribulations.  Trust me, this is one I know too well.  I grow impatient with setbacks and delays at work, with processes that seemingly go wrong, though if I am honest, it’s probably my own carelessness which lies at root.  Or, perhaps I have been too distracted, jumping from task to task.  I used to count that as a talent, but anymore, it seems more an impediment.  But hear this from Calvin.  “Ignorance of the providence of God is the cause of all impatience.”  That is something!  That is a sharp reminder.  Things don’t just happen.  There is purpose in all things, even the trivial.  Rather than carping we should be learning.  Rather than rage against the machine, I ought to be seeking personal change, to avoid that tendency for distraction which leads to error which leads to failure which leads to impatience with self and with all.

“Be anxious for nothing.”  What a request to make.  Anymore, it seems I am anxious in most things.  My guitar instructor observes that as I become anxious in reaching for that barre chord, error strikes.  You’d think I’d know that by now.  The same applies with any instrument.  Anxiety is doom.  Put it in the preparations for Africa.  I can be anxious about this, and what I will teach is anxiousness.  Or, I can calmly prepare, trust God with house and home while I am away, trust God with my own safety and freedom from ailments and the like as I seek to go about His business.  But more, as I learned on prior occasions, trusting Him to bring to mind those parts of my preparations, along with things unprepared, that suit His plan and purpose for each day.  God’s providence!  I should be so keenly attuned to this, it having such connection to the moment of my salvation.  “There’s no such thing as coincidence.”  Circumstances aren’t circumstantial.  God is at work.  Far better, then, to see Him in the work, ask after His intent in the work, and then, join Him in that work, with rejoicing.

Recall that we are looking at this three-stranded cord.  Would you know an end to your anxiety?  Rejoice in the Lord!  Yes!  Here, in the midst of trial, know that God has purpose, and God is with you.  You may not see it.  Well, then!  Ask for wisdom.  Ask for eyes and mind able to perceive the point and learn from it.  But withal, whether understanding comes or not, know.  God is with you.  He’s got this.  He’s got you.  Rejoice!  Nothing in these circumstances can shake you free of His grip.  Nothing in these circumstances can alter His schedule by so much as a picosecond.  Nothing in these circumstances can diminish or increase your heavenly reward of life.

And that, from where I sit, is also a great antidote for anxiety.  All that we are talking about here, all that is commanded, is at root the work of God, not something for me to work up in the flesh.  Yes, these trials, and the successes I may experience in them, are not finally dependent upon my care and carefulness.  They don’t depend on me retaining a perfect, unfaltering attentiveness to God, though such attentiveness will certainly benefit me greatly.  They depend on Him Who is at work in me, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Php 2:13).  That has not been left behind by Paul as he has proceeded with this epistle.  It’s foundational to pursuing the instruction set before us now.  God is at work, here in this impossibility, here in this trying time, here in this struggling relationship.  God is at work, even in that child who seems to have turned away.  Do you not recall how hard you struggled to find something other than faith?  She is not so far removed that He cannot reach.  But it’s His call.  For your part, delight yourself in the Lord.  Rejoice in what He is doing, in who He is, in how He has changed you, in the calm assurance that even here, He is with you, even here, He is at work, even here, He is victorious.

Remember yourself!  The message to the Galatians comes to mind.  What you are today is not the result of flesh and blood.  It is, in all ways, the work of God by the Spirit.  Well, then!  Having begun by the Spirit, do you think to perfect the work by the flesh (Gal 3:3)?  Are you yet so foolish?  No, flesh and blood will never obtain your homecoming.  Flesh and blood will never finish this race.  It is by the Spirit.  It is in the strength and the power of God, God who is Himself working in you to bring you to that finish line.

This, I tend to think, is the function of that note, midstream, of the nearness of the Lord.  I mean, well and good that we should have the Last Day ever in view, live ever in the awareness that He could come today.  But, as Paul addressed with the Thessalonians, we must likewise live like it may not be today that He returns.  We keep on keeping on, working quietly with our own hands at those labors which His providence has provided us to serve as means for our provision.  Note the connective tissue of those two words:  Provision by Providence.  Go back to Abraham on the hilltop with his son.  “The Lord will provide.”  Just so.  But His provision often comes by what seem rather mundane means.  His provision comes through my employer.  It may not have that supernatural flare that so captivates our attention.  But it is every bit as supernatural.  And He calls us to provide, especially as husband and father.  We, too, are His chosen means of provision for others, and we do well to be attentive to that task and seek to do it well.  So, the nearness of the Lord cannot be excuse to lay down tools, as it were.  It’s not a call to withdraw.  It may just be a call to engage.

But in the context before us, it seems that the nearness of the Lord has far more to do with His presence in the here and now.  The old song comes to mind.  “He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own.”  I’m sure many could continue the verse.  I am equally sure that, as we dwell on the words of that song, there is a joy which arises within, as we are put back in mind of His nearness, of the closeness of our fellowship with Him.  He is with me!  I am not alone.

That, I confess, can be not only a great comfort, but also a great concern.  He is with me, whether I am attentive to His nearness or not.  He is with me, looking on, as I go about my day, whether I go about it conscientiously seeking to represent Him well, or whether I go about it in a fashion indistinguishable from the unbelieving around me.  He is with me when I navigate my minimal travels with equanimity and grace.  He is with me when I vent my frustration at the one slow to move in front of me, or decry the lack of driving skills in those who pull bizarre and even dangerous maneuvers.  Blessing or cursing, both come from this tongue of mine, as this week’s sermon reminded.  It ought not to be so, but it is.  I can try to make excuses or I can try to make amends.  Either way, the Lord is near.  May that serve to shape and inform my choices.  May His grace be sufficient in me to allow that my choices would be better than they are by nature.

These three, then, rejoicing in the Lord, lending the resilience to be patient, our patience resting on His nearness and on the awareness and experience of His providential activity in our lives, driving away any anxiety in us as we enter into closer fellowship together with Him through prayer.  I have left prayer out of the equation thus far, but only to maintain this theme of three strands.  Prayer, I might then suggest, is that which weaves those strands together into a strong, unified cord.  But that shall wait for another day to explore.

Character Counts (10/07/25-10/10/25)

Before I turn myself to this subject of prayer, however, I want to turn my attention on the matter of character.  Come back to verse 5 again.  “Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men.”  Let patience show.  How much more readily we let impatience show.  Patience takes effort.  Impatience comes naturally.  But we are being changed.  We are being renewed daily, our minds informed by the Scriptures and by the Spirit.  We are not who we were, and we need not react as we once did.  Should I go to the grocery store today, and find people stopping in the most inconvenient places, or careening towards a corner on collision course, I have a choice as to how I shall respond.  When I face the cashier, or the bagger, or any other who works there, I have a choice as to how I shall interact.  Shall I belittle them, or berate them for being in my way?  Shall I silently judge them, all the while pasting a false smile on my face?  Ah!  But God loathes a hypocrite.  I mean, if that’s the best you can muster, I suppose it’s at least a start.  But seek to actually feel that smile and that patient giving way to others.  Seek to actually be pleasant, conciliatory, relaxed.  It’s not the end of the world if it takes a few minutes longer to get through the store.  It’s not the end of the world if you have to wait for another cycle of the traffic light, even if you’re running late to whatever appointment.

