Towards the end of one particular year in my life, things started getting a little rough….Here are some highlights!
1. The terrorist attack on 9/11 had just happened, and my family was left reeling from the financial effects of the stock market crash and the loss of so many loved ones.
2. I was sued by a family member in a frivolous lawsuit that took way too much time and money to defend - and ultimately win.
3. One of our family pets died.
4. In November of that year, my wife was the victim of a malicious virus that lasted two months. Years earlier, she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness before our engagement and given seven years to live. That began a journey that lasted nearly 40 years. The virus had taken a heavy toll and both her kidneys failed. She became very sick right after Christmas and went to the hospital on a Friday to immediately start dialysis.
5. On that same weekend, I was called with the great news that I had been chosen to be the lead pastor of a large church in another state that was closer to family, so we had been eagerly waiting to hear back. I had no choice but to turn the offer down.
6. During the first months of that same year, I had some physical problems that greatly concerned me for fear that cancer had returned after beating it over 15 years previously. It took weeks and weeks of testing, and finally, a surgery date was set for mid-May. I had the surgery and was given a clean bill of health.
7. In between all the testing and doctor visits for the both of us, I got into a car accident. I was unharmed, but my pristine classic Italian sports car was totaled with me in it!
8. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, my daughter's life was threatened by a stalker, and we lived under that threat for months with my friends Smith and Wesson at our side.
9. In May my father was the victim of a terrible accident. My Dad and step-Mom were visiting friends who lived a few hundred miles from their home in Oregon. My Dad had gone out into the garage to get something out of the car and bring it back into the house. There were three doors along the back wall to choose from, one led to a bathroom, another into a downstairs basement, and the last back into the house. He somehow chose the middle door that led into the basement. He stepped into the doorway and immediately lost his footing due to the first step starting inches below the inside doorsill. It was very dark, and he tried desperately to grab onto something to stop from falling, but the stairs had no handrail. He tumbled down the stairs and fell headfirst onto the concrete floor 12 feet below.
He was flown by Life Flight to a Trauma Hospital 200 miles away. He remained on life support for a few weeks, but just days before Father's Day he lost his valiant struggle to regain consciousness and passed on into the next life. I felt terribly empty after his death. I had always gone to my Dad for advice and solace during life's endless challenges, and now I was confronted with the reality that I had not gone to God, the Father, first and I had put Him in second place, which sent me reeling with that realization.
Those were just some of the challenges faced that year. The storms of life have a habit of crashing hopes and dreams on the rocks of reality. There have been countless more 'challenges' since then. But in those short seven months, the pressure from it all was immense – I felt like I was on a hurling and shaking out of control roller-coaster ride. The best way I can describe my emotions through all of that was feeling like a scuba diver lost deep in the darkness of an underwater cave without a flashlight and running out of air!
Needless to say, I spent a LOT of time in prayer, pressing in really, really hard. One day, after months of trying to bear it all, I finally cried out to God in climatic desperation and told Him all that had been happening had finally pushed me over the edge and I just couldn't take any more.
To my astonishment, I heard these words in my mind, "Good!" "I have been waiting for you to cast ALL your burdens and cares upon Me! You were over the edge a long time ago, but you just wouldn't admit it. Now I can give you ALL of My strength and lead you into My rest."
***Here is the most important lesson I have learned in my 55+ years as a Born-Again Christian***
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. 8 It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones" (Prov 3:5-8 ESV)
Let me unpack these verses for you:
v5 - "Trust in the Lord" – Trust is the Hebrew word 'batach' (baw-takh'); It is a verb (an action word, coming or going, never stationary) and means "to be reliant, trust, be super-confident or sure, unsuspecting." The root idea behind the word is to "take refuge."
This word carries the idea of throwing one's self down and lying on the ground before another, casting all hopes for the present and future onto someone else and finding shelter and security. We must learn to lie down at the feet of Jesus and cast "all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Pet.5:7 NIV)
We must give Him all the concerns and cares of our heart, (the inner self - our emotions and intellect) that frustrate us. This isn't just saying we "trust in the Lord" or acting as though we do, rather, we are to be genuine in that "trust."
We must do it with "ALL" our heart – and when we do, we relinquish ownership of those cares and concerns.
We still have to deal with them, but we won't be worried or stressed over them because they belong to Jesus - they're His problems now!
New Testament Use of 'Faith'
In the New Testament, the word "faith" comes from the Greek word "pistis." It is also translated as faithfulness, steadfastness. It is defined as the living, divinely implanted, acquired, and created principle of inward and whole-hearted confidence, assurance, persuasion, conviction, absolute reliance, dependence upon, and trust in another (i.e., Jesus).
