What Do the Storms Reveal about Us? 

Last week one of those summertime afternoon thunderstorms briefly brought some hail and strong wind to my neighborhood. Afterwards I discovered that those gusts had caused part of a neighbor’s dead tree to topple over into my backyard. I was somewhat surprised because I had not noticed the unhealthy condition of that tree previously as it had been hidden within a cluster of other trees.

Sometimes storms cause problems. If it rains as hard and as much as it has in some areas of our country, there is inevitably going to be flooding. And if winds are strong enough, such as from a tornado, no structures are going to be able to withstand its destructive force. However, many times the storms don’t actually cause the problems - they simply reveal issues that are already there. The rains may reveal that there are leaks in our roof or around our windows. The winds reveal the presence of a hidden dead tree. Those issues were already there, but it was the storm that brought them to the forefront.

The same holds true when it comes to the storms of life which we frequently face. We are sometimes quick to blame those storms for the damage left in their aftermath when in reality the crisis simply shed light on a problem that was already present. It wasn’t the storm that caused me to lose my temper, to cower in fear, to sink into depression, or to give in to worry. It may have been the occasion that precipitated my reaction, but it wasn’t really the cause. Apparently my trust in the Lord had already sprung some leaks. That stormy circumstance that hit didn’t lessen my faith, but it revealed that my faith wasn’t as strong as I thought it was.    

While we don’t enjoy having to face those difficult times, we can often learn from those experiences. They can show us truths about ourselves that we had failed to see before or maybe had refused to see. When we didn’t stand strong when some winds of adversity blew, we may have realized that we were not as rooted and grounded in our relationship with the Lord as we had supposed. We all have areas in our hearts and lives that still fall short of Christlikeness and need to be transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. We still have much growing to do. The storms have a way of pointing those out to us.

It reminds me of Jesus’ story about the two men who built their houses. One house withstood the storm while the other was destroyed. The floods and wind hit both structures. The storm was not the problem. The cause of the fall of the one house was an issue that was already there before the storm hit. The house was built on unstable sand instead of on the solid rock.

What about us? Will our house stand when the storms come our way? The answer to that question may have little to do with the storm itself. Granted, some challenges we face in life are more difficult than others. Some tragedies are such that they can shake anyone. However, the main factor is not the strength of the storm but the strength of our house. Is it founded on the rock of a saving relationship with Jesus, steadfast trust in Him, and in our living in obedience to His will?

Now is the time to get our house prepared – before the storm hits. Now is the time to seal those leaks and to make sure our lives are still standing on a firm foundation. The storms will come. Let’s be ready for them.

 

Don’t Give Satan an Opportunity 

My daughter and son-in-law walked out of their house one morning to find the back windshield shattered in their truck which had been sitting overnight at the top of their driveway. While vandalism was their obvious first conclusion, upon closer examination they discovered a different cause. They realized that the window had not been broken from the outside but rather from the inside. And found among the many pieces of glass scattered in the bed of the truck was animal fur. One of the back windows of the truck had been left partially open by one of their sons riding in the backseat the previous evening. Apparently some animal had climbed in that open window and in a panic to escape had busted the back glass. What was it? From those who examined the remnants of the fur, they concluded it was a deer. Certainly a panicked deer could have caused the damage, but it was just surprising that it would have climbed through that small opening in order to get itself in that predicament.

Their situation reminds us how trouble can slip in on us if we leave any room at all for it to get in. But it is not just wild animals who innocently wander into places where they shouldn’t. It can be those who are intentionally seeking to do harm. And I am not just talking about vandals or other criminals. We have an adversary to our spiritual well-being who is always looking for some way to squeeze his way into our lives and cause trouble. The Bible warns us to “be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

One reason we need to be so watchful is because Satan doesn’t always just come announcing his presence and bursting through our door. He doesn’t always come pounding on the door like the big, bad wolf in the fairy tales, declaring that he is going to huff and puff and blow our houses down. He may simply sneak in through a window left open or a crack in the door. While he can be like a roaring lion, he can also act like a slithering snake who can find a vulnerable spot through which he can gain entrance into our lives.

Paul warns us not to “give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). Another translation says not to let the devil gain a foothold. The idea is not to give Satan any opening of opportunity. Don’t leave any room for him to be able to squeeze in and infiltrate your life where he can cause havoc. Keep the windows of your heart closed and the doors to your soul locked tight to this deceitful and deadly intruder.

