Reluctant Retiree

Watching the news on television, you often hear the phrase, “Sources within the White House say”. Journalists like to quote their sources of information, but they don’t always name the source. If someone does not attach their name to a statement, how are we to assess the validity of the statement?

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.” By His statement He claimed not only to speak the truth, but to be the truth. He also said, “You are truly my disciples if you keep obeying my teachings. And you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Here He promises to set free those who know Him and follow His teachings. But how can we know Him? Jesus said further, “But I will send you the Counselor, the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will tell you all about me.”

In the midst of the many voices surrounding us, we can find the truth. Jesus is the Truth. If we follow Him, we will know the truth and be set free. By believing in Jesus, we receive the Spirit of truth to reveal the knowledge of Jesus, God’s ultimate Truth.

Have you crossed paths with someone you haven’t seen for years and not recognized them? Perhaps their appearance has changed over the years. Or maybe your expectations of what they should look like was faulty.

In a way, this is what happened to the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day. They had the Scriptures with hundreds of specific prophecies concerning the Messiah, God’s Son. The prophecies covered specific details about His birth, life and death. The leaders knew these prophecies and had committed them to memory.

Although Jesus fulfilled every one of these ancient prophecies, the leaders did not recognize Him, but instead had Him crucified as a blasphemous traitor. Luke 23:35 describes their errors when it says, “And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One!'”

How could they make such a big mistake? It is because they had formed their own ideas, apart from Scripture, about what the Son of God should look like and do. Jesus did not fit their self-centered mold for their Savior.

We often try to do the same thing with God? We set personal expectations for what God should do in specific situations. When God acts in some other way, we don’t recognize His work or His presence. I have often heard someone say something like, “If God is love, why didn’t He …” God’s ways are not like our ways and God’s thoughts are not like our thoughts. He is infinite in knowledge and wisdom. I am so thankful that He is not limited to my meager understanding. Let’s let God be Almighty God. And let’s ask Him to reveal our mistaken ideas about Him and open our eyes to recognize Him at work.

A local middle school puts together a Civil War day for their eighth graders every year. One man delivers a speech dressed as and imitating Abraham Lincoln. Someone brings a Civil War Era cannon and fires blanks during another demonstration. My Vintage Baseball team talks about the beginnings of the game and the students participate in a game played under the rules and with the equipment of those days.

This event was today and I must say we witnessed some extraordinary skills today. We saw diving one handed catches by several young women. Several students showed great speed and power. But as is always the case, we saw a fair amount of awkwardness also. I felt bad for one young lady dressed in a hoop skirt. As she was running to first base, she tripped on the lengthy skirt and fell face first on the ground. The good news is that she still made it to first safely because of her good hit.

Sometimes I feel like I take a face first header while trying to do good. My intentions are sometimes misunderstood and I receive criticism. Or I don’t plan well, so the execution of the plan falters. At other times I just don’t know what I am doing. At these times it is easy to become discouraged. Self-pity raises its ugly head and I can go into an emotional slump.

At times like these it is always wise to search the Scriptures for God’s promises. Today I found this one in Psalm 145:14, “The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” When we are discouraged, God understands our pain. If we allow Him, He will raise us up and out of our discouragement. After all He is the same God who rescued us out of our sin and raises us up with Jesus. He redeems the lowly and humble, giving us new life in the salvation of Jesus Christ.

I don’t know what discouragement you may be facing. But I do know that God in His mercy and grace can lift you up. Tell Him about your pain and watch what God will do for you.

At 1:30 this morning I was awakened by my own rapid heart beat. I had already been diagnosed with aFib (atrial fibrillation), so I knew what was happening. I tried some of the tricks to reset my heart rhythm, but nothing was working. Finally after about three hours, the rapid heart beat went away on its own. Meanwhile I had lost several hours of sleep for something I had no control over.

Atrial Fibrillation happens when the electrical signals in your heart get mixed up and begin telling your heart to beat before blood has filled the chamber. So your body parts do not receive enough blood under these conditions.

Our hearts (souls) can also send the wrong signals to our minds. Our hearts may tell us to pursue riches, prestige, and personal satisfaction. But the rewards offered by these achievements are temporary, at best, and wholly underwhelming and self-defeating at worst.

I Corinthians 9:24-25 says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” Giving our time and efforts to win what the world offers, is foolhardy as the prize fades away. But offering God our efforts and time is the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving that brings eternal rewards. Don’t let your heart lead you astray. Offer your best to God and reap eternal rewards.

Have you ever tried to do something a second time and in the middle of the process you forget how you did it the first time? I have done this so many times it is embarrassing to think about. I am not mechanically inclined, so every time I take on a handyman project I find that I have forgotten how to do it. What is even more embarrassing is that I forget that I needed someone else’s help to do it.

We are like that with God. He faithfully takes us through one problem after another. Then when we face a problem the second time, we have a false self-confidence that we can handle it. We have forgotten the course God took us in the first place. More importantly we forget how much we needed God’s help the first time.

In speaking to a rich young ruler who was full of self-confidence, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” Whenever we have everything that we want or think we need, we are in danger. Because it is during those times that we forget about God and how much we need Him. Nothing ever becomes so routine or mundane that we can forget that we need God’s help, grace, and power.