The Waiting Room of Caring

 

Monday, June 19, 2023

Dear brothers and sisters, after we were separated from you for a little while (though our hearts never left you), we tried very hard to come back because of our intense longing to see you again.  We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us.  After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what will be our proud reward and crown as we stand before our Lord Jesus when he returns?  It is you!  Yes, you are our pride and joy.  Finally, when we could stand it no longer, we decided to stay alone in Athens, and we sent Timothy to visit you.  He is our brother and God’s co-worker in proclaiming the Good News of Christ. We sent him to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through.  But you know that we are destined for such troubles.  Even while we were with you, we warned you that troubles would soon come—and they did, as you well know.  That is why, when I could bear it no longer, I sent Timothy to find out whether your faith was still strong. I was afraid that the tempter had gotten the best of you and that our work had been useless.  1 Thessalonians 2:17 – 3:5

To imagine Paul (in the least bit) cold towards the church at Thessalonica, is to misread the Apostle entirely; he loved them so much he could not bear the thought they might be straying from God’s loving presence.  His passion for their well-being, and their faith was hot to the touch.  He loved them as a mother or father loves a newborn child.  As such, Paul was protective and anxious over how they were doing.  He got to the point of not being able to stand not hearing from them.  We might miss some of the pathos here; there’s a big difference in culture of the mid-first century and the twenty-first century.  They didn’t have video-calling in Paul’s day.  Letters sometimes took months to travel the 311 miles from Thessalonica to Athens.  The words, Instant and Communication, were never linked back then.  Drop a letter in the courier’s pouch; sit-back and bite your nails.

When you care about people it’s gut-wrenching to watch their suffering… especially when you can’t do anything to help.  I’ve stood with my bride, and both of my daughters when they were in labor, getting ready to give birth; they were really ready!  I’ve waited on committees deliberating on my future as a pastor.  I’ve waited on news about a son in a war zone.  I have waited on-edge an eternity of a weekend, for the result of a blood test the doctor ordered, after telling me the strange rash on my neck was only found in one of two scenarios:  people of Chinese heritage, and someone with AIDS.  Waiting like that is excruciating torture!  The only companion to that kind of waiting room suffering is what goes on in the viewing room; there are no words, only sharing in pain.

The very thought that the church at Thessalonica, Paul’s pride and joy, was in trouble, was cause enough to send Timothy to check on them and bring back news quickly.  Paul was that church’s birth-father; he’d started them on the path of following Jesus, and their well-being was everything to him.

Now, in case you’re wondering where I’m going with this, I’ve just described a true pastor’s-heart for his people.  And I can share with you from the past 40-plus years of being a pastor, it’s much like a true father’s-heart for his family.

For You Today 

Father’s Day is yesterday’s news, but my prayer for you is that you took yesterday to fully-engage the connection between earthly and Heavenly fatherhood.  There’s not much of a dividing line between the two.  What God is to all of us, the source of our heritage and living, HE wants all of us to be THAT to our families.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Adversary  and  A Father's Guiding Hand in Troubled Times  and  Deadlines                                        

 

Title Image:  via Wikimedia.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Some Patience Required

 

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.”  And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”  “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied.  “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request.  But if not, then you won’t.”  As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire.  It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.  Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father!  My father!  I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!”  And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.  Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up.  Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.  He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”  Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.  When the group of prophets from Jericho saw from a distance what happened, they exclaimed, “Elijah’s spirit rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.  “Sir,” they said, “just say the word and fifty of our strongest men will search the wilderness for your master.  Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has left him on some mountain or in some valley.”  “No,” Elisha said, “don’t send them.”  But they kept urging him until they shamed him into agreeing, and he finally said, “All right, send them.”  So fifty men searched for three days but did not find Elijah.  Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned.  “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” he asked.  One day the leaders of the town of Jericho visited Elisha.  “We have a problem, my lord,” they told him.  “This town is located in pleasant surroundings, as you can see.  But the water is bad, and the land is unproductive.”  Elisha said, “Bring me a new bowl with salt in it.”  So they brought it to him.  Then he went out to the spring that supplied the town with water and threw the salt into it.  And he said, “This is what the Lord says:  I have purified this water.  It will no longer cause death or infertility.” And the water has remained pure ever since, just as Elisha said.      2 Kings 2:9-22

Elisha had a burning desire to carry on Elijah’s ministry.  He’d been the prophet’s  understudy and had seen God’s hand moving, and the good work accomplished.  There was some anxiety about whether he’d get the job after his master was gone.  There was some patience required.