How might we give the devil an opportunity to sneak into our lives? We might open that door by flirting with some sinful behavior or attitude rather than steadfastly refusing to have anything to do with it. We may open the door by seeing how close we can get to the edge of God’s will without falling off into some kind of immoral behavior. We may leave a crack in the window when we allow our minds to wander off in certain foolish directions rather than immediately resisting those thoughts or fantasies. In the context of that verse in Ephesians, we may be opening the door for Satan when we don’t deal quickly and wisely with conflicts and anger in our hearts. He can get in, incite explosive reactions, or encourage us to brood in our anger until it turns into bitter resentment.

Leaving a window open in a truck can lead to trouble, but leaving a door cracked for the devil can do much greater harm.

 

Being on Guard Against Deception 

Recently I was sent an email expressing appreciation for my devotional book, Be a Holy Man. I have received communications before from people claiming to be familiar with the book and wanting to help me market it. I easily recognized those proposals as deceptive attempts to get my money and ignored them. However, this correspondence was different. I told my wife that if this was a scam, it was a really good one. It claimed to be from an author whose name my wife recognized as having written numerous Christian novels. The letter of commendation was several paragraphs in length, going into considerable detail about the content of my book. It gave all appearances of being from someone who had read the book and was familiar with its contents. Additionally, there was no financial request involved, only an invitation to have further communication with this person in order to share how I had come to write the book.

It sounded legitimate, and frankly it was flattering to think that a noted author would appreciate my work. However, I knew in my heart that it likely was not genuine. There were a couple of little oddities in the email that stood out to me. Therefore I looked up the author’s website, found the contact information for her representative, and sent her a note to check it out. Not surprisingly, I received a reply thanking me for checking and assuring me that the email did not come from that author. I have concluded that it must have been an AI generated letter. At least I hope if a real person was as familiar with the content of a book on holiness as this person seemed to be, that she would not be going around deceiving people.

This is just another reminder of one of the biggest dangers we face today and will have to deal with in the days ahead. Deception. And with increased technology, such deception can be harder and harder to recognize. It is not just people trying to trick us into revealing personal information or to get us to send them money, but it is also those attempting to deceive us in connection with spiritual matters and truth. Deception and lies have always been a favorite tool of Satan. But the Bible warns that in the last days this particular danger will increase as “evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:13).

How do we guard against such sophisticated deception? Don’t accept things at face value. Check them out for yourself. Go directly to the source when you can, as I did with that author. And that includes going directly to the Bible to discover what it really says about subjects. Additionally, watch for those “little red flags” – those things that just don’t seem quite right – whether in someone’s words or actions. Pray for discernment. Know those whom you can trust and seek their opinions about matters. Listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He seeks to guide you into truth.

I am not suggesting that we need to become like a few people I know. They are overly-suspicious, often think the worst of people, and question the motives of others for no reason. However, we do need to be aware of the presence of deceivers and imposters in our world. We need to keep in mind that we can’t accept every word we hear even when coming from Christian leaders. Neither can we believe everything we see due to how images can be edited.

Jesus said that even His chosen ones could be deceived in the last days. Let’s not allow that to happen to us.

 

We Must Remain Vigilant 

One day I was observing a small flock of geese as they were foraging in a grassy area across from our church. Most of those birds had their heads toward the ground, diligently searching for something to eat. However I noticed that one or two of the geese on the outskirts of the gathering kept their heads up, looking outward to the surrounding area, as if they were making sure there wasn’t any approaching danger. Admittedly, I haven’t spent much time around geese, so I don’t know if this is a common practice or not. But for the short length of time I watched those birds, it always appeared as if at least one of them would keep itself in a posture of vigilance, as if it was guarding the rest of the flock.

It reminds me of the incident in the Old Testament book of Judges when God was intent on reducing the number of participants in the army Gideon had gathered to fight against the Midianites. Why would God choose to have less combatants in Gideon’s army? It was because He didn’t want Israel to be able to take credit for the victory. He wanted them to be so heavily outnumbered in this battle that when they won, they would know that it had to be God who did it. So one way God decided whom to exclude from the army was to have them go down to a river to drink water. Those who got down on their knees to get a drink were dismissed, while those who stayed more upright while scooping up water in their hands and bringing it up to their mouths were retained to take part in the conflict.

Why was that group chosen over the others? It may be that it was simply a random way to pick a smaller number of people with no merit attached to the way they chose to drink the water. However, some believe their actions revealed their vigilance. They didn’t take their eyes off their surroundings. Even as they took a break to drink water, they were still on guard against any attack from the enemy.

