After spending a couple of hours working in the yard last weekend, I came back inside at around 8pm ready to eat something. I forgot that I had agreed to grill out. I really needed to clean up first so I asked my wife to start up the grill. I gave her simple, three step instructions to get it started and heated up. She hesitantly gave it a shot, but after I came out from cleaning up, I realized it hadn't gone as planned. I soon realized that the problem wasn't hers. The electric ignition switch needed a new battery.
This was frustrating for my wife who foresaw not being able to complete this task. It was frustrating for me because I knew that I would not be able to ask her to do it again.
Its difficult to try to do something again after you failed the first time (especially when it is an easy task or something that a lot of other people can do). In my own spiritual journey I find myself telling people to press on in an area of their life, but don't understand why they give up so easy (since in my experience it was easy for me).
But there are areas in my life where I do the same thing. Praying for healings is a scary thing for me. Whether I am praying for my own or someone else, I know that there have been times when God didn't answer. This makes it difficult to keep asking. But James 1 and Luke 11 have encouraged me to keep asking. Because maybe I haven't knocked enough times. I know God is all powerful and loves us, so its sometimes just a matter of timing and perseverence. So, lately I have been praying, "Lord, help me to not give up on asking you. Grow my faith through this experience."
I look forward to his answer, no matter how many times I have to ask.
Official blog of New Creation Church of Omaha
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Thankful
Sunday morning, 2:25am, and we awake to a loud rumbling. The storm is here and not far away. For others, its in their neighborhood or headed for right for them. An F2 tornado that radar hasn't even detected yet.
The next morning the strength of the storm is fully realized. By a handful of people, its in the form of their roof or half their home gone. One family wasn't home, thankfully, and the father wondered out loud as he looked at the open sky from his daughter's room, "what if we had been here?"
I wondered about the closeness of the storm as well. What if it had landed in my back yard? On my roof? As scary as that thought is, I am thankful that God is watching over me and my family. I can be reassured that even though there are countless uncertainties in this life, his love for me is unchanging. And for the times when danger is near, I have God as "my shield" there to protect us.
When I prayed with my son the following night, I reminded him of the short prayer that God answered when we prayed the night before; "Lord, we pray for our family - protect us."
I am thankful God was listening.
The next morning the strength of the storm is fully realized. By a handful of people, its in the form of their roof or half their home gone. One family wasn't home, thankfully, and the father wondered out loud as he looked at the open sky from his daughter's room, "what if we had been here?"
I wondered about the closeness of the storm as well. What if it had landed in my back yard? On my roof? As scary as that thought is, I am thankful that God is watching over me and my family. I can be reassured that even though there are countless uncertainties in this life, his love for me is unchanging. And for the times when danger is near, I have God as "my shield" there to protect us.
When I prayed with my son the following night, I reminded him of the short prayer that God answered when we prayed the night before; "Lord, we pray for our family - protect us."
I am thankful God was listening.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Too many seeds
Over the past few weeks I have had an extra chore to do in my yard thanks to my two silver maple trees. At least once a week, I go out to my driveway and sweep up the countless "helicopter seeds" that have fallen from my trees. Sometimes I use my blower and other times I work with my push broom and send the seeds out to the street. I also have to take time to clean out my flower bed because the seeds find their way into it since it sits next to my driveway and under the tree.
Last week I was doing this process and during the middle of it I gritted my teeth and exclaimed, "I hate these seeds!" As I continued the clean up process, I started to think about how nice it would be if followers of Christ could continually dump seeds of kindness, love, grace, mercy, peace, etc. onto the people and places in our lives. What if the seeds of Christ that we are spreading where everywhere? What if we literally spread so many that it would be annoying, or better yet, impossible for the enemy to clean up?
Thinking about the seeds like that and imagining this kind of impact that I could be a part of - and hope that I am actively being a part of - made the seed clean up process a little less frustrating. So each Spring, these seeds will be my reminder of what we can do by spreading the seeds of joy and hope found in Christ.
Last week I was doing this process and during the middle of it I gritted my teeth and exclaimed, "I hate these seeds!" As I continued the clean up process, I started to think about how nice it would be if followers of Christ could continually dump seeds of kindness, love, grace, mercy, peace, etc. onto the people and places in our lives. What if the seeds of Christ that we are spreading where everywhere? What if we literally spread so many that it would be annoying, or better yet, impossible for the enemy to clean up?
Thinking about the seeds like that and imagining this kind of impact that I could be a part of - and hope that I am actively being a part of - made the seed clean up process a little less frustrating. So each Spring, these seeds will be my reminder of what we can do by spreading the seeds of joy and hope found in Christ.
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