Be Grateful, Be Patient

 

Recently, I began training for a marathon.  This is one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced.  It is difficult in every area of my life: physically, mentally, and yes, spiritually.  I have been using the Nike Run Club app on my phone to prepare for the marathon that I will run in November, Lord willing.  And I must say, I love the coaching that I have at my fingertips with the Nike Run Club app.  One of my favorite coaches is Coach Chris Bennett.  This morning I ran what is called the "Grateful 5K."  As I was running this morning, Coach Bennett reminded me to be GRATEFUL during my run...for so many people and so many things in my life.  He said, "One of the best ways to run and one of the most enjoyable ways to run is running GRATEFULLY."  Coach Bennett said, "The only way to cross the finish line is to step up to the starting line and go!"  And then Coach Bennett said something that I have been thinking about all morning: "Be PATIENT!  Be PATIENT with your run and with yourself."  He even went so far as to say, "This is not just about the running; this is also about living."

I love those two words from my workout this morning: GRATEFUL and PATIENT. God's Word has something to say to us about being GRATEFUL and being PATIENT.  In 2 Peter 3:9, Peters says, "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  Instead, He is PATIENT with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."  I thank God for His patience.  I thank God for His patience with me.  And if God is patient with me, should I be patient, as well?  Proverbs 14:29 says, "Whoever is PATIENT has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."  Jonah 2:9 says, "But I, with shouts of GRATEFUL praise, will sacrifice to you.  What I have vowed I will make good.  I will say, 'Salvation comes from the Lord.'"  

I don't know about you, but I am GRATEFUL today!  I thank God for His love, His mercy, and His grace in my life!  I thank God for all the blessings of life, especially my family and friends!  I thank God for being PATIENT with me, and I thank God for helping me be PATIENT.  As Coach Bennett reminded me this morning during my run, I am learning how to be PATIENT with my run (journey) and with myself.  And I am learning to be patient with others.  And my prayer for myself and my prayer for you this today is simple: "Lord, helps us be GRATEFUL...help us live GRATEFULLY!  Lord, helps us be PATIENT...helps us live PATIENTLY!  Amen!"

Forgiving Each Other

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is 1 John 1:8-9, which says, "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  Two truths I have come to understand from this passage are that I am a sinner and that God forgives me when I confess my sins.  I realize that I am a sinner before Almighty God.  As a sinner, I am broken from the inside out.  As a sinner, I need help; I need help that only God can give.  I come to God humbly confessing my sinfulness, and I embrace the forgiveness He gives; I embrace the cleansing that God gives.  He rescues me and restores me!  Forgiveness is what I need more than anything else!

Another passage in the Bible that I have come to appreciate, even though I sometimes struggle with it, is Ephesians 4:32, which says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."  I'm sure you are like me.  It's not hard to be kind and compassionate to people who are kind and compassionate to me.  It's not too hard to forgive those close to me who ask me to forgive them when they have wronged me.  However, it is difficult sometimes to be kind to people, to be compassionate to people...people who are just mean to me or people who just don't like me or agree with me...and on and on and on.  It is also very difficult to forgive people like that.  But I keep going back to 1 John 1:8-9.  I am a sinner.  What does that mean?  That means at some point, I rejected and rebelled against God and against God's Word.  At some point I was an enemy of God because of my sinfulness.  In my own way of thinking, I certainly didn't do anything to earn or to deserve God's forgiveness and the cleansing He gave me.  As a matter of fact, Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 4:32.  The forgiveness I have from God is made possible "in Christ."  Paul says that we should be kind to others, be compassionate toward others, and that we should forgive others, "JUST AS IN CHRIST GOD FORGAVE YOU."  We should be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to others not because they earn it or deserve it, but because God forgave us in Christ.  We should be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to others in Christ because it models God and it glorifies God in this world.  