Kind of sounds like Advent.  Every bit of the Old Testament’s pointing to the arrival of God’s kingdom was just that, pointing to the future.  Until Mary’s water broke, and the God/man Jesus came forth, it was all waiting. 

Much patience required.

And in that patience is a healthy portion of warning to not get the cart in front of the horse – and not even imagine it’s a cart and horse, rather than maybe, say, a space shuttle.  The prophets of Jericho thought they were doing good when they insisted on searching for Elijah, but they’d misjudged everything.  So did the people of Jesus’ day…they wanted a political messiah, so they put Jesus on trial to push the envelope.  And when Messiah wouldn’t bend to their wishes, they hung him on a tree on the town garbage dump.

We’re hardly better.  At the pace of life today, patience is more than a virtue, it’s the vital and missing piece of the puzzle.  We anxiously waited for the outcome of the presidential election.  Some are still wringing their hands, awaiting possible recounts to change everything.  The other half are wringing hands that their “win” will be taken away.  We’ve waited close to a year for a cure and vaccine for Coronavirus, and the injections will begin this week, albeit with wringing hands that it won’t cause this or that kind of new problem.

And the beat goes on! 

Waiting and anxious; nervous and expectant; never calm, claiming kingdom membership, but hardly living in the grace of God’s promises.

For You Today

The apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Roman church that the tribulation we now find ourselves in is God working on us to develop patience.  And, as Jesus’ half-brother, James, reminds us, we ought to thank God for that!

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  James 1:2-4

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image, Pixabay.com and    W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For another post on this passage see:  Chariot of Fire

 

View From the Watching Tower

 

Thursday, December 10, 2020

I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost.  There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.  Then the Lord said to me, “Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.  This vision is for a future time.  It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.  It will not be delayed.  Habakkuk 2:1-3

God tells the prophet to write everything down, and then make sure others get to read or hear it.  That describes a preacher’s job in full – getting the message of God to everyone with ears.  In this missive God wants a clear, straightforward communication of His message.  Write plainly what you hear, Habakkuk; then spread the news around.

While God wants the prophet to be clear about stating the message, the LORD also sets the effect of the message for a future time.  And then God utters in Habakkuk’s ears the one word no ten-year-old boy ever wants to hear, wait.

We all do a good bit of waiting.  I waited in line in the drive-up lane at the bank because that branch is outside only.  I’m waiting on a prescription to be refilled right now because the pharmacy’s system got overwhelmed.  We are all waiting for the pandemic to appear in the rearview mirror.  We wait; and God says, wait patiently!  As if waiting isn’t enough, we’re to be patient too!

So, that brings us to Advent.  A planned season of waiting.  We get to burn one candle at a time, with a week in between increasing the light and warmth.

I admit, I’m not a good waiter.  The last thing I want to do when I boot up my computer each morning is wait for the sign-on page.  I want to turn it on and get going.  I’ve got deadlines, tasks to accomplish, people to call, and another report to file for the paper monsters at Conference.  Who wants to sit and wait?

And God said…if it seems slow in coming, be patient, hang-in with me, it will surely happen.

I have no doubts about God’s motives, plans, and ways being much higher than my pay grade, but that somehow doesn’t make me a patient waiter.  I couldn’t be patient for that driver’s license when I was 16 so I could have the freedom of driving without a chaperone, or graduation day so I could get out on my own, or for that first child to get here, or that pastor search committee to make up its mind….

Waiting ain’t pretty!

And God said, be patient.  And he gave us Advent to savor the waiting time.

Frankly, waiting for the future to get here is part of the ride.  On a longish trip I always want to keep track of how long I’ve got to go before I get there.  The GPS on my phone keeps track for me, and I look at the ETA (estimated time of arrival) as if to make sure I don’t get there too late.  That’s not patience; it’s the opposite!  Its anxiety produced by impatience.  Instead of enjoying the scenery on the trip I manage to transform a time of waiting into a time of personal torture.