I go back to that question from whatever Puritan source, which is the real me?  Is it that which people see, or that which I feel within?  Well, the goal, I should think, must be that these two become the same.  Then, the struggle is done, isn’t it?  I have to say, the real me is probably more that within, but if that be so, then may Christ so work in me that what is within becomes more evident in what shows without.  Alternately, if I’ve been busily pasting a more appropriate face on a seething interior life, may He so work in me that my interior feels that peaceableness I am projecting.  In short, may I, by the grace of God, be the real me in all aspects, and may that real me be fashioned by Him.  May my character be formed after His own, and may I be pleased to let that character demonstrate in how I interact with those around me.  May I practice His patience with coworkers today, even if it seems they interrupt my own capacity to think clearly about my own tasks.  May I be gracious towards all those other people making their way to wherever they’re going as they share the road with me.  May I bless and not curse.  May I abide in His peace, guarded in heart and mind, as I go about the sundry activities of my day.  May it be so at work.  May it be so at home.  May it be so in between.

And isn’t it funny, if rather predictable, that no sooner do I depart the house to make my way to men’s group than I find myself tested in this, and falling short.  But at least there is the quick catching of myself, repenting, seeking to shift impatience to calm forbearance.  Honestly, if we consider those things that trigger impatience in us they are almost entirely matters of no consequence.  So you’ll be three minutes early rather than five?  Oh well!  Were you even three minutes late it really wouldn’t be an issue, would it?  All will be well.

But consider the alternative.  Consider how positively it can impact the situation when instead of impatience you choose to be gentle, considerate, patient.  This is not the patience of resignation.  This isn’t just giving up.  No, it’s a loving response, a positive response, a response that cares more about others than self.  Still, it is not something we can work up in ourselves, though we work on it in ourselves.  What is happening?  We are exercising our spiritual muscles, seeking to be by nature what we are by spirit.  By the Spirit, by God’s choice and action, we are in point of fact His children.  We are declared righteous in light of the work of Christ applied to our account by faith.  And yes, we know that even this faith by which righteousness has been applied to our account is itself the work of Christ, the gift of the Father, given to us, His adopted children.  Faith is, as it were, our adoption papers.  But having become sons, it will yet take time to be as sons.  Sons reflect the ways and the character of their father.  But it isn’t some question of genetics.  It’s not that inevitable.  It’s a matter of observing, learning, practicing, and becoming.  We are becoming what we already are.

We already are His children.  We are becoming His children in truth, in practice.  We are seeing His character traits, His way of thinking, of doing.  And we are, slowly, imperfectly, but with increasing capacity, coming to share them.  If we are to be gentle and forbearing with others, it is because this is who our Father is.  He has been exceedingly gentle and forbearing with us, has He not?  I think of that which we were reading in 1 Timothy this last week.  In me, the foremost of sinners, Christ Jesus was displaying His perfect patience as an example for you who would believe (1Ti 1:15-16).  Coming to faith in Christ must, at some level, come with a keen awareness of just how patient He has been with us.  As we see the catalog of our sins, and recognize the depths of foolishness and rebellion that He has tolerated in us lo, these many years, and still He comes to us with this gift of forgiveness and redemption; do you not see His patience with you?  Do you not see in His example sufficient cause for you to be patient with those around you?  Who knows but that they might yet be found brothers in Christ!

How well I recall an early encounter with one who has become indeed a dear brother in Christ, albeit one with whom I rarely get to interact any more.  But we worked many years together.  But at the outset, well, both of us were a bit rougher around the edges, and honestly, given what I saw of him at work at the time, it rather offended my sensibilities that he took an interest in some of the same Christian music that I did.  How dare he!  Now, at the time I would have accounted him more a functioning hippie than a Christian, and who knows how he thought of me.  But over the years, we have come to know each other, to discuss our faith together.  And yes, there are plenty of points on which we might not see eye to eye, but he is a brother in Christ and a true son of the Father, and I have enjoyed greatly the fellowship we share on those occasions we have to share fellowship.  But my point:  You don’t really know, certainly not at first contact.  You don’t know how the future will unfold for yourself, let alone any other.

I could think of another brother whom I have counted a dear, wise, and devoted believer.  And yet, recent events put it all into question.  Was it all just head knowledge and show?  I find it difficult to accept.  And it may yet be that he comes to repentance and returns to a rich, true faith in Christ.  But how patient must my Savior be to deal with such repudiation of faith and truth, and still be found willing to receive this son back to Himself?  From my perspective, it would be a most unlikely scenario.  But that’s my own wounded impatience, isn’t it?  It’s not the character of my Father.  Oh, to be sure, there is a point of no return with Him.  Even with Him, patience comes to an end.  And perdition follows.  It’s not a line one wants to test.  But to know patience like unto His own?  Would that it were in me.  I suppose I do know it, in some degree, towards my immediate family.  Maybe.  I certainly know a resilient hope that He will bring them to sound faith whatever their present condition.  But I don’t know as I could necessarily say I believe He will.  Frankly, it’s His call.  He knows my heart and my desire.  These, I think, speak more loudly than any sense of conviction on my part as to whether it shall be so.  I know those who speak with conviction, insisting that He will act, He must act.  But that is not conviction with a basis in knowledge.  It’s more a seeking to wish the thing into being.

I seem to have wandered somewhat in my thinking this morning, and that’s okay.  It’s stuff that needed airing and considering.  But let me try and get back on track, or somewhere near to it.  We are called to be developing in ourselves this character of sonship.  Be benevolent as He is benevolent.  It’s right there with the golden rule, isn’t it?  Do unto others as you would have done unto you.  Or, we might say, do unto others as God has already done unto you.  You have been forgiven so much.  Will it really pain you so much to forgive so little?  No.  It just takes setting aside pride and prerogative.  And in doing so, we do no more than our beloved Christ did for us, He who laid aside all the privileges of Godhood to become obedient, even to the point of death, even to the ignominious death of crucifixion.  He showed us what sonship looks like.  He showed us the Father.  And now, He has called us to likewise demonstrate this sonship, to make our Father known by more than just our words.  Words not backed by action, by practice, by character, are just empty noise.  But when word is demonstrated in consistent character?  Then is the power of God come to bear.