I don't know about you, but I need forgiveness in my life...from God and from those who I have wronged.  I need to be forgiving, as well.  I need to give forgiveness to others just as I received forgiveness from God.  As Christ followers, FORGIVING EACH OTHER is not just a good thing; it is the right thing!  It's not only what I need or you need; it's what our broken world needs.  We all need forgiveness, and we all need to give forgiveness.  I'm praying today and each day moving forward that I will be a vessel of God's forgiveness.  I'm praying today and each day moving forward that you will be a vessel of God's forgiveness.  May we be known in this world by the love of God.  May we be known for being kind and compassionate to each other.  May we be known for forgiving each other.  Amen!

Facing Challenges: Part 2

 

According to Merriam-Webester, "challenge" means "a stimulating task or a problem; the act or process of provoking or testing physiological activity by exposure to a specific substance."  I'm not sure how you define "challenge," but I've got many words I could use to define it.  This morning I got up a little early to run six miles, my challenge for the day.  I started the run EMBRACING the challenge of running six miles.  There was a little cloud cover and lower temps with a cool breeze.  Around the four-mile mark, I was no longer embracing the challenge; I was FIGHTING the challenge.  One of the reasons I ran a little earlier in the day was to beat the rain.  The rain came, and I did not invite it or want it during my morning run.  However, I pushed through the rain, and I finished my six-mile run.

Challenges are going to come in this life.  Sometimes the challenges are welcome; we invite them and even welcome them.  Sometimes we embrace the challenges that come our way.  There are times, though, when the challenges we face are unexpected and even uninvited.  Sometimes we fight against the challenges that come our way.  Even further, sometimes a challenge can start with our embrace but turn on a dime and be unwanted and unwelcome!  Today is June 10, 2022.  Twenty-six years ago, on June 10, 1996, we were blessed with our first child, our daughter Hillary Noble Thomas.  What an awesome challenge of become parents.  Marty and I were excited and overjoyed with our beautiful baby girl!  For days, weeks, and months, we soaked up the blessings of spending time with Hillary; we spent each and every moment spoiling her with anything and everything we could.  As I look back, I realized that she was the one who spoiled us.  She spoiled us with those big brown eyes and her crooked little grin.  She spoiled us with lots giggles and snuggles.  One hundred forty-four days.  One hundred forty-nine days.  The challenge we embraced and even longed for on June 10, 1996, was a challenge that changed after one hundred forty-four days.  On November 2, 1996, Hillary was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  She had surgery on November 4, 1996, and she passed away on November 6, 1996.  

Challenges are going to come in this life.  Sometimes we are ready.  Sometimes we are not.  Sometimes challenges are welcome.  Sometimes they are not.  I wish I could say that I handled the challenges we faced back in 1996 and into 1997 well, but I, in fact, did not.  I don't have time to go into all the details, but I was hurt and hurting.  I was angry.  I was confused.  I was selfish.  I tried to quit on God.  I tried to quit on my wife.  I tried to quit on everyone.  I did not want to face or go through this challenge or any challenges.  I just wanted to quit.  I don't know how true this statement is, but I will use it at this time: "Hurt people hurt people."  It was true in those moments of my life, but it was a choice I made.  I chose to live in the hurt and then become the hurt.  For a while, what seemed like eternity, I chose to blame God and to blame the world for all the hurt in my life.  Let me say this now: I WAS WRONG.  I was wrong for blaming God or for blaming anything or anyone.  I was wrong for a lot of my choices.  Let me say this now: I THANK GOD.  I thank God for not giving up on me.  I thank God for loving me.  I thank God for putting people around me who loved me, people who were patient with me, and people who were praying for me.  I thank God for challenges.  

