What do you do when help isn't on the way?

In conjunction with my last blog, the idea that I am trying to get across is that "need" is a much bigger term than we might imagine. Sometimes what the child of God needs is to go through a period of need. In this we first must understand that God is not violating his promises, simply because we do not get. The idea of a faith that runs no deeper than, Lord please don't let it rain on our beautiful picnic, is not going to sustain you when a crisis of health, finance or loss of a loved one inevitably hits.

Problems that far outweigh our resources are what make us rely on God. The destruction of self-reliance is what occurs in the process. So, for those of you who tell any one of the millions of people who are hurting right now, to just get up and go fix their situation: Shut up, you don't know what you are talking about. No kidding, as I was writing this, I struck up a conversation with a woman who has an degree in management, working on her masters; and she has been out of work since August. Look, there are people everywhere that are struggling to survive on a scale that hasn't been seen in our life time. It has been 83 years since the great stock market crash. It is not easy, and running around kicking people in the seat of the pants is a shameful.

Back to my point, the destruction of self-reliance is what is supposed to happen in a trial. God wants us to depend on Him. Why else would He give us such a gracious offer to come boldly before His throne with whatever concerns us? It is that He wants us dependent on Him, for everything. We are dependent on Him for every beat of our heart; it is the sinful flesh that does not want to admit that.

So, how about the help that isn't coming? Rejoice, that is what James tells us. If you don't get what you need, then maybe what you need is to go without for a time. Why? Tell me something, how is God going to use you to minister to somebody, if all you can say is, "sorry, let's talk about something else." God is creating in you a person who can help when another is in trouble. Help that will mean so much more because you have been "through it." Listen, kind eyes and a reassuring voice only come by experience. So, when you endure all kinds of trials, because you are faithful, rejoice: because God is at work in you.

Is it a strange thing?

In my earlier days, I wrote in sermons something to the effect, if you please God, He will give you what you need. I often got those sermons back with a note that essentially said, what if you don't get what you want? I tied the faithfulness of God to the getting of what you want or need, which is fine so long as what you are asking for is in God's will. What I wrote wasn't wrong, I just didn't understand it. I was lacking in experience.

I understand what I wrote a great deal more now than I did then. I don't think that anyone will say that the last few years have been fun. The Bureau of Labor Statistics places the number of unemployed for November of this year at 15.1 million people. So, is it still true; if you please God, will He give you what you need? Absolutely. So how do we wrap our minds around this concept?

What do they teach you in school? Your needs are food, clothing and shelter. So, we go about finding a program that pleases God and gives us all of these. Is it possible to seek the kingdom of God and miss a meal or two? Isn't life more than food, and the body more than clothing? There is more to life than food, clothing and shelter. Look at what Peter say about trials in I Peter 4:12-14. It is not strange when trouble comes: it would be strange if trouble never came.

Listen, this is what is going to make the difference when you are up against a trial that can level you. It is the pinnacle of God's faithfulness that we endure fiery trials: especially when we do everything right! Do you want to be moored in the harbor; or do you want to go out on the rough seas where you can experience the revelation of God's glory? God's glory rests on those who have been shucked of everything the world wants: and they stand and say take everything else, but give me Christ! The Bible speaks of people like this who were tortured, but would not accept release, because they wanted a better resurrection, they died at they hands of their torturers; because they wanted to please God more, and the Bible also records that the world was not worthy of them. Do not be dismayed when you have trials. Sail on! That God's glory may rest on you.

My Christmas blog

So it’s Christmas time. I usually share my thoughts, an occasional link and that is about it. You may or may not know that I like to take pictures. This year I am giving almost everyone the same picture. I took a couple of pictures with particular people in mind, but for the most part, I took pictures I wanted to take. For this year, this one is my favorite. Two little children playing at the beach. I watched them go back and forth, chasing the receding wave and then running away from the incoming wave. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I won’t continue to describe it.

The thing about photography that captivates me is the fact that you are freezing one moment in time. There is a technical aspect that generously feeds the nerd in me. There is always a desire to get it right, in both the technical and substantive aspects. The crossing of those paths in one single moment in time and the photographer’s inability to capture it, are what constitute the “missed shot.” But then there is Photoshop, to fix whatever ails your picture.

If you are attentive to details, you will notice that there are a few spots on this picture. Right to left: blue, purple, a lighter purple and just above that a light colored blotch. It’s called lens flare; not technically perfect. It is flawed. So why didn't I fix it? There is a day attached to that particular photograph. One of those wonderful days when the Father does for you so clearly, what you can not do for yourself. And at the end of this day as I looked back toward the setting sun, this is what I saw, this beautiful moment. Children playing at the edge of one of God’s great wonders.

So what of the flaws I did not fix? The flaws are what make this picture mine. God bless you all and have a Merry Christmas.

Some additional thoughts on the book of Ruth

While I enjoyed sharing my thoughts on the book of Ruth, as For Miss Austen, I would like to add a few thoughts that have developed along the way. There are some phrases in the Bible, which perfectly understood at the time of their writing, then translated from manuscripts some 2700 to 3000 years (depending on which version you use) after the original writing of the text, require a little homework to comprehend with a now 21st century mind. So, lets look at Ruth 3:9 in the King James. "Spread therefore thy skirt over thine handmaid," is the phrase that probably didn't cause too much difficulty even up to the turn of the last century; but now some interpret this as a Ruth going to the threshing floor to seduce Boaz: that is completely wrong!

Most of the older translations (relative term) such as Young's Literal Translation and Darby Translation follow the King James translation "thy skirt." Some of the newer translations render the term "the corner of your garment", and in one "the corner of your covering." This is a symbolic gesture. Look at the blessing Boaz gives to Ruth in chapter 2:11-12. Notice the phrase about God in verse twelve, "under whose wings thou art come to trust." That is the symbol that we see in Ruth's request. Clarke's Commentary says this, "Spread therefore thy skirt over thine hand maid - Hebrew, Spread thy wing. The wing is the emblem of protection, and is a metaphor taken from the young of fowls, which run under the wings of their mothers, that they may be saved from birds of prey. . . Even to the present day, when a Jew marries a woman, he throws the skirt or end of his talith over her, to signify that he has taken her under his protection." So we can see what a beautiful gesture this is: namely that Ruth asked Boaz, borrowing his phraseology, to be the instrument of the blessing he pronounced on her.

Finally, as to who the author of Ruth was, let me say this, I think it was David. Some suppose Samuel, in fact many, and others suppose Nathan but I think David makes sense. Think about it for a minute, who would best know this story? What does every little one ask mom and dad? They spend their early childhood learning how mom and dad got to be mom and dad. Then they start on how the grandparents came to be any of the hundred or so derivatives of grandmother and grandfather. David is closer to the story than anyone we know of, in fact is the great-grandson of Ruth. Remember King David grew up as just David, so there's little reason to suggest that this was a famous story outside of his family. The writing of Ruth and David's life time also overlap. So, that's my two cents worth about who wrote the book of Ruth. God bless you all.