Listen!  It was true with raising our children.  It will be true of seeking to raise up children unto God.  They cannot know what you won’t show.  Oh, but this holds in so many different aspects of life, doesn’t it?  If you are in some form of mentoring relationship, whether it be in pursuit of ministry, or as a matter of employment, or in raising your children, this holds true.  You can be brilliant at your work, ever so knowledgeable about all the intricacies of the things you do.  And your boss may see fit to set you to the task of training some of your younger peers.  But you can’t train them by simply taking the hard parts and doing them yourself.  Neither can you train them by leaving them to screw up and then coming by afterwards to do repairs, so they won’t feel bad about themselves.  No.  Neither can you take the path of puppy training, and berate them for their failures.  Show them.  Explain to them.  Let them see not only the solution but the thinking that leads to solution.  Oh, and let us not forget this, because we are on a path of reasonable humility we ought also to recognize that however junior they may be, the fact remains that there may well be things we can learn from them as well.

But character is what we’re after here, not skills.  All the gifts of the Spirit, were they exercised in excess of what the Apostles did, would come to nothing without character.  All the doing of ministry will come to nothing if we are not ourselves changed, if we have not in fact been becoming true sons of the true Father.  Godly character matters.  And the wonderful reality of it is that because we are dealing with character rather than mere habit, it will become easier as we allow these new character traits to overwrite old pathways of behavior.  It’s not so far removed from that muscle memory which allows us to become more proficient at this or that skill.  Musically, my muscles know more than I do about playing the saxophone at this point.  My fingers know more about using my text editor at work than my mind does.  Honestly, and I expect this is something we all experience in some degree, if I have to think about how to do some of these things, it eludes me.  But if I just do them?  Yeah, the fingers know what to do.

That, my friends, is what it means to have developed character.  You don’t have to think, to pray until you’re sweating drops of blood, to pursue the right course.  If anything, overthinking it just makes it harder.  Character just responds.  It comes naturally.  Yes, it takes effort and exercise to develop those natural responses.  That’s the process of sanctification isn’t it?  But as you develop the natural responses, they should respond naturally.  The nature of Christian character is such that it should not be able to cease its activities.  To cease being demonstrably Christian in character, we must cease to be Christian at all.

Now, that may raise a bit of anxiousness when we consider our failures, for they are manifold and frequent.  But look at the trend line.  Look at the trajectory of life.  You are not who you were.  And to take from John, it has not yet appeared who you will be.  But one could look at the graph of your development and make an educated guess.  So, the grand question becomes, what does that graph show in you?  Take the long view.  Is it trending upward?  Praise be to God.  Now, let us have a look at the most recent segment of the chart.  Does the trend still show?  Praise be to God.  But if not, let us take it to heart, and seek out the cause for this retrograde tendency.  Don’t be anxious, pray.  Seek the Lord.  He will answer.  Seek wisdom.  He will supply.  Seek strength of resolve to change what needs changing in order to correct course.  He has already given you everything needful for life and godliness, and He will surely cause you to stand, to lay hold of His supply, and be restored.

Now, we are focused on the issue of character here, on being true sons of our Father, reflecting His ways and His thinking in our own.  With that in mind, consider the implications of this call to rejoice always.  If this is our calling, then it is God’s character.  God, then, is always rejoicing!  And considering the state of things in this world, which has been the state of this world, it seems, about as long as there has been a world populated by mankind, this is a marvel in itself, is it not?  But go back to those days of creation, and what do you see?  God undertakes His work, and sees that it is good.  God creates man, fully aware of what will unfold from that, and rejoices that it is very good.  God sees the full course of history, start to finish, with all the sins of all mankind spreading out before Him, with the humiliation and the agony of Christ’s life and death clearly in view, with the struggles of His Church through the centuries, and all the ways mankind would corrupt even this, and still, He finds cause to rejoice in what He has wrought.  That’s assuredly not to suggest that He rejoices in our sins, nor should we.  But let us say, instead, that He rejoices in spite of our sins, for He knows the end of the story, more fully than we do.  All of this is proceeding exactly as planned, progressing towards that ultimate good of the new creation in which God is come to dwell among His sons, and oh!  What a wonderful result this is.  Yes!  By all means, let us rejoice, for God is rejoicing over us.

The more obvious aspect of His character in view here would be the forbearance.  We’ve touched on that already, and on Paul’s notice of the magnitude of God’s patience with him, as well as the purpose.  That I might be an example of His great patience for those who would believe (1Ti 1:16).  Now, you might argue that is more a matter of demonstrated humility than demonstrated patience.  And to look at it in terms of Paul’s role, that’s a reasonable assessment.  But God’s patience is displayed in the very fact of his redemption, in the very fact of your redemption and mine.  It is also demonstrated in how we are patient with others, not only with our brothers, but with our neighbors, with those who spitefully use us, with those who, according to our lights, corrupt themselves and others, who use power to coerce, who defraud in pursuit of illicit gain.  Shall we rale against the injustice?  Shall we rain down vindictive curses upon their heads?  Not if we are sons of the Most High.  No!  He calls us to bless rather than to curse, to pray for them – for them!  And with thanksgiving!  I just read this in 1 Timothy 2:1 yesterday, and it really pulls me up short.  Paul’s command to his fellow believers:  I will that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and authorities.  It’s one thing to know we are called to pray for even those politicians we are certain are corrupt, misguided, and quite possibly evil, even demonic.  It’s another thing entirely to pray with thanksgiving for them, for such a prayer must yet acknowledge that God remains the one who determines their position of power, and its duration.  And if He determines, He has good purpose even in such a one as this.  So, no, you are not called to give thanks for corruption and leaders who urge and encourage sinful deeds.  But you can give thanks that God has a purpose in this, and His purpose is good.

Okay, but where I really want to attend to matters of character is in the call to be anxious for nothing, but be praying for everything – and again, with thanksgiving.  This, too, is an exercising of character like unto our Father’s.  Prayer may not, at first glance, seem to be a matter in which we emulate Him, for to whom would He pray?  But if we view prayer as conversation, as communing with our God, then, yes, He has communion in Himself, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit converse and share one with another in the work of God and in its result.  God can give thanks to Himself in this sense.  We see, in the life of Jesus, that He made time to pray, to communicate with His Father.  We might argue that this was made needful because of His adoption of human limitations.  But I think we do better to argue that this was just continuing to do as He does in heaven, and doing so to make evident to us that we can and should likewise share in this community of the Trinity.