As followers of Jesus, we likewise should never let our guards down when it comes to the enemies of our souls. The Bible encourages us to be watchful. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus warned His disciples, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation” (Matthew 26:41). At the close of his discourse on spiritual armor, Paul wrote, “being watchful to this end with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18). And the most familiar admonition regarding this matter is I Peter 5:8: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

There are spiritual dangers and enemies lurking in our world. There are temptations that can arise not only from our surroundings but from the desires that can get stirred in our own hearts. Therefore we can’t afford to get so busy or distracted by what we are doing that we fail to be vigilant. We must always stay aware of the possibility of an enemy attack or a sudden temptation. Sometimes those events can occur when we would least expect them. Even when we have just experienced a great victory, have seen God work in a mighty way, or have enjoyed a fresh sense of His presence, those are times when we may be vulnerable to danger if we don’t stay alert.

Stay vigilant, not just over your own soul, but over your flock. Be a spiritual guardian over your children, your family, your friends, and your fellow believers. Don’t grow complacent or get distracted. Be the one who is always watchful for spiritual dangers.  

 

God Can Be Our Place of Safety 

In recent weeks it seems like floods have been in the news more than usual. I saw where one group of campers in another part of the country had to be rescued from rising waters by Black Hawk helicopters. I am sure they will always remember that experience. Even in our own region, there have been flash floods as some of our summertime thunderstorms have sat virtually stationary over one area pouring down heavy rain.

The psalmist wrote, “Hear my cry, O God; attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed (Psalm 61:1-2). Does your heart ever get overwhelmed? That word “overwhelmed” is often used in scripture in reference to being overcome by floodwaters. Sometimes things pour into our lives and it can be a real struggle to keep our heads above water. But the psalmist wasn’t just talking about financial difficulties, extreme busyness, or times of sickness. He refers to when his heart is overwhelmed. You probably know what he is talking about – those times when there is such a burden or heaviness in your spirit and soul that it is hard to keep going. It is those times when the floodwaters of stress, grief, fear, or discouragement pour in on you. It may be in reference to what is going on in your own life, or in the lives of those around you, or simply in our troubled world.

So what did the psalmist do in that situation? First of all, he cried out to the Lord. We need to know where to go when our hearts are being overwhelmed. We need to pray and bring our burdens to the Lord. He tells us to cast our cares upon Him. He has given us a lifeline of communication and we need to make use of it. It may be as simple a prayer as, “Lord, help me!” Sometimes in our grief, we may not even be able to vocalize what we are feeling, but the Bible suggests that God can hear and understand the groanings of our hearts.

Then the psalmist makes this statement: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). When floodwaters come, sometimes people have to keep climbing up to higher levels in order to keep above the waters. Maybe you saw on the news as I did about a family getting rescued from their house in one of those floods in Texas. It showed that family being pulled out of windows from their attic. They had gone to the highest part of their house in order to stay safe. That is what the Lord provides for us when our hearts are being overwhelmed. He doesn’t just lead us to a rock, but to a rock that is higher than us. The floodwaters may be over our heads, but God has a place of safety for us that is higher than those floodwaters can reach. He not only provides such a refuge – He is that place of safety. He is our Rock.

I don’t know what may have your heart overwhelmed today, or what flash flood may pop into your life tomorrow. Maybe it is the grief, loss, or sorrow you or your loved ones are experiencing. Maybe it is the burden of some lost soul who hasn’t put his faith in the Lord yet. Maybe it is simply the heaviness of seeing all the evil in the world. I don’t know what the floodwaters are or will be, but I do know this: there is a Rock that is higher than you and I. We can cry out to the Lord and trust Him to be our shelter in the storm.

 

Let’s Challenge Ourselves Spiritually 

It was a recent hot, humid summer morning when I stepped onto a pickleball court with my teenage grandson. I was curious to see how I would do and how my physical stamina would be after not having been involved in that activity for many months. My grandson had gotten quite good at the game, so I took this as a personal challenge. I was pleased to see that I could still hold my own against a much younger opponent. We each won hard-fought games, although my victories came with a lot more huffing and puffing than my grandson’s. While my competitive spirit wanted to try to play a tie-breaking game, my body told me I had reached my limit. I paid the price for this strenuous activity later with stiff, sore muscles, but it had been a satisfying and enjoyable experience.

