Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Titus 2:3-5
Love our husbands and children.
Be self-controlled, pure, and kind.
Work at home.
Be submissive to our own husbands.
In other words: ordinary.
I didn’t see anything in there about changing the world or living out great big enormous dreams, did you? I think, often, as 21st century Christian women, the evangelical culture can make us feel like we are failures if we don’t have some sort of huge ministry or preach the gospel on the street corner every day. In Titus’ day that sort of thing would have been unbecoming for women. In our culture, women have more opportunities to be involved in various ministries than back then, but we have to remember that God calls us to faithfully serve Him in whatever life circumstances He has put us in. And He has not called the vast majority of us to be ministry superstars or Christian celebrities.
He has called most of us to be ordinary.
Staying home and pouring the gospel into our families or being a gospel influence to others at work or teaching Sunday school or sharing the gospel through volunteer work, and so on, though it may not amount to much in the world’s eyes, is success and faithfulness in God’s eyes. And that’s all that matters.
I mean, I can read and follow a map, but if I make some wrong turns or get distracted, I tend to get disoriented. And don’t even try to tell me to “go north” or “turn south” when you’re giving me directions. I just don’t have that internal compass some people have. Heck, our church has had an “east campus” and a “west campus” for over a year, and I still can’t figure out which one is which. Thank goodness for map apps. Without those step by step directions, I’d probably still be wandering around out there somewhere.
But, you know what? I did really well in geography when I was in school.
When I can see the big picture, the whole map at once, the beginning, middle, and end of the journey, it’s a piece of cake. I never get confused about which direction is southeast or northwest. I don’t get distracted by twists or turns in the road. If I could just have this perspective when I’m trying to get somewhere, I’d never get lost again.
But life isn’t like that.
We live inside the road trip where it’s easy to get confused and go the wrong way. Where we can get distracted by the twists and turns of circumstances. Where we sometimes deliberately choose to turn off the right road and take a side trip that takes us farther than we wanted to go.
We can’t step “outside the map” and see the big picture of our life’s journey from beginning to end.
But God can. That’s where He lives.
…in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:19
And since He alone can see the big picture, He’s the only One who’s really qualified to give us direction. And that perfect direction can only be found in His Word.
Just like my map app, He tells us our starting point:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Ephesians 2:1-3
He tells us the detour we need to take:
…repent and believe in the gospel. Mark 1:15b
He shows us the right direction to go:
…what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness… 2 Peter 3:11
And he reveals our ultimate destination:
Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Not using “God’s Positioning System”?
Recalculate.
(Don’t groan and roll your eyes. You should have seen that one coming :0)
Establish my footsteps in Your word, And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.
Psalm 119:133
A few years ago, we had a little dog named Mathilda. She was cute, but to be perfectly honest, she was not one of my favorite dogs because she was completely disobedient. Maybe it was because she was rebellious. Maybe it was because she was dumb as a rock. I never did figure that one out.
We’d tell her to come; she’d run away. We’d tell her to stay; she’d run away. Frankly, pretty much anything we told her to do, she’d ignore and run away. Which was all well and good as long as she stayed inside the confines of our fenced back yard. As long as she stayed in familiar territory, she knew where and how far she could run and still be safe.
The problem was that in order to get from our back door to our carport, we had to go through the gate that kept Mathilda in the back yard.
Did I mention she liked to run away?
One day, someone opened the gate, and Mathilda was off like a shot. My daughter was on search and rescue duty that day, so she took off after Mathilda. Unfortunately, Mathilda, with no boundaries to contain her and in unfamiliar territory, got confused and crossed the street at exactly the wrong time- just as a car was coming. And, sadly, this is where her story ends.
Have you ever heard someone say, “Children need boundaries”? Well, children aren’t the only ones. Just as Mathilda discovered, the world can be a big confusing place, fraught with unseen dangers. Even before the Fall, when there were only two people in the world and things were perfect, God didn’t just turn Adam and Eve loose to roam the planet indiscriminately. He placed them in the confines of Eden and gave them a one rule boundary. It was for their protection and their joy.
As Christians today, our confines are less visible than the borders of a garden. Our boundary is the Bible. For our protection and our joy, we must stay inside the walls of God’s Word.
As Christians today, our confines are less visible than the borders of a garden. Our boundary is the Bible. For our protection and our joy, we must stay inside the walls of God’s Word. In order to do that, we must:
Know what the Word says:
I will meditate on Your statutes. Psalm 119:48
Study God’s Word. Memorize it. Dig down deep into it. Listen to Biblical preaching and teaching.
Obey the Word:
So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. Psalm 119:44
Often, the problems we experience and the confusing situations in which we find ourselves are a direct result of sin. God’s commands are for our good, our joy, and His glory. When we stray from them, things get messed up. And after all He has done for us, is obedience too much to ask?
God’s commands are for our good, our joy, and His glory.
Sometimes, despite our obedience and our love for the Lord, he allows confusing, painful, awful situations into our lives. We don’t understand what’s happening or why God would allow this terrible thing to take place. It’s especially important at these times to stay inside the fence of God’s Word, draw upon His truths we have memorized and studied, and trust Him. When we’re not sure what’s going on around us, we can go back and stand on what we can be certain of: God’s promises.
When we’re not sure what’s going on around us, we can go back and stand on what we can be certain of: God’s promises.
Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”
I enjoy staging productions and events when I have time and the occasion calls for it. I put together business events when I worked a “real” job. I staged musicals when I directed children’s choirs. But the production I enjoyed staging the most was my wedding.
