Faith like a Fist

And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. -1 Kings 18:41-45

If you don’t know the context of this verse, here it is. There has been no rain in 3 years. None. Dry. Barren. For 3 years. If you see the wildfires going on in Arizona right now, and you think that’s dry, remember there has been NO rain here.

But, look at the faith that Elijah has in this account.

As the story is retold, we see Elijah asking his servant to go look for rain. When the servant reports nothing, Elijah sends him back again. And again. Seven times Elijah sent him out, and finally the servant tells Elijah there’s a cloud the size of a man’s fist. A cloud the servant probably wouldn’t even have noticed, except that he was probably sick and tired of Elijah sending him out to look at the sea! Elijah was so insistent. Think about this – the servant sees this tiny little cloud, and Elijah says, “Oh, buddy! Here. It. Comes. This little cloud appears and here’s what he says to his servant, “Go and tell Ahab, “Hitch up your chariot and go down, before the rain stops you.” Because Elijah was expectant in his prayers, this little bitty cloud, to him, meant rain was coming. And not just a gentle, soaking rain, but heavy rain. Driving rain. The kind of rain that could stop a chariot from being able to travel. From a little tiny cloud the size of a man’s fist, Elijah prayed expecting God to do something amazing in his life, and God delivered – verse 45 tells us that “the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on, and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.

When we pray, we need to pray like we’re expecting something from the prayer. We need to pray like there’s an entire course of history going on but, because we prayed, something new is going to happen. Like life is being changed because we prayed. Like God is going to do something amazing in our lives because we prayed. We can boldly go before the throne of grace.

So many times, we fail to see the signs that God is working in our lives. We tend to think things won’t change, or that what we’re asking for is too great for God to do, and we miss the cloud the size of a man’s fist in our lives. We get frustrated that this person we’ve been praying for still isn’t coming to church every week, but we miss the fact that they’re asking us questions about God, they’re asking us to pray, God is changing their life and we just refuse to see it. Or we’ve been praying about our financial situation, and we’re still not out of debt, but we ignore the way God has brought discipline into our life, or he’s finally put us on the same page with our spouse, but the changes are small, and we don’t expect God is going to fix it. Or the cancer refuses to go away, but we miss the sign that it’s not growing – it’s stabilized and we feel better and that could just be a sign from God that something amazing is about to happen because we’ve prayed. Or, we’ve been praying for direction in our life, and we still don’t have clarity about what God wants us to do, but we miss the fact that God has stripped away a lot of the things he doesn’t want us to do… He’s narrowed the field for us and yet we refuse to see that as a sign of progress. Or maybe… just maybe… we see it, but we refuse to believe.

Faith is so important in our prayers. Many of us who have entered a relationship with Christ have seen the changes he’s made in our lives and our hearts. So, why do we not believe he can solve our problems? Jesus once said, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

What is it for you? Where in your life is there a cloud the size of a man’s fist that you need to acknowledge is God’s sign that there’s a change coming? Where do you need to be expectant about your prayers that God is going to answer them?

What a cold bike ride taught me about quitting my job.

I know it’s hard to remember now that it’s routinely hitting 90 degrees outside, but just 3 weeks ago, our mornings were starting in the 30’s. It was just such a morning that I was scheduled to ride my bicycle into work… I had laid out my cycling kit the night before, inflated the tires, filled my water bottle, and packed my work clothes. I woke up the required half-hour before normal wake time and turned on the news to find the temperature at a not-so-balmy 36 degrees. Fahrenheit. Ahhh, Indiana in May.

My initial response, much like yours might have been, was to turn over, pull the 300 thread-count sheets up over my head, and snooze for another 30 minutes rather than face the cold. But then I remembered a truth I’d recently discovered: I have never ridden my bike to work and then though, “Man, I wish I’d drove this morning!”

So, I endeavored to rise and grind, put on the right clothes, and ride without complaint. After all, I’ve invested several hundred dollars in clothing specifically designed to let me run or ride in the cold. Don’t tell my wife.

Here’s the thing- it turned out to be one of the best rides of the year. The fog was rising over the frosty grass, the birds were particularly chatty, and with the right gear on, I never once got cold.

And the ride reminded me… life is like that, too. We can choose to get down about the circumstances we find ourselves in- our job, our family issues, our economic situation- or we can “dress” ourselves in the right attitude to deal with it. The weather doesn’t bother you so much if you have on the right clothes, and your circumstances won’t bother you if you put on the right attitude.

Many of you know I’m in the middle of a job transition. In April, I announced I was quitting my job with my employer of 21 years to do “something else.” The only thing was, I didn’t know what “something else” would be. Fact is, I’m still not sure. But, I suspect it will pay less, so I’ve recently sold my house. Faster than I expected. Oh, yeah… now I have to find a place to live. About 5 years ago, this would have put me into the St. Vincent stress center, but throughout these transitions, I have found myself to be remarkably calm. And here’s why: I believe God is in the middle of all of it. I’ve seen him work so faithfully in the job transition, in preparing my heart and my family for a new adventure, and even in selling our house (at that price? In this economy?)

Charles Swindoll once wrote, “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

So, as you get dressed each morning, remember: you get to pick your attitude each and every day. I hope you pick a good one.

What were you made for?