So, be anxious for nothing.  That is something far different from saying disregard everything.  It’s a question of focus, perhaps of motive or intent.  After all, we have seen, even in this very epistle, the call to strive for sanctification.  “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12).  That’s a call to extreme effort.  But of course it comes with the immediate notice of God’s involvement.  He’s at work in you.  He is rendering you willing and able, by His power (Php 2:13).  And withal, we undertake this effort, we run this race, to switch to Paul’s later analogy, with the clear recognition that our successful completion of the challenge is already assured.  Whom He has called, He has justified, having predestined them from before the beginning to become conformed to the image of His Son (Ro 8:29-30, Eph 1:4).  I was thinking about that as I awoke this morning, odd though that may seem.  I know there is this idea that His foreknowledge consists in knowing from the outset how we would respond, the choices we would make.  This seeks to soften, I suppose, the idea of all our actions being foreknown by Him, seeks to restore to us a greater sense of autonomy.  But I don’t see that this succeeds in softening the reality of His predestining purpose.  Even if He merely saw from the outset how you would respond when presented the Gospel, or when you heard His voice within, or whatever the specifics of your moment of conversion, there remains the question of why those particular specifics came to pass.  And there, you are once again removed from any controlling role.  Yes, He knew how to reach you, and how to reach you in such manner as would produce in you the response He desired.  But it remained fully in His hands whether He would in fact so arrange events.  Not where I thought I was going today, but here we are.  And I suppose, I must acknowledge, God knew.  It remains to be seen, I guess, just why He found it needful for me to review these thoughts this morning.

But freedom from anxiety is something far different than freedom from all concern.  I rather appreciated the balance Matthew Henry brought to this topic.  There is no sin in undertaking to wisely consider events, to take counsel and to plan our course.  Indeed, we can find many passages in Scripture that make that very point.  Some of the earliest passages I marked up in my Bible touch on the subject.  “A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel” (Pr 1:5).  “Oil and perfume make the heart glad.  So, a man’s counsel is sweet to his friend” (Pr 27:9).  “The way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel” (Pr 12:15).  And yet, the counterbalance.  “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the LORD, it will stand” (Pr 19:21).  So, yes, there is no sin in taking counsel, in considering the issues before us, and seeking out how best to navigate our way through.  But, Mr. Henry follows with this.  “But there is a care of diffidence and distrust which is our sin and folly.”  Okay, so diffidence is one I need to look up, one of those words that you kind of know is of negative connotation, but remain unclear as to its exact concern.  So, to the dictionary.  A state of timidity, shyness, want of confidence or doubt as to the ability, whether of others, or of oneself.

Well, doesn’t that take us right to the core of the problem.  Anxiety comes of distrust.  Doubtfulness as to our own capacity to face the issue would indicate a certain lack of awareness, perhaps, or maybe simply a neglect for the reality of our God being with us.  We, as men, tend to fall into this mode of taking matters into our own hands, of telling God it’s okay, we’ve got this from here.  And that is always going to prove a false position.  Indeed, it is just such a position that is most likely to produce in us an anxiety, because now, from our perspective, it all depends on us.  But anxiety can also arise from distrust of God, and that is a far more serious issue.  Why do we distrust Him?  Is it because we doubt He has the power to rescue us this time?  That, I should think, is unlikely to be the case in a believer, but I suppose we could have our moments.  Perhaps it is merely distrust that He will choose to do so.  Oh, I’ve gone too far this time.  But such a mindset reflects a poor understanding of His character, doesn’t it?  God does not lose sheep!  Any distrust, then, of His willingness to ride to our aid must in essence question our position amongst His sheep, and beloved, while we do well to give ever so much care to our efforts to walk worthy, we ought not, in that effort, to have the slightest doubt as to our adoption.  “Distrust […] is our sin and folly.”

So, yes, work at your sanctification.  Give attention to your spiritual health.  Pay heed to those places where you have been neglecting to avail yourself of the means of grace which God so graciously and richly supplies.  And then, by all means, do what you must to address that issue.  But do so in the confidence of Christ’s company.  Do so in the full awareness that you are in fact a son of God, and that, by His choosing.  Those adoption papers are signed and sealed, and the place of your eternal home has been prepared already.  You are His.  He has called you by name.  That’s settled.  Now, calm down, and pursue your course in confidence.  Correct what needs correcting, and rest assured, there will be further cause for correction as you proceed.  But proceed.  Proceed in the full comfort and awareness that He is yet working in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  Don’t fall into thinking that you keeping your nose clean is the critical, decisive matter as concerns your final acceptance.  Your acceptance is already final.  It has been from before the beginning!

Clarke makes another observation, which I note reflects Jesus’ own observation about anxiety.  He writes, “for anxiety cannot change the state or condition of anything from bad to good, but will infallibly injure your own soul.”  Consider that in light of Jesus’ sermon.  “Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span?  If you can’t even do this very little thing, why are you anxious about other matters?” (Lk 12:25-26).  Now, Jesus leaves it at the pointlessness of such anxious thinking.  It changes nothing.  It fixes nothing.  Clarke just observes the additional negative consequences.  Anxiety ‘will infallibly injure your own soul.’  Why?  Well, for one thing, such anxiety inevitably trains our eyes and our thoughts on matters of this world.

We have become a people far too focused on the minutia of the news.  It used to be that news was something you perhaps considered for a half hour or so in the evening, perhaps scanned the first few pages of the newspaper for points of interest or concern.  But it wasn’t the all-day-every-day affair that it has become.  And since news is a competitive business, now seeking to garner more attention for so very many more hours, it manages its product in a fashion that will capture its audience.  For advertisers, the key factor has always been that sex sells, but that doesn’t really work in a newsroom setting.  But fear?  Anxiety?  Oh, yes!  That’ll keep the eyes glued to the screen.  Stir up anger, resentment, fear, concern?  Yup.  They’ll be hanging on for further details.  And we try to avoid it, but it’s far too easy to get sucked back in.  Got an idle moment in the day?  There are several hundred websites out there ready to feed your need for the latest cause for grief, anger, annoyance, despair.  It all clamors to keep us focused on the world, and as Mr. Henry observes, one so focused on the world is unfit to serve God.

Beloved, many a godly individual is in this bind.  You and I may very well be in that bind.  Maybe we notice it.  Maybe we only think we notice it, but go right on doing the same things anyway.  I was talking with one of my coworkers yesterday, not a believer so far as I know, and he observed how he’s here in a relatively liberal profession – engineers, at least in this company, and I’ve seen the same in others, do seem a rather liberal lot – and a son of a firmly conservative family.  But honestly, the last thing he wants to discuss is political perspectives, particularly as it seems our country at present has lost its center.  There are the extremes of left and right, and little to nothing in the middle, at least if you are to believe the various newscasts, or see only those who rely too much on those newscasts for their own viewpoints.  All is intolerance in the name of tolerance.  And that’s not an issue for one side only.  It hits both.  Time was we knew better as a country.  Perhaps time will be again when we relearn the lessons of the past.