The root of "pistis" is "peitho" which is a primary verb; an action word that is in a continual state of being, moving forward or reverse, never standing still. In the Greek, 'peitho' means to actively convince, rely, to have continuous confidence. Faith, in and of itself, is dead apart from trust. Faith, without works "is dead" (James 2:17). The working of faith is trust.
The word 'faith' is best described as trusting-faith.
There are only a few places in Scripture where the word 'faith' is used as a noun rather than as a verb, in regards to the cognitive dimension of what a person should believe, such as a creed, catechism, statements, and formulations of faith, etc. Example "the household of faith" (Gal 6:10).
One of the biggest errors that have crept into the church over the years has been the teaching of faith exclusively as a noun as if it were a thing or power to obtain or possess. There are those who teach that if you just believe hard enough, or have enough "faith," you can be healed of any ailment, receive all the money you could ever want, etc. It is thought of as like a car we own that gets us from one place to another.
The biblical truth is that God is our healer, and when we are sick, we are to call upon Him for healing (James 5:14-15; Mark 16:17-18). Just as He wants everyone to be saved, He wants us to live a healthy life and never need to ask for healing - and He wants us to trust Him with ALL our money and be willing to give it ALL to Him. When a person treats every use of the word 'faith' in the Bible as a noun it will most often lead to a static and unemotional relationship.
"Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment" (Heb 6:1-2 ESV)
You see, without faith, it is impossible to become a Christian and please God. It is the absolute fundamental essential of Christianity. Faith is not a work. God gave us all the faith we needed to believe Jesus is the Savior and to trust Him. There is no exhausting it. The world can't exist without it. It is just milk and a tricycle with training wheels in the nursery school of discipleship.
v5 - God wants us to "trust Him with all of our heart! "
"all" = Heb: kol, the whole; all, any or everything
"thine heart" = The word 'heart' in Hebrew is "leb" (pronounced 'labe') and is also used regarding the feelings, the will, the intellect, and as the center of anything.
"Lean" = We are commanded to not "lean on" our "own understanding." The word "lean" comes from the Hebrew word "sha'an" which is defined as "to support oneself, as though leaning for assistance."
This is the same word that is used where Samson leaned on the huge pillars supporting the Philistine temple. It is the idea of putting our weight on a crutch (Judges 16:29).
God wants us leaning upon Him and NEVER upon ourselves. We can't do it unless we're right next to Him. Leaning is a progressive state of mind. We have to continually commit our ways to Him. It must become the pattern of our life.
"understanding" = The Hebrew word for 'understanding is 'biynah,' and it refers to our human understanding, intellect, education, knowledge, talents, logic, experience, wisdom, reasoning or perspective.
We are commanded to STOP leaning on our "own understanding" because it is the opposite of trust. We can't "trust in the Lord" if we are relying on our "own understanding." It's impossible!
v6 – "In all" - Hebrew 'kol' means the whole; any or everything:
"your ways" - Hebrew 'derek' means along our journey in life
"acknowledge Him" - Hebrew 'yaw-dah' means to know intimately (like Adam KNEW Eve), to discover, to ascertain, to have educated understanding
"and he shall direct"- Hebrew 'yaw-shar,' means to be straight or even; figuratively, to make something right, pleasant, or prosperous.
"thy paths" - Hebrew 'orach’ - a well-trodden road.
In other words, God will make your crooked paths straight. When we fully rely on the Lord to handle any situation, He will "make our paths straight' by removing the obstacles.
He doesn't promise that our life will be easy and without problems. But He does promise straighter paths as we journey through this life.
I HAVE HUNG MY LIFE ON Rom 8:28
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" ESV
More correctly, in the Greek text, the verse says that God ENTERS into every life situation and comes alongside us to work it out for the best …..because... "he will make your crooked paths straight."
The Bible and life itself show us that everything does not always work for good for those who love God. God wants everyone to come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. He wants people to obey and love Him, but not all people will. It is clear that things don't work together for the good for God either.
God works for the good of those who love Him just as by His sovereign power, He entered into the world as human flesh in the person of Jesus. God's great promise is that He will enter into every life circumstance and put forth His sovereign power on our behalf and work together with us to produce what He knows to be the very best for us because He is a good God and only wants the best for us!
v7 - "Do not be wise in your own eyes" "wise" = Heb "chakam" and means proud of our skills and talents.
Only God is wise. Moving in trusting-faith means that we must stop trusting in our own reasoning, intellect, education, abilities, talents, and experience, and "acknowledge him" in everything we do.
We must learn to turn away from the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I - and turn to Him, the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, remembering that He is ever-present, continually loving, caring, and providing for us.