Paraphrased from Sir Ken Robinson at the 2010 SHRM Strategy Conference:

For countless generations, many circumstances had to conspire for you to even exist. People had to live in the right town, attend the right events, eat at the right restaurants, and so on in order to meet and have children, just so you could have your turn on earth. You are a miracle. Congratulations.

Now why would you want to waste the one chance you have on earth doing something you hate?

The Beautiful Children of Haiti

I've been home from Haiti for one week now. I still can't completely understand how it has affected me. When people ask me now what was most powerful, or what I miss about Haiti, though, that's easy. The people. The lovely, happy, beautiful people. Especially the kids.

I've been convicted that I should start blogging about my experience, but I'm not quite sure what to write. I think I heard one time that a picture says a thousand words. So, without further ado, I present my first 7,000 word blog about the kids of Haiti.

On The Holy Spirit and luxury cars

It’s the time of year when commercials seem specifically designed to make us believe we’re a bad husband, bad friend, bad parent, if we don’t get a tremendous gift for someone, right? I mean, maybe you spend weeks pouring over catalogs, surfing the web late at night, looking for just the right gift for that special someone, and finally you think you’ve got it. Then, the next night you turn on the TV. All you want to do is watch a little football, or maybe catch the end of Elf and there it is – you know the one. The commercial with soothing music and the garage door opens and in the bay is a shiny black Lexus with a red bow on top, and the cute, perky wife leans over and gives the man a deep, lasting hug. All of a sudden, you are the worst husband ever!

Now, I don’t know anyone who’s actually ever received a Lexus for Christmas, and I certainly don’t know anyone who’s given one. But imagine just for a minute, that you did. Imagine you saved up for years and years, and just once, for that special someone, you plunked down 50 large and brought home a Lexus LS and because you’re a good negotiator, you got the dealer to throw in, at no cost, one of those big red bows. And you drive it home, and park it in your neighbor’s garage until the big day, and on Christmas morning, that special someone wakes up and walks out into the driveway and sees it. And the reaction? Well, it’s a little subdued – not quite what you expected, but you know you did the right thing, so you wait. And days go by, but the Lexus never moves. And Winter goes and Spring comes, and you walk out into the garage and the red bow still sits on top and the odometer still reads 0. When you question your spouse as to why they are still driving the 8-year-old minivan, they just shrug. How do you feel? It was a perfect gift, you paid a high price for it, and it’s going unused.

Did you know God paid a price for you? Did you know He saved you not just so he could spend eternity with you, because he wants that – he’s crazy about you. But he also saved you so you could help advance His kingdom. I know this because if he just wanted you in heaven, he could have taken you away right then. Instead, he left you here and gave you, along with His very spirit, spiritual gifts you can use to help Him find others to spend eternity with. How are you doing with that? Are you giving everything you have to build His Kingdom here on earth? Is your heart broken for people who are far from God?

In his book, Forgotten God, Francis Chan writes that his youth pastor used to ask: “what would your church (and the worldwide church) look like if everyone was as committed as you are? If everyone gave and served and prayed exactly like you, would the church be healthy and empowered? Or would it be weak and listless?”

What would your church look like if everyone was as committed as you? Would there be a band on stage every week? Would it have enough people to teach kids on Sunday morning? What would small groups look like if everyone were as committed as you? What would neighborhood outreach look like? What would the weekly offering look like? What would your city look like?

On the other hand, what would your church look like if everyone were engaged in using their gifts to the extreme?

If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. –Romans 12:6-8

Don’t leave your spiritual gifts in your garage. It’s time to get out the key and fire those babies up!

The only appropriate response to prayer

I woke up early this morning to go to a prayer meeting.

As I was walking into the building, I found myself shaking. At first, I wondered if it was from the chill of the morning, but I soon realized I was nervous. Nervous? Why? I've been to hundreds of prayer meetings, and prayed in public a lot. No need to be nervous.

Then it hit me...it wasn't nerves, it was excitement. Clear as day, I heard my own voice in my head say, "I get to go before the throne today." Then it all made sense.

Daddy, I don't think you can!

I was sitting on the couch this evening, winding down from my day, and watching/listening to my girls do the same. One was finishing her bath, while the other was sitting in front of the computer, writing a note to her mom. From the office, I heard a loud noise that sounded like someone hitting a keyboard, then a loud, sustained cry. I got up and immediately rushed in to see what was the matter.

When I saw my 6-year-old standing in front of the screen, her face red and tear-streaked, her eyes puffy, the chair pushed back from the desk, I assumed she had fallen off her seat. So imagine my surprise, when I asked her what was wrong and she said, "the thing won't go back to the center of the page!"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Through deep sobs she replied, "The thing. The blinking thing. I push enter and it goes all the way over here (to the left side of the page). I want it in the middle."

I felt a sudden sense of relief. This was one I could finally handle! "Well, just calm down and listen, and I'll show you how to fix it," I told her.

That's when the bomb dropped. She grabbed the keyboard, clutched it tight and said, "Daddy, I don't think you can!" Well now, this was insulting. I thought I could do anything in my daughters eyes. She has a problem that's so simple, I've solved it hundreds of times. Why doesn't she just trust me to fix it?

And then it hit me. This must be exactly how God feels when I don't trust him with my problems. And that's exactly how I often act. I just want to grab my keyboard and go home.

"I can do it," I told her reassuringly. "I know how." And once she let go of the keyboard and let me take control, I showed her exactly how to fix her problem.

Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous fall. -Psalm 55:10