I didn’t have a wedding planner. Hardly anyone did back then, and, besides, I wanted to do it myself. I had a ball picking out flowers, shopping for the cake, and taking care of all the other arrangements. But even though I enjoyed those things, on my wedding day, I wasn’t immersed in taking care of little details. I was focused on my husband. It would have been silly of me to neglect him in favor of rearranging centerpieces or something like that. And, today, my marriage would be a pretty cold place if all I ever did was fold my husband’s laundry and serve him meals without us spending any time just enjoying each other’s company.
It’s easy to see how those kinds of scenarios would be detrimental to a marriage. But as members of the bride of Christ, we do things like this all the time. We get so wrapped up in serving God that we forget about sitting at His feet and loving Him. It’s like having a birthday party without the guest of honor. Or a marriage without a husband.
We get so wrapped up in serving God that we forget about sitting at His feet and loving Him.
Serving God in ministry is important – after all, if no one put his hand to the plow and served, we’d have no pastors, teachers, missionaries, etc. – but our one on One relationship with God should take precedence over everything else. We get the cart before the horse when our relationship with the Lord is completely tied up in ministry and its results and effectiveness rather than in our own individual relationship with a Person– Jesus Christ.
I’ve always jokingly said that God needs Marthas like me, because without us, nothing in the Kingdom would get done. But I’m discovering that’s not true. God doesn’t need the efforts of any human being in order to get Kingdom work accomplished. He’s quite capable of getting the work done on His own. And, frequently, the tasks on my list that I think need to be done are not the same as the items on His agenda.
Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
John 6:28-29
Jesus isn’t my boss; He’s my bridegroom.
He doesn’t need my work; He wants my heart.
Jesus isn’t my boss; He’s my bridegroom. He doesn’t need my work; He wants my heart.
Hello, readers! I am taking this week off. I hope you’ll enjoy this three part series while I’m gone.
Originally published January 12, 2011
Every year at this time, there’s a lot of talk about New Year’s resolutions. The new year seems to bring with it a feeling of starting fresh, getting a do-over. I’ve never really been one for making resolutions, but this year, New Year’s coincided with some work God was doing in my life to give me a fresh start.
Sometimes we can get into a rut in our spiritual lives, a rut that’s too deep to just step out of by making a few minor adjustments. God has to reach down and pull us up and out of it. That’s where I was. Spiritually, I felt dry; as if God were in the other room, and I couldn’t quite find the door to get to Him. My Bible study and prayer time were shallow and hit-and-miss at best, and I was frustrated.
In answer to my crying out to Him, the Lord began to pull me up out of that rut. As He did, what He showed me was that I needed to get “back to the basics” in my spiritual life. This article is the first in a series exploring the basics God is leading me back to.
Grab God’s Hand
Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.
2 Timothy 2:5
Looking back, I can see that one of the ways I got into my rut in the first place was some “stinkin’ thinkin'”. My spiritual life was just beginning to show some signs of dryness around the edges. I thought it was because I was doing my Bible study and prayer time out of habit every day rather than doing them because I felt a supernatural draw to them.
I decided that, rather than have my time with the Lord as a built in part of my every day schedule, I would ask God to give me a hunger for Him and his Word, and that when I felt that longing for Him, I would spend time with Him. I honestly did this with the best of intentions, because I felt myself slipping away from the Lord and wanted to be close to Him again.
Good intentions are a great thing, but if the action they inspire is wrong, the intention is worthless.
Good intentions are a great thing, but if the action they inspire is wrong, the intention is worthless. The action has to be the correct one. Mine was not. John Wesley said, “A fanatic is one who seeks desirable ends, but ignores constituted means.” “Constituted means” simply refers to the normal order of operations God has set up. For example, if I want a cake– a desirable end –I don’t hit my knees, ask God to send me a cake, and then go look in the oven to see if it’s there. I go to my cabinet, get out the ingredients, mix them up, and bake them. Those are God’s constituted means by which I can get cake.
It works the same way in our spiritual lives. Holiness, sanctification (spiritual growth), and hunger for the things of God aren’t three wishes magically granted by a genie, even if you call that genie “God”. You have to use God’s “constituted means” – the work of the Spirit and your obedience – to get there.
Holiness, sanctification, and hunger for the things of God aren’t three wishes magically granted by a genie. You have to use God’s “constituted means” – the work of the Spirit and your obedience – to get there
Paul describes our walk with the Lord as a race or athletic event. You don’t just rub a lamp, make a wish, and, BAM! you’re a great athlete. You get up every day and train and condition whether you feel like it or not. Some days, you’ll be excited about working out, other days, you’ll want to stay in bed, but regardless of how you feel, you still do it. It’s the “doing it” that creates the desire to hone your abilities more, and makes you love the sport more.
Likewise, we will never develop holiness and a closer walk with the Lord just by asking Him for them and then sitting and waiting. As we ask, we have to do the work of study and prayer– even when we don’t feel like it. It is in the “doing it” that God creates the hunger for more of Him. I discovered as I waited and waited for God to draw me close to His side that I was slipping farther and farther away from Him. I was trying to get to my desired end without using His constituted means.
So, when we’re down in that rut we can’t get out of, we should cry out to God to reach down and lift us out of it, but that’s not all. When God extends His hand to pull us out, we’ve got to reach up and grab hold of Him and hang on, even when we don’t feel like it. That’s called obedience, and Jesus said if we love Him, we’ll obey Him.
There are going to be some dry spells. After all, God didn’t talk to Moses from the burning bush every day, now did He? The answer is not to ask God to set the bush on fire, but to hang on to Him in faith when all we see in front of us is a charred pile of sticks.
The answer is not to ask God to set the bush on fire, but to hang on to Him in faith when all we see in front of us is a charred pile of sticks.