But that remains a matter of worldly focus, doesn’t it?  The much more valuable concern is godliness.  The greater concern is how can I represent my Lord today?  All the kingdoms of the world are, after all, His.  It may not seem so at present, but it is in fact the case.  They may be in rebellion against His righteous rule, but that changes nothing as concerns the facts.  Focus on Him.  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Is this not our call?  You know it is!

Now, a heavenward focus is not a call for disregard for our earthly commitments.  It is not an excuse for carelessness.  We have only to consider that all that we have and all who form our family are given to us by God.  More, we do well to remember that they are not so much given as entrusted to us, and we are stewards of these good gifts.  Blessed is that steward who is found caring for those things entrusted into his care.  But the wise steward operates with confidence in God Whom he serves.  Barnes offers two verses which taken together help to display the balance we are to have in this work of stewardship.  To Timothy, Paul writes, “If anyone fails to provide for his own household, he has denied the faith.  He is worse than an unbeliever” (1Ti 5:8).  This, I would note, reflects Jesus’ denunciation of what the Pharisees encouraged under the idea of corban (Mk 7:11).  On the other hand, we have His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.  “Don’t worry about your life.  Don’t get all caught up in concerns about what to eat, what to drink, what to wear.  Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing” (Mt 6:25).  Now, in context, we must understand that this is something more than the small concerns about whether to have this meal or that, whether to wear jeans or dress pants.  It’s more the concern of wondering how you will find something to eat, how to afford the basic clothing you need.  That’s the stuff He’s addressing.  And it’s there that He calls us not to worry.  In nothing anxious.  But also, in nothing careless.

This comes, then, as a product of that forbearance already urged.  It is the natural course of one who pursues a course of moderation and consideration for others.  But in pursuit of such character, let us not fall into the way of the Pharisee.  Let it not be for show.  It’s not about doing the right thing.  It’s about being seen to be one who does the right thing.  It’s about character that is consistent.  Not perfect, but consistent.  Be kind to all.  Be judgmental of none.  That doesn’t require that we dispense with sound judgment.  There’s a fair distance between having sound judgment and being judgmental.  No, but the call of Scripture is plain.  Be patient, for the Lord is near.  If the correspondence is not clear here, it is in James 5:8.  And he continues in the next verse.  “Don’t complain against one another, lest you be judged yourselves!  For the Judge is standing at the door” (Jas 5:9).  Be patient rather than anxious.  Be considerate rather than self-involved.  Be real, not a hypocrite.  Rejoice because you are rejoicing, not because you read somewhere that you should paste a happy face over your pain.  And thus, the immediate presentation of the antidote and supply by which to be who we are called to be:  Pray!  Funny how that which ought to be our great source of strength and soundness turns out to be our greatest weakness.  For nothing, it seems, proves more difficult than coming to the place of prayer.

On Prayer (10/10/25-10/11/25)

So, here we are.  Pray.  Pray and present your supplications before the Lord.  Pray and give voice to your requests in the presence of Him Who alone can satisfy.  Pray, then, with thanksgiving, giving recognition to all that He has done in order that you might be found in this place of prayerful communion with Him.  Pray with thanksgiving for all that you know He is, for knowing you can trust Him, confide in Him, rely on Him, rest in Him.  You can’t help but see the juxtaposition which Paul has set forth here.  In nothing anxious, in everything praying.  But let it not be the case for us that we don’t find time to pray except when anxiousness rises.  Don’t pray only when you are laid low by bad news.  Pray when you’re happy, too.  Pray when everything’s fine.  Pray for the simple reason that here is your Father, and He loves to hear from you, loves to talk to you.  And, unlike what may be the case with your earthly father, He has time for you – all the time in the world.

Yes, there is infinite cause for thanksgiving when we pray.  We could spend the day listing out all those things He has done for us, were we to exercise our minds a bit in recollection.  But more than that, we can exercise our thoughts on the certainties of His goodness, of His mercy, of His lovingkindness towards us, and of the assurance we have of welcome into His presence whenever we choose to come visit.  This is the Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, cause and arranger of all that is, ever was, or ever shall be!  And He welcomes us to come by whenever we please, indeed desires nothing so much as that we might do so more often.  In younger days, I might find myself just driving home to the folks’ house on a whim, no particular notice given, just dropping by.  I suppose, in retrospect, that such behavior was probably a tad impolite.  But you knew you could.  And you knew that, so long as they were home, you would be welcomed.  I would like to think that my daughter knows the same openness to impromptu visit in me, though I suspect I am less welcoming in some regards, particularly if it’s a work day.  But then, it seems anymore every day is a work day, if not in matters of employment, then in matters of home maintenance, ministry preparations, hobbies, and such.  Something to work on, I suppose.  And I can begin by being more welcome to the occasional interruptions to my day from my beloved wife.  Yes.  That definitely needs work.

Thank You, Father, for that reminder, and be pleased, I pray, to keep me mindful of it.  I have seen how it is, this week.  The reminder comes, and then the test.  I feel I have been failing a lot of tests this week.  I could make excuses, but excuses aren’t interesting.  Help me to make changes rather than excuses.  Help me to combat this anxious business, and this propensity to lose hours in pointless distractions.

But this is such a wonder, isn’t it?  I can come to God at any moment.  I can, if I am not deaf to it, hear His advice at any moment.  I just need to remain sensitive to that, and responsive to that.  When the advice comes, far be it from me to just brush it off and move on.  Yet I know how readily I do just that.  Oh.  Crisis averted, or weathered.  Well, that’s done with.  Back to what I was doing, then.  And then, we wonder why the pattern keeps repeating.  Well, keep following the same pattern, and of course it’s going to repeat.  Now, just imagine the shift if we will instead move to this new pattern, follow the example set before us.  Will it not soon be the case that we are ourselves examples set before others?  I mean, we are that regardless.  But what example do we set?  Is it the example of godly character, or the example of anxious neurotic?  Oh!  But pray!  Pray that your example might indeed glorify God as you emulate your Father.  Pray that today, for a change, anger would be displaced by equanimity.  Perhaps regain a bit of perspective, and recognize the relative value of that after which you’ve been anxiously striving, and that which is yours in Him as your birthright.  Which matters more, that you have a reputation for skillfulness in your job, or your hobby, or whatever, or that you magnify His name and demonstrate to all who know you the goodness of God to Whom you belong?

Pray!  Pray with assurance, but without presumption.  Pray with thanksgiving rather than demand.  Know your God.  He hears you.  He knows your need before you even think to ask.  Indeed, He knows your need better than you do.  You know your wants.  You know what you think would be good in any given situation.  But rather like our congressional leaders, it’s rare indeed that we think about the unintended consequences of our ideas.  God, on the other hand, is perfect in knowledge and in wisdom.  His answer is assured, and you can be assured that His answer will in fact address your request.  But it will do so as is truly good, as will truly address the need, and in such way as will be free of those unintended consequences.  Or, let it be said differently.  He will address the need in such a way as will produce positive consequences wildly beyond your greatest expectations.  Think big when you pray, then.  And still, His response will far outstrip your thinking.

