Tools.

[I was ready to move on with New Years’ thoughts, but truthfully, I have heard from so many folks about ‘It’s not supposed to go like this’ that it warranted a little more consideration.  See, there is a lot going on out there--there is pain, grief, worry, struggle, fear, and for some, just immense challenge, and the need for growth.  But, my friends, no matter the task at hand, we do not ‘go it’ alone.  ‘Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you,’ God has told us!] 

For the last couple years as I have taught through Paul’s letters to the Galatians, the Thessalonians, and the Corinthians, I noted how he expressed his great love and concern for the young Christian believers.  You might not be able to relate to Paul’s feelings toward these folks, but inwardly, I thought about how I feel about those I teach, lead or encourage. May I say that--I really relate to Paul’s soulful desire to see them flourish in their faith—especially when they were facing persecution and trials of various sorts (the like of which most of us will never know).

A teacher with the heart of a shepherd (a pastor) feels in his very person the struggle and pain of those he leads.  At least this one does.  There are times that I can literally feel in my body the pain of those I love who are hurting—‘can’t really explain it, but it is there, just the same.  The good news is that I have something of substance to give those who hurt, those who struggle, or even those who strive for something which is humanly impossible to master without the touch of the Master. 

A couple weeks’ back, my heart went to my young friend, Al, from Long Beach, who had tearfully shared his fear of dying with our group, wondering how much longer he has to live—being that he is HIV-positive.  Understand that when I make the drive south I do not leave the struggles of my LB friends behind; I think about them, pray for them, and ask God for ways to extend life-changing, life-giving truth to them. 

I also think of my dear Amy, who is daily ministering to her terminally-ill father, while inwardly her heart is breaking … of several who desperately need jobs … of the heart of a father watching his almost-grown daughter make one dreadful life decision after another, compromising everything she was taught as a little girl … of a woman whose sister is days from death’s door, soon to leave two young children and a loving husband behind … and I could go on. 

But then I think of how Jesus Christ must have felt when he looked around at his beloved disciples, knowing he was about to leave them … knowing they would feel so bereft, would not understand his leaving … these men who he had called, taught, loved, lived with, ate with, and with whom he laid his head down to rest.  Don’t you know his heart swelled with an aching empathy for them?  Oh, I’m sure it did.  How he loved them!  Yet Jesus knew he would not leave them Father-less, and he would send them a Comforter, the Holy Spirit, though for a while they would not understand.  ‘Now we see dimly, but then we shall see face to face.’  Ah, yes.

And so to Al, to Amy, to those whose hearts are breaking, or are so terribly worried, to those who need work …

            I bring you the power and might of the one and only almighty God. 

I take you to the 20^th chapter of 2 Chronicles, in which Jehoshaphat’s army is about to be annihilated by several other warring factions …  It is an awesome lesson when illustrated with green army men, hills and canyons made to come alive in full view … try to picture, will you?  What does this great leader do, on the eve of his destruction?  HE PRAYS, and he galvanizes others to action; he gets them PRAYING. 

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you,”

 he says to the Lord. Do you think the Lord left him hanging?  Do you, Al?  And how about others of you who are truly experiencing a time of immense stretching?  In your moment of tormenting pain, do you think he will abandon you?  Do you think he is too busy with someone in New Guinea, South Africa, or Kurdistan?  Do you think that you will turn to God, pray to him and he will turn a deaf ear to you?  Not a chance!

‘Matter of fact, every time the children of Israel ‘cried out to God’, he heard, he came, and he answered. 

It is my aim to equip you with tools for battle—whether you utilize them or offensive purposes or defensive … you need to understand the great truths of 2 Chronicles 20—

            the battle is not yours, the battle is the Lord’s.  He will fight it for you, just as he did for Jehoshaphat.  Neither he nor his men ever had to fight.

Tool No. 1 – The battle is not yours, the battle is the Lord’s.  Believe it.

Christine