Moment by Moment

A lot of us wish that, when Paul said "in all things God works for the good of those who love him" (Rom. 8:28), he had included a schedule for that program! Some of us wait a lifetime to see things work out for our good; others fail to recognize the good until long after it arrives. Impatient souls that we are, we just want the pain and frustration to stop.

We should remember that "in all things" also means "constantly." God doesn't leave us to struggle on our own for years until the time comes for Him to do something; He is active in every moment of our lives, guiding our circumstances toward the end He sees from the beginning. When He seems silent, He is busy watching and listening and planning, protecting and shaping us in ways we may never understand this side of eternity.

Any psychologist will confirm that much of human frustration is due to an unwillingness to live life one moment at a time, bit by bit. Why should we be surprised that the all-wise God tends toward the slow-and-steady route? 

Moment by moment our Father is working,

Bringing new mercies the dawn of each day,

God our Provider, our perfect Sustainer—

Perfect His wisdom and flawless His way.

Oh, our beloved Lord! Holy forever,

Moment by moment He shapes and He guides,

Gives us all things for our joy and our pleasure,

All that we need and far more yet besides!

Moment by moment our Father is working,

Weaving our lives in a plan yet unseen;

God our great Master and perfect Protector,

Lord of all things that will be and have been.

Oh, our beloved Lord! Holy forever,

Moment by moment He shapes and He guides,

Working all things to our good and our blessing,

Giving redemption and more yet besides!

Moment by moment our Father is working,

Drawing all things to the ultimate End;

God our great King and eternal Sustainer,

Perfect Redeemer and Heavenly Friend!

Oh, our beloved Lord! Holy forever,

Moment by moment He shapes and He guides,
Making for us a great World that's eternal,
And endless Life where all goodness abides!

The Trouble with Systems

I apologize for the long break since the last post. Call it sick leave: my stress levels, rarely comfortable, have hit near-record highs over the past few weeks. Posts may well continue to be sporadic for some time.

What really hurts is that just as God seems to be developing in me a solid sense of my long-term calling--"to write Christ's comfort to the stressed, depressed, and hard-pressed"--He also seems to have decided I need more experience as one of them. No sooner is one anxiety relieved than another asserts itself; and no matter what I do (including prayer) in terms of time management, there's never enough margin in a day to keep me from getting frazzled.

All too easily, time management mutates from a tool to aid in God's work into a substitute god; if you're anything like me, dropping an item from the schedule can feel like surgery without anesthetic. We think we have everything laid out and under control--and then "life happens." It hurts to admit we judged poorly in scheduling something; it hurts to cut our forward momentum and turn onto a new path; and it hurts to give up something we'd been counting on.

Such happenings are, of course, God's tools for reminding us only He can be counted on. Sometimes we want to scream at Him for letting us go in the wrong direction in the first place, particularly if it was a good direction in itself. It seems that not only would our lives be easier, but God's work would get done more efficiently, if He were a bit more specific in His guidance. But He evidently has more important ends in mind--ends we can't see from our human perspective.

So is it wrong to make plans and schedules? Of course not. What's wrong is to become addicted to them--so fixated that the God of the still small voice can't get our attention without shouting.

Every book and every website--
So it seems this hurried day--
Knows the "secret" to resolving
All life's struggles and dismay.

If you use this planning system;
If you pray this acronym;
If you think along these guidelines,
You will never stress again.

Are you sure? Just look at Scripture:
Mood swings plagued the Psalmists too,
And the prophets knew frustration,
And apostles failed like you.

Even Jesus, Who was perfect,
Had His days of stress and strain--
That He might be fully human,
And might truly know our pain.

Peace of mind is won through struggle;
Growing pains may last for years;
God is never in a hurry.
All our setbacks, all our tears,

Are His tools to make us stronger,
Shaping us to go His way.
Trust His hand and wait in patience;
Bear your burden every day.

In the end, when all is finished,
When we reach God's perfect rest,
We will see how trials and struggles
Made us His and made us blessed!

Reshape Me, Lord

More than one Christian writer has observed that God is never in a hurry. That's not always good news to those of us who get tired of His using the slow-and-steady approach to work out our concerns. Impatience can easily tempt us to turn cynical: "God can afford not to be in a hurry; He's got all the time in the world!"

One might think that "what's taking You so long?" prayers would be confined to totally selfish wants. They aren't. Not only do we get equally impatient over legitimate physical needs, but even those of us who are slightly more mature--who genuinely want to become Christlike--can quickly drift into the irony of a "give me patience--and I mean now!!" attitude. We forget that what grows quickly rarely becomes truly strong, and that those who do "grow up" overnight tend to be those who learn the hard way--through the spiritual equivalent of a good spanking.

But slow or fast, pleasant or painful, we grow best when willing to cooperate with God in the procedure--a cooperation which requires both accepting His timing and emulating His perseverance. So by all means let us continue praying for our own spiritual growth. God may not often rush to answer that prayer to our full satisfaction; but it's one prayer that He always answers--ultimately--with a "Yes."

Reshape me, Lord, that I may be
A living channel of Your grace;
Renew my heart, and let me see
Your loving hand in every place.

Reshape me, Lord, and make me strong
To do Your work each waking hour,
To know the right, reject the wrong,
And serve the world through Your great power.

Reshape me, Lord, and make me pure,
A faithful servant of Your will;
Lord, make me true, and strong, and sure,
To every day Your plans fulfill.

