Routine Surprises

“So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times … and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.”  —2 Kings 5:14

Growing up on a gentleman’s farm, we performed chores morning and evening. We moved onto the farm during Christmas vacation of my first grade year, but I don’t remember how young I was when I began making early morning trips to the barn. We milked two Guernsey cows by hand every morning before school and every evening after supper. Counting twice a day for at least ten years and adding 4 more for leap years meant we milked those cows 7304 times.

Although we often tire of menial chores, God must love routine and repetition. He commanded the priests and Levites to offer two one-year-old lambs every day, one in the morning and the other at twilight, for over 1500 years until Christ came. (Ex. 29:38) He fed the Israelites manna every day for forty years. How often does God expect us to pray: every day, every meal, or every moment?  The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing.” God never tires of hearing our prayers.

This past week, I had the privilege of helping with Vacation Bible School. In the closing on Wednesday night, I reviewed the lesson on faith. After learning about Nicodemus, the children learned the A-B-C method of becoming a Christian: A—admit you are a sinner, B—Believe Jesus is God’s Son and died for your sins, and C—Confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The accompanying teaching material described “Admit” as when the time is right and God shows you that you are a sinner. It hit me, no matter how many VBSs you attend or how many times you hear the Good News of Jesus, God the Father must do a work of grace in your heart before you can believe.

So many stories in the Bible speak of doing things over and over until one time something happens that changes everything. Have you ever sought a great message from the Lord only to find the simplest command? Have you done a small deed repeatedly hundreds of times but suddenly this time it’s different. Ordinary acts of obedience done faithfully under the power of the Holy Spirit over time will accomplish much for eternity. The miracle may not happen the first, second, sixth, or six hundredth time, but at God’s perfect time, God acts.

Naaman, a commander of the army of the king of Aram was a leper who went to Elisha the prophet to seek cleansing. Elisha refused to meet with him; but instead, instructed Naaman to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Reluctantly, Naaman washed but was not healed until the seventh time. The scriptures urges us, “Let us not become wearing in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).

How many of you are bored to tears over some faithful act of obedience you do regularly? You have not received a fresh insight from God’s Word for months, perhaps years. You have not had a prayer answered for the longest time, maybe forever. Do not give up. Do not grow weary. Continue to walk in obedience and faith. God will show up when you least expect Him. God will act at the just the right time. With faithful routine, comes the surprise of the Holy Spirit. Keep on keeping on for the Lord. Lift your eyes in faith. God may surprise you, and it may be soon.

Heroic Spirits

Then he had another dream … “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”  —Genesis 37:9

Often I feel like a superhero. Not that I wear a cape or can leap tall buildings, but I am called upon to appear and take out of the ordinary actions. A shut-in or a person with a terminal illness is taken to the hospital, and I make an immediate visit. I comfort, read scripture, anoint with oil and pray. Then I jump back into my car and rush off to the next emergency. On each occasion, some dedicated person: a child, a parent, or a spouse, has been giving faithful care day in day out.

Doctors, nurses, and pastors are often treated with the awe of superheroes. When the emergency comes, we call the specialist or expert—the superhero. We have become a culture looking to the superlative, the extreme, the biggest and greatest. At times, God gives us dreams, visions, and mountaintop experiences, but we are always called to walk in the routine, sometimes drudgery, with faithfulness.

Many Christians, influenced by our culture, (maybe it’s simply the human flaw) approach spiritual disciplines in the same way. Instead of practicing regular, continual prayers, we wait until a crisis comes and cry out with urgency. Rather than making Bible reading and worship a regular and faithful means to draw near to God, we crave ecstatic worship experiences with just the right music and that special preacher. We long for mountaintop experiences, but human beings are really made for walking faithfully in the valleys.

When it comes to giving, we still think heroically. I frequently hear persons say, “If I win the lottery, I’ll pay for a new youth center or I’ll fund this or that new outreach ministry.”  Or “When my ship comes in, I’ll do something great for the Lord.” No you won’t! Jesus said, “If we are faithful in little, we will be faithful in much.” Faithful stewardship as well as every other spiritual discipline works best when practiced with consistency, faithfulness, and dedication.

The truly great among us become heroic through faithful service. Philippians 2:7-8 teaches us that Jesus took on the nature of a servant, humbled himself, and became obedient to death. After this humble service, God exalted Jesus and gave Him a name above every name (2:9-11). Jesus became heroic by faithfully surrendering and serving.

Genesis chapter 37 describes the great aspirations and dreams of Joseph. He had a dream that he would become greater than his eleven brothers. He had a second dream that even his mother and father would bow. God’s vision for Joseph came to pass years later as his entire family came to Egypt to buy food from him during the famine. But the dream only became a reality after Joseph had spent 13 years learning faithfulness and obedience as a slave and a prisoner.

Dream big! Catch a glimpse of the future God has for you, your family, and your church family, but allow God to bring that vision to pass as you pray, serve, and give regularly and faithfully. The real Superman has already come, and he’s not you or me. Jesus is human nature in perfection. He desires to live in your heart and life. He can and will remake you after His image. Surrender your life to Him and walk faithfully and obediently into God’s perfect future for you.

New Beginnings

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”—2 Corinthians 5:17

Early in my Christian journey, I met a family who, after returning from a mission trip, promptly sold the family farm and enrolled in Bible College. Following graduation, they moved to Africa to give their lives in missionary service. I have always been impressed by individuals who give up everything in order to follow Jesus’ radical call to discipleship. In the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price, Jesus compares the kingdom of God to a merchant who found a pearl of great value and “went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:46). In another place, Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).

Over the past six years in Johnstown, I have observed the courage, tenacity, and faith of many persons who made completely new beginnings. One man left a career in purchasing to return to school and enter the medical field. Last week, I attended a farewell dinner for a gentleman who left the accounting field, returned to school to get a second bachelor degree in worship leading, and entered into fulltime Christian ministry. I know a single mother who left the medical field, returned to school, and began her own business. People are still stepping out in faith and trusting God to do a new work in and through their lives.

These amazing real life stories remind me of the miraculous new beginnings that God desires to work in all of us. God calls persons to allow the Holy Spirit to make a new creation of our lives. We have all failed. Each of us has a past: sins, mistakes, and even a label. As we call upon the Lord Jesus to forgive our sins, we walk into a new life. “If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). A new creation isn’t merely a remake of the old person, but something completely new, something never known before. God is still in the creating business.

If we can dream a new future under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish it; or rather, God can accomplish it in and through us. The scriptures tell us that God is at work in us both to will and to do God’s good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). God is still giving fresh dreams and working new plans. We need to cry out the Lord, see God’s new future for us, and walk obediently with faith in the footsteps God sets before us, even if those around us don’t believe in us or give us another chance. God knows His good plans for us for a hope and a future.

In a depressed economy, it is easy to lose hope. When a strained relationship continues to sour, it is easy to quit praying and trying. But most of all, when we have had doors repeatedly closed on our faces or we have been sick for years, our spirits begin to sag. In those times, it is hard to hear the voice of God say, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5). I urge you, lift up your heads. Open your eyes. God’s still creating. God is giving fresh dreams. God has a new beginning just for you. See it, receive it, claim it, and live it.