Do the Next Thing

John 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve said a billion times (indulge my exaggeration) ‘I don’t know what to do!’ We are commanded to “look to Jesus” on the cross in order to know how to handle our time of suffering and hardship (Hebrews 12:2). A lesson we can learn from Christ on the cross is this: make practical preparations, in the midst of your sorrow.

When we face overwhelming grief, unrelenting discouragement, or pounding pain, it is often hard to know what to do. We tend to want to roll up in a ball and hope that the storm will pass or that some easy solution will present itself.

However, the right response, even in times of great suffering, is to make practical preparations in the midst of your sorrow. You must still get out of bed, or go to work, or do the laundry, or pay the bills, or play with the children, or write up your will — no matter how low you may feel, ignoring your responsibilities will not help any problem go away.

Here was Jesus, in the darkest moment of human history, bearing the brunt of man’s and God’s wrath. No one has ever been in as low a state as Jesus was at this time. And, yet, he is making simple, mundane preparations for after his death. He is making sure that his mother will be cared for.

Elizabeth Elliot calls this fundamental need to face reality the “do the next thing” principle. When you don’t know what to do next, she says, do the next thing. This is excellent and practical advice: Do it immediately, do it with prayer.

Jesus is coming back, this is a fact. Meanwhile, we are to be helpful every day, even the worst of days and in times of great trial.  Don’t know what to do? The Bible tells us. Paul gave us the specifics in 1 Thessalonians 5:

And we urge you, brothers,
·         warn those who are idle,
·         encourage the timid,
·         help the weak,
·         be patient with everyone.
·         Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong,
·         but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
·         Be joyful always;
·         pray continually;
·         give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
·         Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
·         do not treat prophecies with contempt.
·         Test everything.
·         Hold on to the good.
·         Avoid every kind of evil…

If you don’t know WHAT to do, this should keep you occupied!  We must walk through the times of trouble in faith, continue to take care of life's practical needs AND be helpful to those around us. Do the next thing. Do it immediately, do it with prayer

God, You are the one at work in us. By Your Spirit , through Your Word, I ask that You will speak to me clearly now. What specific things do You want to do through me to be helpful today? Lead me. Guide me. I trust You do it through me. Amen.

Separation Time in the Desert

Jonah 2:3-4 (NKJV) For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me...Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’

I’ve been reading a study on how God has chosen to use ‘separation’ in the lives of many people He calls into service.

Before Moses was called to lead the people of Israel of bondage he spent 40 years herding sheep and goats in the desert and they weren’t even his own animals. God used that time to prepare Moses and free him from his ‘self’ and worldly mentalities. Only then was Moses ready to take the stand for God’s chosen people and speak for the Lord to Pharaoh. Then it was back to the desert for another 40 years Moses went; this time leading a bunch of ungrateful complainers needing the same lessons on trusting and following God alone.

Look at all the times David spent alone in the wilderness; first, as the entrusted sheepherder in his family; then later as he ran from a jealous, mentally unbalanced Saul. Later still, he had to run and hide from his own son. And this was the man God called, “A man after my own heart.” Each time David was separated from his home, family, position and followers, God used the hardships to bring David to a place of better serving Him and emptying him of ‘self.’

The reference scripture today is from Jonah. You can believe Jonah felt a huge separation time in the belly of the whale. He was separated from God by his disobedience, separated from people and even the light of day as he pondered his fate and bad attitudes and decisions in the complete darkness and unpleasant digestive process inside the whale.

Separation from all that is familiar; family, hearth, and friends is difficult at best; most of the time it is pure hell on earth. The worse separation of all is from God. You just don’t get any more alone than that. Many years ago in what I call ‘another lifetime’ I went through such a time of separation. In what seemed like one fatal swoop of fate, I lost my home, my job, my dream, and worse of all, my sons. My sons did not die or anything, they went to live with their dad and ‘other mother’ because I had lost my job and home. But to a mother’s heart, the pain was devastating. I had everything I thought I wanted and dreamed of one day and then the next, it was gone. All of it was gone! I had my own personal Moses/David/Jonah experience. That’s what it took for me to lay down my agenda, my way, my will and totally surrender my life to God Almighty. I remember so vividly; the pain, the fear, and desperation of total defeat and surrender. I even remember the actual words, “God, I have screwed up my life as much as I possibly can. Take it, it’s Yours.”

Not the usually wordy, poetic stuff you hear from me, granted, but it could not have been more sincere and genuine. That evening, I asked God to take control, have His way with me and my life. I did not have the strength physically, emotionally, mentally and most especially spiritually, to make another decision without Him, lift my hands in effort to make anything happen or even to reason out a logical thought. Nope, wasn’t gonna happen! For the first time I KNEW what the scripture meant when it said I can do nothing on my own.

In my tiny room I could smell all the sheep of 40 years of herding, feel the chill of the caves carved in the hillside, trembled in fear of my enemies approaching and ‘see’ the darkness I had brought on myself. It was then, in that moment I realized God had taken away everything that was important to me, everything that took my time and efforts, and everything I had been placing above Him in my life. He took it all so He would have my undivided attention for the first time in my miserable little life. My classroom and sentence was desert time. It wasn’t long before I was praising Him for the very same sentence! My life profoundly changed as I was being transformed into someone willing and able to serve Him.