It can be good to challenge ourselves at times, to test our limits, or just to get out of our comfort zones. We may do that in certain areas of our lives, such as with our physical abilities, our work skills, or our relationships. However, do we ever challenge ourselves when it comes to spiritual matters and our walk with the Lord? If we are not careful, we can let ourselves grow complacent or we can get a little lazy in those spiritual disciplines that help us grow in our faith. We can take our relationship with the Lord for granted, or simply become a little slack in our service to Him. Our concern for the souls of others can wane. We can end up isolating ourselves from the needy world around us rather than getting out in it to be the light God calls us to be.

We need to exercise our spiritual muscles, not let them grow weak from lack of use. We need to face the challenging societal issues of our day with the truth of God’s Word, not try to ignore them or stick our heads in the sand as if those problems don’t exist. We need to take the initiative to be that Church Jesus talked about that would storm the gates of hell, not be the ones who simply sit back in perpetual defensive mode.

Maybe we can begin by challenging ourselves to be more active in those means of grace which will help us draw closer to God. Challenge yourself to make church attendance a more regular part of your life. Take that extra step to get involved in a Sunday School class or a small group Bible study or prayer meeting. Challenge yourself to make Bible reading and prayer a daily practice in your life, or to add a little additional time or depth to those practices. Look for a fresh way you can use your gifts and abilities to bless others and to serve God.

Let’s challenge ourselves to be better witnesses for Christ, both by the words that we say and by the Christlike lives we live. Let’s intentionally look for opportunities to show the love of God to someone who needs it. Let’s look for a chance to share His Word or our testimony or some truth of the gospel with someone who needs to hear it. Let’s challenge ourselves to plant those seeds of love and truth every day.  

There may be limits to what we can do, just as my physical strength limited me on that pickleball court. We need to step up wisely and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. But let’s not allow apathy, complacency, laziness, or fear keep us from getting out onto the court. Challenge yourself to keep growing spiritually, to serve the Lord in new ways, and to be a better, more godly influence on your world.

 

You Have a Testimony to Share 

Recently part of our family gathered at a restaurant known for its New York style pizza. Having visited that city a few times, we fell in love with their pizza, but have had a hard time finding anything comparable to it in our area, even among restaurants which claim to offer it. My wife had discovered this particular establishment near her workplace. She had taken me there so I could try it for myself. She subsequently took a couple of individuals born and raised in New York there, including her mom. They also loved it and testified to its authenticity. Therefore we ended up there on this occasion with our daughters and their families for their evaluation and enjoyment. They weren’t disappointed.

Testimonies based on personal experience can carry a lot of weight. It was one thing for me to say that I liked the food at this place. However, it was even more impressive to hear native New Yorkers sing its praises.

The same can hold true concerning our experience with the Lord. Personal testimonies can be effective and persuasive. Granted, such accounts are very subjective. They don’t necessarily offer the same kind of proof as objective truth and facts. Nevertheless, they are useful to support those objective realties. For example, it is helpful for us to know about all the evidence that points to the fact that Jesus rose from the grave. But neither should we ignore the testimony that is expressed in a great gospel song, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!” Our personal experiences aren’t proof. They could be mistaken. But if the objective evidence is true, then you would expect there would be individuals who can back it up by what they have seen for themselves. They know that Jesus is the risen Lord who can save souls and change lives, not just because the Bible says so or because there is an empty tomb, but because He has changed their hearts and lives.

I am reminded of the occasion when Jesus healed a blind man. Afterwards the religious leaders were questioning the man, trying to discredit him, and get him to disparage Jesus. They were disgruntled over the fact that Jesus had performed this act of healing on the Sabbath. As they drilled this man about who he thought Jesus was, the man finally responded, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see” (John 9:25). This man may not have been able to make all the theological arguments about Jesus’ identity, but he knew what he had experienced. Jesus had touched him, restored his sight, and changed his life.

If we have had a personal encounter with Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we too have a testimony we can share. While we need to know as much factual information as possible about Him, the Bible, and doctrinal matters, we don’t have to be seminary graduates in order to share our faith with others. Each of us has a story to tell. We can simply share how Jesus has touched us and made a difference in our lives. Every person’s testimony is different. Some involve dramatic conversions from the depths of immorality. Others are about moral people who realized they were also sinners who couldn’t ever be good enough to save themselves.

Whatever your experience may be, it is worth sharing. And there is someone who needs to hear it. Your testimony may be just the thing that will help someone realize the authenticity of a relationship with the Lord. So let’s tell others what Jesus has done for us.