"fear the LORD and turn away from evil" - We are commanded to revere and reverence God. We must always 'turn away from evil" and always turn towards God. That is what true repentance is all about! The reason Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind is because that is how He feels about each of us!
He loves you with all His heart, with all His soul, and with all His mind. Listen beloved - What this means is that the magnificent and majestic creator God of the Universe is madly in love with you! You have stolen His heart! (Song 4:9)
v8 "It will be healing to your flesh (The navel / umbilical cord – the body's center of strength) - When you learn to trust Him actively each day you will live a healthy life - spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
"and refreshment to your bones"' = More correctly, the marrow of your bones. Within the bone marrow is where white blood cells produce the antibodies that fight off infection, sickness, and disease. God will bring refreshment (nourishment) to your bones!
In my many moons of study and life experience as a Born-Again Christian, I have come to the confident belief that this is the key to living a healthy life because the Bible says that putting your trusting-faith in God will nourish and strengthen the immune system!!!
"But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." (1 Thess 5:8 ESV)
We must learn to put on the faith He has given us, just as we put on our clothes each day.
Faith, in and of itself, is dead apart from trust. Faith, without works "is dead" (James 2:17). The working of faith is trust that is proved by naturally bearing good fruit while walking in the light of personal holiness and repentant humility before God and esteeming all others more highly than ourselves.
Faith is trust in action.
It is best defined as not leaning on our own intellect, wisdom, talents, experience, and education - taking no thought for tomorrow - esteeming everyone more highly than ourselves - and intimately pursuing God's presence.
Faith is God's gracious gift that is imparted to those who become Born-Again:
READ: "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9 ESV)
Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone + NOTHING!
To believe (trust) is to respond to this gift, exercising the faith God offers to all.
Jesus is the "author and finisher" of our faith (Heb 12:2).
Trusting-faith is more than believing. It is a continual state of mind of being totally secure, and it needs a subject to trust in.
The subject is our choice and the object of our faith. Faith exists, no matter what our object.
God requires faith for eternal life because it is trusting Him exclusively!
Having faith means we must act as if God can be trusted!
Trusting-faith is plugging into God, and He takes care of everything else.
It is like building muscle memory.
We must constantly be put into situations that require us to trust. The more we do it over and over again, the easier it is to appropriate without consciously thinking about it. It must become a recurring habit pattern. We can choose to have faith in our self, the created, and our own blood - or faith in Jesus and His blood. It can only be one or the other. It can't be both. Light and darkness can't dwell in the same place together.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lam 3:22-23 ESV)
The reason God's mercies are new every morning is that our trust has to be new every morning if we are to grow in His grace and be a fresh vessel of His glory. Yesterday's new wine of the Spirit is now today's old wine. We need new wine every day.
We never really arrive. We are either going backward or forward, which makes it all the more about Him and not about us. It is beyond just faith…it is trusting Him daily, hourly, minute by minute, second by second, pouring out everything of self - breath by breath - so that we are constantly being filled with His blood, His wine, His oil, His anointing, His glory, and His love. Jesus yearns for us to live in a state of knowing that we can count on Him - NO matter what!
His faithfulness is never-ending and transcends every life situation and circumstance you will ever find yourself in!
ASK: Can I get an Amen?
The word "Amen" comes from the Hebrew word 'aman' and is a verb that means "to be certain, enduring; to trust, believe." Three words are derived from it: They are 'emet,' which means "true," 'emunah,' which means "faithfulness and 'amen,' which is a formal word that was used to confirm a statement, an oath, or a covenant contract. When you say 'amen' to biblical truth, you are saying I trust, beyond any doubt, that Jesus is faithful and true. Jesus is the God of Amen, the "God of faithfulness" (Isa 65:16 YLT).
AMEN!!!
God is a relentless pursuer and lover who desires to ravish His people with His love. Christians must become relentless in their pursuit of His passion and presence. He is looking for radical worshippers. A person can only worship in the degree of their revelation. Worship takes us deeper into the revelation of who God is. The deeper we move into worship, the greater degree of the revelation of His glory, and the more we will enjoy Him. As a result, we will become a greater reflection of His beauty in a world that is lost in a darkness that is only getting darker.
Someone once defined "praise" as thanking God for what He has done and "worship" as thanking Him for who He is. Worship truly is a way of life. Not just worshipping but being a worshiper by living a life that is pleasing to Him, no matter where one is or what they are doing. The secret to greater intimacy with Jesus is learning to focus on Him - breath by breath - and what He has done for each of us - not on what we can do for Him!