I consider this upcoming trip.  I could pray for safety as we travel, and for sufficient energy to weather, in particular, that first day of teaching, as it comes so close on the heels of a sudden shift of 8 hours, not to mention being up way past my bedtime even in local time zone terms.  Yes.  That gives me concern.  Obviously.  I wouldn’t be writing about it else, would I?  But this is God’s mission, not Jeff’s holiday.  So, I would far rather pray for effectiveness in our ministry, for soundness in our teaching, and a clear pursuit of His direction and desire.  I would far rather pray that those who travel to come learn from us would receive things worth learning, would be rested and attentive despite their travels, would be able to gain from our teaching so as to be more effective in their preaching, and in their ministering to their congregations and their communities.  I pray that they might be strengthened in their faith so as to stand firm, and with patient, peaceful forbearance just as Paul calls forth here.  And I pray that God would indeed expand their impact, and also that their impact would be for His kingdom, not for personal aggrandizement.  Let it be true of us.  Let it be true of them.  And, I would say, though I have not italicized this section as I generally would for prayers, this is indeed a prayer.  Lord, be pleased to answer as You will.  And absolutely, my God, Thy will be done.

Where anxious thoughts produce weakened resolve, prayer builds confidence.  It must, for it turns our attention away from the object of our concern and directs it to God Who answers our concern.  This is as it has ever been.  The psalmist expresses this very thing.  “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Thy consolations delight my soul” (Ps 94:19).  And see where he is coming from to have arrived at this delighted point.  He has poured out his anxious thoughts.  The wicked seem to be ascendant, the people of God afflicted on every side.  Those who look on belittle God, dismiss Him as of no consequence.  But he turns to prayer, turns to God, and God answers.  He answers first with remembrance.  He is not absent.  He hears.  He sees.  He knows.  He knows even the thoughts of man and his sense of frailty.  And He grants relief.  He will not abandon His own.  And so, confidence is restored.  That’s the whole arc of this psalm.  “If I should say, ‘my foot has slipped,’ Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, will hold me up” (Ps 94:18).  Oh, listen, my soul!  The LORD has been my refuge and my stronghold (Ps 94:22).  He still is.  And there it is:  Confidence restored.  How?  By the exercise of prayer.

I often tend to think of prayer as one lane in our two-way conversation with God.  In prayer, it seems we are generally occupied with making ourselves known to God, though wisdom insists that He has no real need of being thus informed.  Even as this psalm has said, he knows the thoughts of man (Ps 94:11).  But it helps us to make known our thoughts, and He has arranged things thus, that He would have us express them.  The other lane, by which He communicates to us, I have generally associated with the word of Scripture.  But I observe that very often, that communication coming from Him does so even as we are praying.  This really oughtn’t surprise us.  The Holy Spirit is, after all, indwelling, and speaks to our conscience, recalling to mind all that He said and did.  Is that not exactly what we see happen in this psalm?  And hasn’t it often been my experience in these times, that it is not so much the passage I am reading that gives rise to my thoughts, as other things brought to mind.  Praise God!  Thank You, Lord, for Your presence in me, for the ways in which You direct my thoughts, supplying wisdom in times of need, and comfort in times of concern.  No, You will not abandon me, for I am yours.  And I feel sure I can say the same of my beloved, that she, too, is Your inheritance.  Be pleased, then, to guard her, to bring her to deeper understanding of Your ways.  And if there are things that divide at present, and make it difficult to share of our faith, let us be corrected and redirected according to Your good and perfect will, that there may be harmonious unity in the house.  Show me where I need to change, that I may do so.  Show me where I need to shepherd, and grant that I may take the time and the risk to do so.

It is well and good to care, and cares must, it seems, give rise to anxious thought.  But it needn’t stay that way.  The Wycliffe Translators Commentary brings forward a quote from Muller, whoever he may be.  “To care is a virtue, but to foster cares a sin.”  That’s a fine balance, isn’t it?  We are called to care.  Love, after all, cares.  And, if we are to pursue that particular sort of love which is so urged upon us as reflective of God’s own love for us, we care enough to risk rejection if only we may encourage the greatest good in and for that one we love.  If love hurts, it’s because love cares.  That old song, I suspect, had something quite different in mind, the mere disappointment of passion.  But love does hurt, because the object of love does not always appreciate the actions of love.  We need only consider our responses to the early overtures of Christ in our own lives to see that.  How often had you heard the gospel and scoffed rather like those the psalmist wrote of?  How often did you laugh at those foolish Christians and their preoccupations with fantasies of heaven, before God finally caused awareness to arise in you?  I suspect that many out there have had experiences akin to my own, a long record of dismissive, even rude response to such things until suddenly, much to my surprise, God got through to me.

But cares still arise, perhaps more so now than before, as I become more concerned for my family, whether I consider my household or my church.  Some of that, to be sure, is the common experience of adulthood, with the demands it brings.  There are people depending on me, and I know how undependable I am.  Yet, I must now be dependable anyway.  There are pressures to cut corners, and I must resist.  There are pressures to get riled up over current events, and I must not.  There are the countervailing temptations to avoid all that and withdraw into my hobbies and distractions, and this, too, I must control.  And I know that I am not particularly in control at all, in any of these things.  If I allow them to crowd my mind, I’m right back to that place of anxiousness.  This week has been one long exercise in that regard, and an exercise I fear I did not meet particularly well.  There were work stresses that brought up a rebellious streak in me, as well as a good amount of, I’m not sure what term to use, anger?  Annoyance?  Embarrassment?  Because I had allowed pressures to move me into somewhat panicked actions, leading to error, leading to this cavalcade of pressurized headaches to resolve the problem, and everything seemingly stacked against me.  Add the propensity for being awake at absurdly early hours, as today.  Add the call to support worship practice yet again as the sole instrumentation, not a place I like to be.  And, I must confess, the frustration of those who find cause not to be present for practice.  Some, to be sure, had absolutely legitimate cause.  But then, some who showed up had equally legitimate cause to be tending to matters elsewhere.  But they came.  Oh, let’s add this nonsense with my elbow acting up, though that seems to have subsided somewhat.  Still, it’s a nagging concern.  And yeah, we could toss in that call from the doctor about elevated levels of something or other in my bloodwork.  Okay.  What’s that all about?  Don’t know.  I do know that I shall be off over the sea shortly, and that for a fairly lengthy period.  Would be nice to have that last concern out of the way before I go.

