Give Thanks to the Lord

        Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.

Some wandered in the wilderness, lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress.

He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:1-9, New Living Translation)

Monday night, I returned from my sixth trip to Kenya. I’m sorry that this is my first blog post, but I am still decompressing. Every time I come back home, it seems to take me longer to get over the jetlag, catch up on laundry, and get my head back on straight.

As with every trip, there were many highs and lows. I’m not going to lie – this was one of the more stressful ones. Lots of long stories, and I’ll share most of them here soon.

But today’s takeaway is that no matter what we are struggling with, God is only a prayer away. If we take our every worry and stress to Him in prayer, He will answer us. Maybe the answer isn’t always the one we want to hear, but we can rest in the peace that our Lord and Savior knows more than we do and the answer is the right one for us.

Let me praise the Lord for His great love and for the wonderful things He has done for me. 

A lot to be Thankful for

From Psalm 107

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

    his love endures forever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—

    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

3 those he gathered from the lands,

    from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,

    finding no way to a city where they could settle.

5 They were hungry and thirsty,

    and their lives ebbed away.

6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

    and he delivered them from their distress.

7 He led them by a straight way

    to a city where they could settle.

8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

9 for he satisfies the thirsty

    and fills the hungry with good things.

I was going to post this to my blog yesterday but then ran out of time and couldn’t think of anything to say about it anyway. Today, I was hit in the face with the reality of homelessness and just now read this again. Wow. Once again, God’s timing is impeccable.

It’s so easy to stereotype the homeless – they live in a big city, they have a drug or alcohol history, they suffer from mental illness, they are lazy, they could have a nice home if they wanted one but instead they choose to live on the streets. You can’t say that every homeless person fits into one of these stereotypes. Or that even most of them do. Each homeless person is as different as each snowflake. Each has a pattern and a story of their very own. And the best way to start to help them is to not judge and to instead treat them as a person, the same way that you would like to be treated.

 Today, at the time, I gave this homeless person everything that I could under the circumstances. Was it enough? As I sit here in my warm house with a full belly and a cat on my lap, I’d have to admit no. But I can’t let guilt weigh me down. I’m left with little to do except to pray for this person and for the people who I must trust to help him. Then I have to turn it over to God.

Not your typical Thanksgiving day message, huh? If you are reading this, though, where ever you, whatever your circumstances, you have a lot to be thankful for. 

Passing Through Rough Waters

But now, this is what the Lord says —

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (Isaiah 43:1-2 New International Version)

It’s been suggested, when a person is feeling down, that they look for the good in every situation, or better yet that they look for something to feel grateful for in every situation. To write down, every day, at least one thing you are thankful for. And of course, every day, I can think of dozens of things that I am thankful for.

Except for the days when I feel cracked and broken, useless and ignored, defeated and unloved. And don’t tell me that you haven’t had days like that too, coz I know you have. So, what’s a person to do on days like that?

I decided that instead of writing down all the cheesy things I’m grateful for, that I would start a journal of the worst things that happen to me every day.

I know what you’re gonna say. “What is wrong with you, Chris? Don’t be so negative. Looking at the bad stuff is only going to drag you down more. You have to remember all the good things that happen each day and don’t dwell on the bad.”

That’s what you would think. But try it.

The first night, when I started that journal last week, and I wrote down “#1 one of my patients was admitted to hospice”, it dawned on me. Maybe that’s not the worst thing. He is a sweet man who has had a hard life, maybe knowing his battle is almost finished, that he will soon be falling into the loving arm’s of Jesus isn’t such a bad thing.

Then I wrote down “#2 my Achilles tendon continues to ache, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I’m getting tired of it”. I actually brought this up to a patient that day when we were talking about aches and pains, and we both realized that having aches and pains in a heel or a wrist or a back means that you still have those body parts and can still feel them. You haven’t had something amputated and you’re not paralyzed. (The truly neat thing about that conversation was that at the end of it, this patient said, “you must be a Christian”.)  

I arrived at yesterday, and added another thing to my growing list. “The boyfriend of a good friend died last night.” And I got nothing, nothing good to say about that, no hidden treasure, no secret lining. Nothing. And some days are like that but at the end of those days, I still know I am a child of God and He is always with me.

Thank You, Lord God, for always, always being with me. Amen.  