The unanswered questions of life, about why some babies die, or why typhoons, tsunamis, and mudslides take out thousands of homes and people, or why God doesn’t do something about injustice and oppression…all these are tied to Advent, and waiting on the Lord’s definition of the “fullness” of time.

For You Today

The apostle Paul reminds us that some things are worth waiting for:

But when the right time came, God sent his Son….  Galatians 4:4a

So, Habakkuk, what are YOU waiting for…go spread that news…plainly!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title image, Pixabay.com and    W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Waiting patiently see:  Waiting and How Long O Lord?  

 

The Road that Leads Home

 

Monday, August 24, 2020

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you?  Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?  But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself.  For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.  He will judge everyone according to what they have done.  He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers.  But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.  Romans 2:4-8

For some people, the word “home” is not a warm and fuzzy safe kind of word; it’s more like a red flag that brings painful images, memories of abuse.  It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but the truth is all too stark to ignore, and the scars won’t let you totally forget. 

My experience is just the opposite.  My parents were not wealthy; I guess you could say we were middle class, somewhere just above the poverty line.  At times we ate a LOT of potatoes because it was easier to feed a family of four that way.  One area of the Brownworth home where wealth flowed generously was in kindness.  For me, the road leading back home was always a welcome road, a place of good memories with a strong pull towards the open door.

When I think back on that I cannot, for the life of me, wrap my mind around why I rebelled against the faith that so graciously helped form that good home and childhood.  I did exactly what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman church…lived for myself, refusing to obey the truth.   

In my case this wasn’t illegal stuff, like being a bank robber or a serial killer.  Rather it was just leaving God out of my life, trying to build a little kingdom of my own.  It was my choices, my happiness, my way that mattered, not God.  I had no drive to be the next king, or president.  I just wanted to be left alone to do what I wanted to do.

What eventually turned me back to the road that leads home is also what Paul wrote, about how patiently God waits for us; it is a loving patience that doesn’t approve of willfulness, but graciously waits like the father of the prodigal son.

My goal, as a pastor, has always been to help the churches with which I’ve served create an atmosphere of gracious waiting.  What I’ve found out about that is you cannot be that unless you’re intentional about it.  It’s not easy to wait.  But, oh, how it’s worth it.  The Apostle Paul overflowed with joy and thanksgiving for the faithfulness of the people to which he’d ministered; their responding to his letters with responsible service to Christ filled Paul’s heart with grateful thanksgiving.

I think there are but two components to waiting as a loving parent:

·       Speaking Truth in Love

Paul never hesitated to tell the truth.  My parents were a study in this.  They were gracious, but never patronizing.  In the end, the road that leads back to a home worthy of wanting to go home, is never false; only truth is a worthy foundation.

·       Readiness to Welcome

Once the Apostle spoke truth, a hard truth, particularly, he was then willing to be a silent waiter – with open arms.  That waiting, hard as it is, is necessary, because, especially in my case, truth takes a while to weed-out what needs to go. 

Sometime back I bought some inferior grass and weed killer.  It made claims of being the best.  You could see some results in a few hours, but two weeks later the weeds were back.  Lesson learned!  When I paid the price of using the good stuff, it took a few days to see the results, but those weeds were evicted; they must’ve gone into witness protection, because nobody’s heard from them in a while.

For You Today

Readiness to welcome back the one who travels the road home (to God) is like using the good stuff of truth and waiting.  You want results right away, but time is required, and God is faithful. 

So, don’t be in a hurry; instead, as you wait, be in prayer.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com ∞  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on activating your faith, see The God of Equal Opportunity and

                                      While You’re Waiting for God to Answer Series:  Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 and Part 5

 

But Someday

 

Ascension Thursday, May 21, 2020

Acts 1:6-11

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”  He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.  And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.  As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?  Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!”