What I do know is this:  The Lord will not abandon, will not forsake.  He will hold me up.  He is my stronghold, my refuge, my Rock.  Or, I can look forward to the conclusion of this epistle and remind myself, “my God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Ps 4:19).  Whom, or what, shall I fear?  God is for me.  To care, then, is fine.  To dwell on the cares, get worked up over them, worry them like a dog worries his bone?  No.  As was observed, this would be sin in me.  And sin or not, it would be pointless, worse than pointless.  It would be utterly counterproductive.  Anxious concern changes nothing, improves nothing, and only serves to weaken and distract us from turning to our Savior.  So, pray.  Prayer answers anxiety because it puts those troubles into the hands of all-powerful, all-wise God.  And that alone is sufficient cause for thanksgiving in our prayers. 

Of course, thanksgiving will spin us right back around to that first instruction to rejoice.  We give thanks because we know our God.  We give thanks because He hears and He answers.  We give thanks because our security, in the final assay, rests not on our effort but on His faithfulness.  And so, as Calvin points out, prayer brings confidence, and confidence brings tranquility.  Or, there is this, from the JFB commentary.  “Thanksgiving gives effect to prayer, and frees from anxious carefulness, by making all God’s dealings matters for praise, not merely for resignation, much less murmuring.”

See, if I leave off at just listing out my problems here, I have done little to nothing.  I have complained a bit, perhaps grown resigned to the fact that hey, this is just how things are.  But I have not addressed the issue.  Prayer alone answers the trials, because prayer alone draws my thoughts back to where they are best focused, on my God and King.  As such, these prayers ought not to be the airing of grievances, though neither ought they to put on a false breeziness that denies realities on the ground.  Honest, earnest prayer is the answer, offered with a desire to hear God’s answer, and offered with that heartfelt thanksgiving that comes from knowing that He does hear, He does answer.  There are times when that may call for recounting past examples in our prayers.  Think how often you come across these very actions in the prayer life of those we meet in Scripture.  Over and over again, God’s people recite the wonders of His past actions on their part.  Look, for example, at Psalm 136, which just keeps listing out event after event, showing God’s care for His people, with the interleaved refrain, “For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”  Every one of these events is a reminder of this very thing, and nothing will better restore confidence and tranquility in present circumstances than to remember that long litany of God’s acts of lovingkindness that have brought through thus far.  Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come.  ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.  There is a reason that old song resonates generation after generation.  Because we each, in our turn, discover the truth of it.  Grace alone has brought me thus far, and grace, that everlasting lovingkindness of my Father, will lead me home.

And so, harking back to that cord of three strands, we are reminded of this, again with thanks to the JFB commentary:  Thanksgiving, like joy, like moderation, is to be for every occasion, for ‘prosperity and affliction alike.’  That is our challenge.  That is our calling.  Over and again I am struck by this.  There is no place in Scripture for a dour believer.  It’s all well and good, I suppose to be disgusted by sin.  We should be; first and foremost those sins we commit.  But to become the public scold, to run about with nothing to offer but impending doom?  No.  To go about dismayed by the news?  No.  Just think how the response of Charlie Kirk’s wife hit.  Granted, there are those who sought to dismiss it as evidence of some predatory, profit and power driven motivation in her.  Those who are determined not to come to Christ will ever find such ways to twist the evidence.  But for many, this was in fact a clarion display of godly character.  It’s not just defiance and determination.  No.  When she spoke forgiveness, she reflected Christ.  It was not feigned.  It was not performance for the camera.  It was the power of God addressing her own broken heart, bringing comfort in a place of utmost pain, and turning this evil event of her husband’s murder to something of good.  Others found themselves moved to forgiveness in their own turn.  Or, perhaps they merely found their faith strengthened by this very public, very powerful example.  But God moved.  God continues to move.  God cares for His own, and will not abandon His inheritance in us.  Rejoice!  Let the world see your joy, rather than your offense.  Be honest, by all means, but that doesn’t require being a scold, or the constant refrain of observing how sick this world is.  Yes, it’s sick.  Don’t make it sicker by your recitation of its ills.  Be a nurse.  Apply the balm of faith.  Give thanks to God that He has not and will not abandon us.  His purpose stands, and His purpose is salvation.  Glory!  Hallelujah!  Whatever it may look like from where you stand, His Truth is marching on, and our eyes shall indeed see the glory of His coming.  Fear not, but rejoice!  And if you find that difficult, pray.  Pray with thanksgiving, that the peace of God may once more guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

Our Strong Tower (10/12/25)

I expect I have discussed this already over the course of the last several days, but there remains that question of just what Paul has in mind as he mentions the nearness of the Lord.  Is it intended to put us in mind of His soon return?  Or, is he instead reminding us that He is ever near to us, with us even to the end of the age?  Perhaps he intends the ambiguity.  Given Paul’s skill with rhetoric, I suspect that is likely the case.  To be mindful of His return is well-suited to curb our worst excesses, and encourage us to try harder.  But it is hardly the answer to anxiousness, is it?  If anything, it is likely to have us more anxious about our besetting sins.  To know He is with us, has not abandoned us to our wayward course, though; now there is indeed a sense of peace.  He already knows my mess, and still He stands with me, still He cares for me.  He has not given up on me, and the assurance is there that He will never do so.  The message of John 10 still stands.  “No one shall snatch them out of My hand.  No one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (Jn 10:28-29).

As Pastor Mathews is wont to say, be encouraged.  Indeed, be secure in this.  God is present with you.  I confess, that can have its own concern, for if He is present with me, knows my every thought, there’s rather a lot I would prefer He was not witnessing.  But then, were He somehow unaware of those matters, there would be no hope of addressing them, would there?  And if He is already aware of them, and yet remains with me, then I needn’t fear that He will give me up for lost.  He has called me, and I am His.  That is settled and secure.  In my better moments and in my worse moments, He is here.  He is with me and will not give up, will not let go.  Now, there is a foundation for a sense of peace!  This, beloved, is the peace of God:  “Lo, I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  The never of God is a powerful declaration.  It is as solid and enduring as forever.

And it is this realization, I suggest, which is our fundamental experience of the peace of God.  We need to see the full force, though, of what Paul is saying here.  God’s peace shall guard your heart and mind.  That’s lovely, but it leaves itself open to interpretation as to just what it might mean. But it ought not to do so.  The terminology Paul is using here draws from military usage.  I might suggest it draws rather heavily from his then current experience.  Here is a man imprisoned in the midst of Rome’s premier legion, the Praetorian guard!  He is, we are given to understand, spending his days chained to one or more of these guards, having some freedom of movement, but no chance of evasion or escape.  These guards must, then, be privy to all that he is writing, even in this epistle.  They are participants, however passively, in every conversation he has with those who visit him in Rome.  He knows what it’s like to be under such guard.  From his perspective, we might suppose it more a question of breaking free, though such thinking does not appear to have ever entered his mind, certainly not his words.  But to be in that place is also to know the security of such a guard, to see the defensive might on display.