James 1:2-4 says, "2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."  First of all,  joy is not a feeling; it is a gift; it is knowledge.  Joy comes from God.  It does not come from anything or anyone else.  Also, trials come in many shapes and sizes; trials come with purpose.  The kinds of trials and challenges that God brings or allows in our lives will test our faith, and they will produce perseverance.  As James says, we must "LET perseverance FINISH its work."  The goal is that we will become the mature and the complete beings that God created us to be and "not lacking anything."  I don't want to dismiss or downgrade our feelings.  God created us with feelings; He gave us feelings.  However, we don't become the mature and complete beings God created us to be by living according to our feelings; we become the mature and complete beings God created us to be by living according to the wisdom and the understanding that God gives us.  We TRUST Him...all the time...in every kind of challenge or trial.

Over the next few months, I will be training for my first marathon.  I've thought about it and talked about it many times; now is the time.  God is working this out in my life.  It is a challenge that sometimes I'm excited about, sometimes I'm worried about, sometimes I dread, and sometimes I fear.  However, this marathon will take place on November 6, 2022, twenty-six years to the day that our daughter Hillary Noble Thomas died.  Those challenges are in my heart and on my mind each and every time I go out and train and run.  New challenges are here and are ahead.  God is still growing me, still maturing me, and still completing me.  God is with me and is for me.  I know this.  I may not always feel it, but I always know it!  Whatever challenges you have faced, are facing, or will face, just know that God is with you and is for you!  Just know that you will make choices; some will be good and some will not.  God's grace covers you.  LET perseverance FINISH its work so that you may be mature and complete...not lacking anything...that God wants OF you and FOR you!

Facing Challenges: Part 1

I love the story of Joshua.  I can't fully imagine or understand the pressures that Joshua faced as he succeeded Moses in leading Israel into the Promise Land.  And if you read the last chapters of Deuteronomy and the book of Joshua, you will see that Joshua faced many challenges in his lifetime.  Some of those challenges were very personal and private, and some of those challenges were very corporate and public.  Joshua had proven his character and his ability many times as the Israelites left Egypt and headed toward the Promise Land.  As Moses grew older and realized Joshua was ready to lead the people, he gave Joshua and all of Israel an encouraging message.  Deuteronomy 31:7-8 says, "7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.  8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.'"

I know this was thousands of years ago, and I know this was Joshua and the Israelites.  However, I also know that my God never changes.  He is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be the same tomorrow.  Moses encouraged Joshua with important words.  He wanted Joshua to be strong and be courageous.  He wanted Joshua to lead the people well.  He reminded Joshua that the LORD GOES BEFORE him and that eat LORD WILL BE WITH him.  He also encouraged Joshua not to cave in to fear or cave in to discouragement.  I don't know about you, but those are words that I need desperately today.  The encouragement and truth we see in Deuteronomy can be and is ours today!  Over the past few months, and especially the past few weeks, I have faced challenges in my life.  Some of those challenges were expected, but most of those challenges caught me completely by surprise.  Most of my challenges lately have been more personal and private, but some are challenges that we all are facing...the corporate and public challenges.  I have been tempted to cave in to both fear and discouragement.  In fact, there have been a few times when my fears got the best of me.  There have been a few times when the discouragement got the best of me.  It has been easy for me to give encouraging words to others when they are facing the challenges of life, but it has not been as easy for me to swallow my own words in the midst of my own challenges.  However, I am not just reading these words in Deuteronomy 31:7-8 today; I am BELIEVING these words today in my life!  MY GOD GOES BEFORE ME, and I know He will never leave me nor forsake me!  I know that my God wants me to be strong and courageous while facing challenges in this life.  There is nothing that takes place in my life that ever catches God by surprise; He is sovereign.  So as I face the challenges in my life, whether private or public, I have a choice: I can face them with strength and courage that God gives me, or I can cower from them with fear and discouragement.  I choose strength and courage!  Does it mean that I know what will happen in the midst of these challenges, good or bad?  No, but I do know that my GOD GOES BEFORE ME, and He will always be with me, never leaving me nor forsaking me.  I know these truths, and I am going to keep telling myself these truths...today and in the days ahead!  My prayer is that you know these truths, as well, and my prayer is that you BELIEVE these truths in your own life today and in the days ahead!