“But someday” is a reminder of being 5 years old and hearing my Father or Mother’s answer to my question whether I could do this or that; they said we’ll see.  And, with that began the waiting game, often accompanied by the whining of why, when, and it’s not fair!  Russell was never a “silent sufferer”.  However, I always absolved myself of being a brat by quoting Scripture loud enough so my parents could hear:

How long will you delay?  Psalm 90:13b

My use of Scripture was more a display of preschooler’s selfishness than piety.  But it probably isn’t any more unthinkable than the disciples’ asking Jesus, Who was fresh from the grave, if the Romans and the ruling Jewish elders who crucified him were now going to get what was coming to them.  The not-so-thinly-veiled agenda behind their question was more like, are we finally going to sit on thrones with you?  Further underneath were hidden hopes and dreams…how big are those thrones…are they gold-plated…silver…and are there jewels…how many crowns do you suppose we’ll have…and servants…and, and, and…

The white-robed men who suddenly stood among the disciples answered the question of how long, but it was inconclusive to human ears…someday; we’ll see.

And, just what does it mean for us?  We, of the instant gratification generation, would be even less satisfied than the first-century disciples.  But, Scripture and history both reveal that the disciples went to work figuring out what it meant to them, and what God wanted them to do about it.  They started mulling-over what Jesus had said to them the previous 3½ years…about the Kingdom of God.  And, about loving, serving, giving, worshipping, and being busy in God’s vineyard.  It was in that season of mulling they began to understand what living the surrendered life was all about.  Scripture’s account (along with the general sweeps of history the past two thousand years) affirm that the disciples got it; how long is the question of impatience, not faith.  Believers walk by faith.

Still, the angels didn’t equivocate; their statement to the gathered disciples who had just witnessed Jesus lifted up to the sky and out of their sight, ascending to His Father in Heaven, was that, in the same way they’d just seen, He would be back.

If Scripture’s track-record on prediction and fulfillment bears any credibility, there IS a “someday” coming, and our business, as followers of Jesus, isn’t to question when that day might be, or how long before we get to sit on thrones with Him; our question is what’s the next task for these hands, O Lord?

For You Today

In earthly kingdoms there are no shortages of pretenders to the thrones, nor wannabe’s in the fame department.  In the kingdom of God there is (on this planet, and in this day), a huge vineyard to harvest, and a woeful supply of workers.

Let’s Pray

Father, forgive us for hunting promotions when our focus ought to be on  the lost sheep you care about.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Hans Rosenhagen (1908). Public Domain (via Widimedia Commons) 

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on Courage see Serving God in a Hostile World

Waiting In a Small Place

[1]

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.  So many enemies against one man—all of them trying to kill me.  To them I’m just a broken-down wall or a tottering fence.  They plan to topple me from my high position.  They delight in telling lies about me.  They praise me to my face but curse me in their hearts.                                              Interlude

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.  My victory and honor come from God alone.  He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.  O my people, trust in him at all times.  Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.                                           Interlude

Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind, and the powerful are not what they appear to be.  If you weigh them on the scales, together they are lighter than a breath of air.  Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing.  And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.  God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times:  Power, O God, belongs to you; unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.  Surely you repay all people according to what they have done.  Psalm 62:1-12

King David knew himself well.  You don’t spend days and nights alone tending sheep and not thinking about the small places inside you upon which you’ve learned to depend.  Preachers are particularly subject to this, spending hours nose-deep in Scripture and thought about what to say next Sunday.  I wait quietly in small places.

David may have sounded a bit paranoid about all the people plotting against him; truth be told, he wasn’t paranoid – he just understood the nature of humans.  David understood his own shortcomings, reasons why he shouldn’t be king.  David knew his sinfulness and feared his shortcomings.

When alone, particularly early in the morning as this moment can attest, I think of the life I’ve lived, and those small places that I return to…

          ·      stubborn, not submitted to Christ’s changing power

          ·      willful, hardly obedient, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      selfish, less than generous, except if it can be seen by others

          ·      fearful, not depending on the Rock of Jesus’ saving power

          ·      wavering, looking for a way out that I can see instead of faith-walking

          ·      wobbly-kneed, untrue, and crabby…hardly a tower of graciousness. 

Before I begin a day I must always cover this ground in my prayers.  Like David, I know myself too well to imagine I’ll be just fine without God’s constant hand leading, and His Spirit forming me from the inside-out.

For You Today

So, now you’ve watched me reveal my soft underbelly, my weak spots.  What are you going to do about being honest with God about yours?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©