This is what he’s talking about.  The peace of God is as a sentry patrolling around the perimeter of your thoughts and feelings.  Think about this.  In Jewish thought in that era, the heart is the seat of will and affection; the mind, the seat of understanding and reason.  The JFB suggests a wider connection, the heart relating to soul and the mind to spirit.  If you choose to subscribe to the tripartite view of the human being – body, soul, and spirit – you see that here are two out of three covered.  And, as has been discussed somewhere along the course of these studies, or, if not, perhaps in my studies on the letters to Thessalonica, the body isn’t coming along for the ride when we go home.  Not this body.  It is, by some lights, corrupt beyond redemption.  But there will be a new body, a body befitting the renewed spirit within us, and suited to the conditions of eternal heaven.  Spirit and soul, however, continue.  Spirit and soul are renewed.  I know there is that camp of thought which perceives the soul as stuck in earthbound corruption, but I don’t see the Scriptures supporting that.  I get that there are places where spirit and soul are set in opposition.  Yet, both appear to know eternality.  Both persist beyond and without the body.  And here, represented by heart and mind, we see them both well-guarded by God Himself.

This presents us with a truly marvelous image.  This is more than God gently chiding us when our thoughts and urges send us in directions we ought not to go.  No!  He has made camp around your thoughts and feelings, encamped His garrison around your heart and mind.  And there, He sets His peace as a “sentinel standing watch over the citadel of man’s inner life – mind, will, and affections.”  I take that from the Wycliffe Translators Commentary.  And isn’t that a most marvelous image?  God’s peace is as the castle keep around you, in the midst of a fortress well-manned, Himself as sentry on its walls.  What, then, is going to break through?  Again I come back to that bold assurance of Romans 8.  If God is for us, who can be against us (Ro 8:31)?  This peace is ours in Christ Jesus.  He is our fortress strong.  He ever has been.  The Psalmist saw it, beloved David who, in spite of his myriad failings was found to be a man after God’s own heart.  Consider the things he had faced!  Here he was, one attacked by enemies without, chased by his own king within, though he remained ever faithful to said king.  His only crime, to date, had been success.  But, as the head of this Psalm indicates, there came the day when he found the LORD had delivered him from all of his enemies, including Saul.  And how does he respond?  “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.  My God!  My Rock, in whom I take refuge.  My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Ps 18:2).  It’s as though he cannot come up with enough ways to describe the full security he has in God.  Beloved, that very same security is yours, is mine in Christ.  God, the all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise Lord of all, is my Rock, my Fortress.  Who shall stand against?

Now, then, let us address ourselves to this condition we find ourselves in.  I look at the questions I asked in my first-pass thoughts.  “Are you angry?  Frustrated?  Overdrawn?”  And let me tell you, as I find myself awake at 3 AM yet again, awaking to messages indicating a key change in one of the songs we are doing this morning, aware of the notes I need yet to prepare for Africa, aware of the myriad things in need of doing, and of my lack of energy and focus, given this constant earliness in rising, with its consequent earliness of taking to bed, I know my answer is yes to all three.  Oh, you know it?  Frustrated?  Key change that couldn’t be figured out until sometime last night, by somebody who couldn’t make it to practice, where this might have been dealt with already?  Yeah, rather annoyed, to be honest.  Overdrawn?  Assuredly.  One challenge of these shortened evenings is that, even were I inclined to try and get after some of these things on my to do list on a weeknight, there simply isn’t any time or energy to do so.  Mornings are booked, between these studies, trying to get guitar practice in, and so on.  It seems absurd that having awakened at 3 I will still find myself rushed to get out the door at 7:30, but I know me.  I will be.  And then, with evening come, it will be something of a race to get supper in and somewhat digested before I succumb to the need for sleep.  And trying to give Jan some time…  Yeah.  I could review the list and frustrate myself some more.

Something, I know, must change here.  But I am either unable to see what, or too stubborn to change that what.  But, I see the answer I left for myself, the answer Paul supplies in our passage.  Pray!  And, I must remind myself, pray with the assurance of His love, and His power, and His willingness to answer.  Allow me to add that list of prerequisites, pray with an openness, and indeed a determination to undertake to pursue such answer as He gives.  Pray with a heart and mind already tuned to respond with, “Yes, Lord.  Let it be as You say.”

Lord God, I see it here in the verse from Isaiah which sits as the final note in this study.  “The steadfast of mind you will keep in perfect peace because he trusts in You” (Isa 26:3).  I do trust in You.  I’m counting on You.  Yet, here I am this morning, and as I have observed, all of these questions have the wrong answer.  I ought not to be frustrated, certainly not angry with my brother, certainly not so often bothered by my beloved wife.  Yes, we have our differences.  Yes, her focus of late seems to me to be very much off.  But then, I’m sure my seeming lack of focus seems very much off to here.  And likely, we are both right.  What shall I say to this?  I need You, Father.  I need You willing and working in me that I might indeed give heed to Your answer, change what needs changing, address what needs addressing.  I don’t know.  Perhaps these days of early rising are somehow preparation for the journey ahead.  I know that concerns rise in me, when I think about this issue of trying to teach well on short sleep after a sudden loss of 8 hours.  But that’s leaning on my strength, isn’t it?  Far better I should appeal to You.  This is, after all, Your call.  We go on Your business, to benefit Your people.  That is the core of my prayer, then.  Let us truly benefit Your people.  And Father, help me to know how to address life here at home.  It hurts to not be able to share what You are doing, to not be able to share in what You are doing in Jan.  I don’t like that there is this closing off of our spiritual lives one from the other.  But there it is.  I know not how to deal with it, but I know You do and You will.  I thank You that somehow You have preserved us in love for one another in spite of this, but Lord, let not my frustration at the situation poison my feelings toward my beloved.  Let me stand as testimony to Your good work in me, and let this quiet delight define my bearing.  Let my forbearing spirit be known, first and foremost, to her who is most dear to me.  And may it then serve as an example, perhaps even to draw her into a more steadfast, and less fringe faith.  Or, if it is I who have drifted off course, Oh, God!  Let it not be that I continue to drift.  Pull me back and point me in the direction I should go.  But at present, I feel confident of my direction, that You are indeed guiding me according to Your good and perfect will.  So, then, I shall continue to trust in You, knowing that You shall indeed keep my heart and mind in perfect peace.  I pray, then, that You would likewise guard my beloved’s heart and mind in this same perfect peace, particularly during my long absence.  And yes, Lord, guard her physical health as well.  Let her see that You are indeed in this work, and that I am pursuing it in You.  Amen.