A couple of months after my father's death, I attended a continuous 10-day, 24-hour prayer and worship event. It took a couple of days of being immersed in it before I broke before the Lord and released all the pain and heartache that had been building up inside me, and like a little child, rolled on the sawdust floor crying out to Him.
About four days in, I had a radical night with Jesus that is not easily explained. I experienced His love like never before in a tangible way. It rolled over me for hours like the waves of an ocean - tossing and turning me as I experienced how glorious and inexhaustible His love is. God had overwhelmed me with His presence, and His beauty and majestic splendor took my breath away over and over again as I gasped for more of Him. I became lost in the intimate ecstasy of divine embrace, and from that moment on, I have only wanted more of Him and less of me. That experience made me homesick for Heaven as never before, and I continuously long to be with Him for all eternity. In the midst of the confusion, pain, anger, and frustration of that one year, God ambushed me with His love, and it changed EVERYTHING. Jesus is my reward!
Towards the end of that tumultuous year, while I was in prayer, I saw myself standing with Jesus on His left side as He led me down a brilliantly white hallway hand in hand towards three doors. I was pretty freaked out as the dreadful memory of my Dad's tragic choice was still painfully fresh. As we walked the light of the Lord's majestic glory permeated the hallway and gave me comfort. It helped me to overcome my sense of fear and apprehension of what dark and foreboding things could be lurking behind the doors ahead.
As we stepped in front of the middle door, He asked me to open it. At first, I hesitated as the pain of my father's choice and my fear of the unknown still lingered. However, because He was standing right beside me, I found the courage to open it. I released His hand and adrenaline literally surged through my body as I took hold of the doorknob.
As the door opened inward, the warmth of brilliant glowing light penetrated my being. In a split second, I saw the source of the light - it was Jesus! He was already in the room waiting for me!
I then heard these words from Him, "there is no door in your life yet to be opened where I am not already there waiting for you."
I realized that there was no need to ever fear the unknown and the uncertainty of the future because His glorious light would always be there to penetrate and destroy the darkness of fear! Light is His shadow! How wonderful it is to know we serve a God whose love is so brilliant that no darkness can penetrate it!
Since that time, the storms of life have yet to end, but they are easier to navigate through. The health of my wife continued to decline over many more years until she finally graduated from this world. I did a lot of prayerful contemplation while I was by her side during her final days and moments of life which had been plagued by chronic illness and debilitating pain that finally ended as she took her last breath.
I have diligently tried to understand and reconcile the love of God in contrast to her pain and suffering over the years and the endless prayers and countless 40-day fasts for her healing. I have found NO legitimate answers. Watching her die was far beyond words to describe the anguish I experienced - and it was absolutely the hardest thing I have ever done. I will NEVER get over it in this life.
I had been consoled and counseled by others - who I am sure were well-intentioned - but the best they could offer was only shallow spiritual platitudes – which I think were said more out of their fear of facing the very issues I have had to confront for decades rather than from a deeply personal and experientially emotional understanding.
I wish I could say that her death had the glow of glory shining in the room as the sound of Angels singing could be heard in the background while doves flew in to carry her away to her heavenly home. That was truly not the case for me - it was quite to the contrary.
In the midst of all the agony, gut-wrenching grief, and despair that rolled over me like a Tsunami, I found myself being forced to confront another one of the many paradoxical mysteries of Christianity.
As I watched the pain and suffering this world offers brutally inflict itself upon the one whom I loved explicitly for nearly four decades, I simultaneously experienced Love Himself – holding, comforting - and as He has always done - filling me with the wondrous peaceful beauty of His limitless love that is beyond human comprehension and understanding.
Here's your takeaway beloved, the love of Jesus transcends all that this world has to offer. I am continuously - and forever - amazed by Jesus. Through all of life's many challenges, I remain a hopeless romantic, and desperately lovesick, falling deeper and deeper in love with Him each new day!
I will forever be fascinated with His beauty. I must have MORE of Him and LESS of me. The more time I spend in worship and prayer, the less I want anything else, for I would rather be in His presence than anywhere else. I am continuously learning to lay everything at the feet of Jesus and leave it with Him.
No one really knows if the next door they open will hurl them into eternity. I haven't got a clue as to what the future holds for me except this one great promise of Jesus, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb 13:5 ESV).
God is looking for those who will love and trust Him just as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit love and trust each other.
Jesus longs for you to run to Him before the sky is falling in your life and you find yourself failing in your quest for love and acceptance, and attempting to abide by self-imposed standards of holiness so that somehow you can be good enough to earn His affection and feel His great and mighty loving arms wrapping around you in intimate embrace.
There are NO easy ANSWERS to the challenges in this life – EXCEPT ONE – Jesus is THE answer!