Sleeping with the Lion and the Lamb

Psalm 4

O God, you have declared me perfect in your eyes; you have always cared for me in my distress; now hear me as I call again. Have mercy on me. Hear my prayer.

2 The Lord God asks, “Sons of men, will you forever turn my glory into shame by worshiping these silly idols, when every claim that’s made for them is false?”

3 Mark this well: The Lord has set apart the redeemed for himself. Therefore he will listen to me and answer when I call to him. 4 Stand before the Lord in awe, and do not sin against him. Lie quietly upon your bed in silent meditation. 5 Put your trust in the Lord, and offer him pleasing sacrifices.

6 Many say that God will never help us. Prove them wrong, O Lord, by letting the light of your face shine down upon us. 7 Yes, the gladness you have given me is far greater than their joys at harvest time as they gaze at their bountiful crops. 8 I will lie down in peace and sleep, for though I am alone, O Lord, you will keep me safe.

Psalm 4, The Living Bible 

Back to reading the book of Psalms. Here is another beautiful song written by David . The last lines make me think of the picture of the lion lying down with the lamb. Sorry I don't have a picture of them together. 

What are you fighting?

“Stop fighting a fight, it’s already been won.”

From “I am redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave

I’ve heard this song on the Christian radio station hundreds of times, but never listened to the words. The other night, driving home from work, these words really caught my attention.

Whether you’re a Christian or not, don’t you ever feel like you are fighting something that really isn’t worth it, or it’s not even your battle, or it’s over and done with and you still are hanging onto it? Maybe someone unintentionally hurt your feelings years ago and you still remember it, you still hold a grudge against that person. Or maybe you didn’t get the job you felt you were so qualified for. Or maybe your spouse has been cheating on you and your heart just feels so filled with hatred that you can’t see straight.

There are a hundred different scenarios and we have each had one whittling away at us. And where has that gotten us?

Whatever you are keeping inside of you, whatever is eating at you, let it go. Stop fighting something that may or may not even be there.  The battle is over and done with.  

Still not fighting

“Stop fighting a fight, it’s already been won.”

From “I am redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave

On Thursday’s blog, I used this verse from a secular perspective. Now that it is Sunday, let me finish that thought.

As a Christian, the reason I don’t have to keep fighting, the reason the battle is over and has been won, is because Jesus has fought it for me. I can let go of my worries, my fears and most importantly my sins because I know that they are taken care of. He has paid my ransom, paid all my fines, cleared my balance. Oh sure there will be days, days that I struggle, days when people will do me wrong, days when I want to crawl back in bed and not deal with life. But all I have to do is remember that I can turn all these problems over to my Savior. He has taken care of it before it even happened.

“The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:14 NKJV

You Can Thrive

Can papyrus grow tall where there is no marsh? 

Can reeds thrive without water?

(Job 8:11 New International Version)

Jamming to the Christian radio station yesterday on my drive to Wausau to see my daughter, I sang along to one of my favorite songs. “Redeemed” by Big Daddy Weave. I’ve written about it here before.

As the end of the song approached and I was enjoying the music as much as I was enjoying the breathtaking autumn vistas along the road, I thought, “God, it would be so cool if that newer song that I really like came on next.”

We know we were made for so much more than ordinary lives

It's time for us to do more than just survive

We were made to thrive

(from Thrive by Casting Crowns, January 28, 2014)

Didn’t take long for the tears to start running down my face. We have such a big God and yet He is willing to crawl in my car to satisfy my tiniest whim.

The cool thing about this song is that it always reminds me of the mission statement my daughter came up with for our nonprofit organization. 

The mission of Tumaini Volunteers is to assist developing communities in Kenya to thrive by providing sustainable projects to help make them self-sufficient.

Sure, we can all survive. The people living in poverty in Kenya can survive. But don’t we all want to thrive? Don’t we want everyone we meet to thrive as well? And whenever I think of my beautiful daughter, I’m reminded that she is living anything but an ordinary life. God has certainly blessed us.

Lord, God, Heavenly Father, I thank You from the very bottom of my heart, I thank You even from the bottom of my feet. You are such an amazing God. I have never done anything to deserve all that You have rained down upon me. Help me to take my ordinary life and share some of what I have with others. In Jesus name, Amen