From the study I am reading come these final words: As we see with Jonah, the Lord can use solitude to transform disobedience into obedience. God doesn’t override our free will, but He goes all out to help us exercise it in the right direction. When our will is dead set against what He wills and wants for us, He can put us in a position where we finally decide to surrender and submit to Him.

Divine Discipline

 “Rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry” (1 Sam. 15:23).

Over the course of the day and evening yesterday, I had to deal with rebellion; mine and that of Nikos and Pan Dulce. For me, it was over honoring the Sabbath with a day of rest. I told the Lord on my rising that I would and yet I kept having things pop in my head that I needed to do so I would jump up and try to do them; emphasis on ‘try’. Each time an overwhelming sense of fatigue would wash over me and I would have to sit or lie down. No joke, this wasn’t me just procrastinating, I had no say or choice here. I HAD to rest. Having recently started a new part time job, my body was tired, not stressed – just plain bone weary tired. Wisdom said to rest, to renew my strength. The odd human urge said to sweep, put away the laundry and the clean dishes. God had to ‘make’ me rest when I attempted to go back on my promise to rest. If Nancy had not stopped by, I would have spent the entire day in my nightgown. Believe me; I seriously considered throwing on a pair of shorts under my nightgown when I knew she was headed my way. After she left, I crashed back down on the bed….me and the pups.

As for the pups, each one had their moments of rebellion, too. Nikos jumped off my bed with me telling him ‘no!’ the entire time. My bed is on risers making it too high for his tiny Chihuahua legs to make the jump without risk of injury. He doesn’t know that, of course, but he does know to stop when I say ‘no.’ He gave one quick look at me over his shoulder then made the leap! When I called him, he did stop and consider coming back to me, grudgingly. I stood my ground and called him by name; he tucked his tail and walked back as slowly as he could. I took hold of him, turned him over on his back on the floor and held him there while I spoke softly to him. I was not harsh, loud, ugly or hurtful to him. I simply reminded him I was his Alpha leader and I would not be ignored. Later in the evening, Pan refused to come inside when I was closing down the house for bedtime. Once again, I stood my ground and called his name quietly until he walked to me. I repeated the act of turning him over, pinning him gently to the ground and talking softly to him telling him I would not tolerate his rebellion.

As I held Pan down, it hit me that was exactly what God was doing to me every time He ‘made’ me lie down during the day. I was trying to do things my own way, even knowing I shouldn’t and He had to remind me He is my Alpha. He didn’t get rough with me, didn’t yell at me…just quietly showed me He was in control and my rebellion would not be tolerated. It was for my own good and protection, just as my actions were for Nikos and Pan. I thanked Him for loving me enough to make me do as I should and not as I would.

By the way, after my little reminder lessons for the pups, my next contact was to pick them up and love on them. They have stuck close to me ever since and this morning, Nikos came to me to put him down off the bed and waited by my feet until I walked ahead of them to open the back door so they could go out.

Maybe you are in a situation that boggles your mind and/or frustrates you no end. Perhaps it is just a godly ‘time out’ to help you pause so you don’t do something rash or too impulsive. Maybe taking time to seek your Alpha is the next step. This is an important time to consider who or what your Alpha may be. Do you turn to friends for advice? Do you push through in brute strength all alone? Self-help or self-improvement books and articles can tell you all sorts of ways to ‘make your life better’ but the fact that the ‘self’ is even in those should tell you something. You are looking to yourself as your Alpha. Really? Didn’t you do enough already? If God is not your Alpha, you’re on the wrong track from the get-go. We all get rebellious in one way or another from time to time. If you deny that you are fooling no one but yourself…ah, there it is again...‘self’.

God’s Discipline Proves His Love

Hebrews 12:1–12 (God’s Discipline Proves His Love) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.

Today’s scripture reference is very powerful. I might suggest you read it again, very slowly. Let the meaning soak into your mind and heart. Most people associate the word disciple with punishment. Scripturally, it means so much more. I’ve studied and written on this before but the ‘Holy Tap’ keeps bring it up. You know what that means…it means God is outlining the path He wants me to take with this devotional. This is His devotional anyway, I just offer up my hands and time, which is His to begin with, so basically, considering He gave me the desire and motivation to write, I own none of it. So, ‘discipline’ it is!

You’ve heard me say before, “If you discipline yourself (exercising self-disciple), no one else will have to.” This is a true statement as far as living a lawful, considerate and moderate life. This is the stuff we can do in our physical lives. When it comes to our spiritual life, God doesn’t stop there. His discipline extends to every area of our lives and is for our greater good. This is our Heavenly Father loving His children enough to mold and shape them into His righteousness. We have no righteousness of our own, no amount of good works or clean living can make the difference. It is the sculpting, maturing discipline of our loving Father and the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us that count.

After the holidays, we will start a study on Divine Discipline. I think it’s a good way to kick off the new year. Don’t let the title scare you away. I realize discipline isn’t always a popular topic and there will be those that choose to skip reading it altogether. That’s a shame, who knows what God will reveal through that study. I, for one, am anxious to see where He takes it.

…But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.