Reshape me, Lord, in hope and love,
And faith to trust Your guiding hand,
Until the day we meet above,
When I with You in glory stand.

Interruptions

Only a week into Lent, I'm reconsidering my choice for this year's "give something up" commitment. Not because restricting my days-off reading to 200 pages is so tough: I've only had one Saturday and Sunday to test that, and filling their extra hours wasn't all that hard. Saturday, with two social events, actually kept me up until midnight finishing 200 pages!

That's the problem. Without the option of "making up" for reading time lost on work days, I find myself pushing too hard to do the same 200 pages every day. So far I've been over an hour late to bed on 4 nights; neglected about half a day's worth of work; and sat through an Ash Wednesday service with heart pumping palpably and mind fixed on "will I have time to finish that magazine after I get out of here?" Not exactly a Christ-centered mindset, especially since most of the reading isn't even explicitly Christian. Not that I'd be any less likely to rush through if it were. What I should give up for Lent--if not for life--is the idea of permanently keeping up the daily breakneck reading speed of college days, when other responsibilities were fewer and my eyes younger.

Not that it was ever a good idea to get into the habit of thinking in overregimented terms: "I must read a complete book every day." "I must complete my reading list by December 31." "I must finish this chapter by 10:00--if I take until 10:01, I'll be struck by the lightning bolt of judgment." No wonder I get so testy at interruptions.

Many of us, if we're honest, would choose neat, tidy, predictable lives and a neat, tidy, predictable God. Although Christians, we're spiritual kin to the American Muslim who, asked why he'd abandoned his Baptist upbringing to embrace Islam, replied that Islam was everything he'd always wanted religion to be: orderly, logical, and defining clearly what to do when. What he didn't seem to realize--what we too often fail to realize--is that "how we want things to be" is a pretty weak standard for judging what is.

A better attitude to emulate would be that of Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen, who said, "My whole life I've been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered the interruptions were my work." God isn't really interested in our ability to make plans and carry them out, even if those plans seem to be for His glory. What He wants to see in us is a humility that drops everything else, without complaining, whenever He calls our attention to a need of the moment. Regimentation is the mark of legalism; spontaneity is the mark of a Christlike heart. Even if it means realizing our "spiritual discipline" plans aren't God's plans for us.

I think I'll change my Lent commitment to "give up counting pages, and give up an hour's worth of available reading time every day, turning that time to worship and prayer."

As the traveler paused in his journey
To help an injured man,
I stumble each day on some needy
Who were not part of my plan.
Will I pause in my work, to help them,
And let God's love shine through,
Or go on about my own business,
Having "other things to do"?

When our plans fail to go as we'd hoped for,
When things turn stalled or wrong,
Will we take on Christ's godly patience
And see things through with a song,
Or think only of our convenience
And grumble our way through,
As though we were gods of our own lives,
With important things to do?

We make plans for the lives we wish for,
But God knows what is best,
And He sends us each interruption;
From Him comes each trial or test.
When His wisdom guides our responses
To needs that still break through,
Then we truly walk in Christ's footsteps:
For we have God's work to do!

Waiting for Results

Children everywhere are counting the days until Christmas. If you're a parent, you may be exhausted by now from "I can't wait" questions: "When does Rudolph come on TV?" "When can we open the presents?" "How much farther to Grandma's?"

Children do not wait patiently for things they look forward to. Nor do many adults. We watch the office clock all Friday afternoon. We squirm as we wait outside for stores to open.

Nor do we wait patiently for things we anticipate without unmitigated pleasure. Sweaty palms, churning stomachs, and an inability to concentrate on anything else are common to the patient waiting for a cancer screening and the student waiting for exam grades. Waiting to learn how we did, or how we are, is an inevitable part of life--one many of us would like to do away with. Who needs the stress and suspense?

What we really need is a godly patience based in quiet trust that we can leave the results to God and that He knows best. Many of us fall short because we pay too much attention to immediate concerns and not enough to the things He tells us to wait for--the coming of Christ and the full establishment of the eternal Kingdom. We're like children who are so tired of travelling that we've half convinced ourselves we'll never reach the destination.

Fortunately, no matter how many times the kids whine, "Are we there yet?" most parents keep driving without giving up the trip or tossing anyone out of the car. God is like that. He doesn't disown us when we get impatient. And if we stop moaning, "Will this ever end?" long enough to listen for an answer, we just might hear Him whisper, "Be patient. The end is worth waiting for."

Whether you're travelling this year or at home trying to keep up with the bustle, take a little time each evening to think about the first Christmas and about the eternal celebration God has planned for us.

Since the days we start as children,
At the doctor Mom consults,
We spend countless hours in waiting,
Always waiting for results.

Through the days we spend as students,
With exams the weekly way,
We chew nails as grades draw nearer,
Waiting for results each day.

When we're grown and jobs we're seeking,
When employed and near reviews,
When it's time to pay our taxes,
When high tension fills the news,

In old age when bodies weaken,
Or when illness strikes the young,
All our thoughts are "What will happen?"
Till the day results are sung.

Every day we spend in living,
Till the one we breathe our last,
Every day brings things uncertain,
And new waits replace those past.

But the end of time is coming,
When dim vision will grow bright,
When all doubts at last will vanish,
And our faith give way to sight,

In a world where all is glory,
In a place where all is pure:
Know, through all you find uncertain,
One result at least is sure!