We have all had those moments when life was easy and full of joy. We have also experienced episodes when life brought burdens that seemed more than we could bear. The truth is, we were never meant to bear those burdens alone. In Galatians 6:2, Paul writes, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” During the times when a person’s life become cruel and they begin to stagger under the weight, it is the responsibility of every other member of the body of Christ to swoop down and be used of God to liberate that person from the relentless heaviness that threatens to engulf their soul.
Look around you today. Who do you know that is beginning to bend beneath a load of trouble and anxiety? Who is carrying the burden of a wounded heart? Who is enduring the ache of loss? Who is stumbling as they try to persist in their pursuit of Christ? Who needs words of strength and encouragement?
Answer those questions and then answer the most important one: How can I bear their burden?
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
three words
It’s amazing how powerful three simple words can be. “I love you” provides fertile soil for a lifelong relationship to grow. “I am sorry” can restore a broken relationship. “I was wrong” can open a door for growth and learning. “We are home” can cause an explosion of joy after a long journey. “Don’t give up” can fill a discouraged heart with determination. “I am lost” can cause a man to do the unthinkable and ask for directions. “Dinner is ready” can motivate an inert teenager to suddenly move with the speed and grace of an Olympic athlete.
There is no doubt that words can have an immediate and vigorous impact, but there are three words that carry such force that all other words pale in comparison. These three words change everything. These three words bring an explosion of joy and hope within the soul. These three words give weary people the strength to carry on. These three words carry the weight of eternity. These three words allow peace to settle upon a heart filled with confusion and pain. These three words changed the course of human history. What are these three words?
Jesus…is…alive!
There is no doubt that words can have an immediate and vigorous impact, but there are three words that carry such force that all other words pale in comparison. These three words change everything. These three words bring an explosion of joy and hope within the soul. These three words give weary people the strength to carry on. These three words carry the weight of eternity. These three words allow peace to settle upon a heart filled with confusion and pain. These three words changed the course of human history. What are these three words?
Jesus…is…alive!
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
the hug that saved my life
A couple of weeks ago I had an interesting experience. My youth pastor and I were preparing to leave the church office to visit someone in the hospital. As we were exiting the building, we paused briefly to inform the office staff of our anticipated whereabouts. Just then a wonderful young woman of God named Lauren Cribb stepped into the office from a door on the opposite side of the room and greeted Pastor Steve and myself. I almost walked out the door before I realized that she was walking across the office to give each of us a hug before we left. I paused for three or four seconds, collected my hug, and then we were out the door.
We walked out to my car, slid into our seats, fastened our seatbelts, started the car, and we were on our way. As we were driving, we approached an intersection that had stop signs for the cross traffic. As we neared the intersection, a car blew past the stop sign and drove halfway through the intersection before the driver realized what was happening and managed to stop the vehicle.
My first reaction was to remark about how careless the driver was and how he should really slow down on small side streets. (Okay, what I said wasn’t that nice-sounding. I probably made some comment about the driver's level of intelligence, but I have since repented.) As I was speaking, I suddenly realized that being delayed for our hug was what kept us from being in that intersection when that car ran the stop sign. So, I offer my thanks to Lauren for giving me a hug that saved my life.
Alright…I know I'm being overly dramatic. I don’t really know what would have happened to me physically if we had been in a collision with that car. I can’t say that it would have ended my life, but I’m absolutely confident that it wouldn’t have been pretty. If we had been three or four seconds farther along on our trip, he would have plowed into my driver’s side door at a high enough rate of speed that I would have been badly injured in the very least. The collision was avoided because of the time it took to receive a hug.
That got me to thinking (which in and of itself is a dangerous proposition). I began to wonder how many times God has spared me from something that would have brought me pain – whether physical or emotional – by sending someone or allowing some circumstance into my path that in one way or another helped me avoid disaster. I wonder if there have been times when my car wouldn’t start and I chalked it up to aggravating happenstance, but it was actually the mercy of God keeping me out of harm’s way. I wonder if there have times when I was frustrated by another person’s “slowness” when it was actually the hand of God steering me toward safety. I wonder if there has ever been a moment when someone cut me off in traffic and I responded with a barrage of anger directed at the driver, when it was actually God impeding my progress to keep me away from danger. I may never know, but it causes me to stop and give Him thanks for His mercy, even if there are times I am desperately unaware of it.
The flip side of the coin is this: God can use each of us to cause another person to veer out of the path of danger – whether it’s physical, emotional, or spiritual danger. What if God wants me to give someone a hug because He knows it will help remind that person that they are loved by their Creator? What if one of your friends is about to give up and God sends you with a word of encouragement to derail the locomotive of discouragement? What if someone is hurting and God sends you to be a salve of healing as you embrace them with your heart?
This is why it’s so important for us to cultivate sensitivity to the whisper of the Spirit. Listen for His voice and offer what you have to Him. It may seem small and insignificant to you, but He delights in taking things that are small and insignificant and doing marvelous miracles with them. He can use something as simple as a smile, a card, a handshake, a word of encouragement, or a hug. Whatever it is, don’t hesitate to give it away in Christ’s name. You never know…your hug might just save someone’s life.
We walked out to my car, slid into our seats, fastened our seatbelts, started the car, and we were on our way. As we were driving, we approached an intersection that had stop signs for the cross traffic. As we neared the intersection, a car blew past the stop sign and drove halfway through the intersection before the driver realized what was happening and managed to stop the vehicle.
My first reaction was to remark about how careless the driver was and how he should really slow down on small side streets. (Okay, what I said wasn’t that nice-sounding. I probably made some comment about the driver's level of intelligence, but I have since repented.) As I was speaking, I suddenly realized that being delayed for our hug was what kept us from being in that intersection when that car ran the stop sign. So, I offer my thanks to Lauren for giving me a hug that saved my life.
Alright…I know I'm being overly dramatic. I don’t really know what would have happened to me physically if we had been in a collision with that car. I can’t say that it would have ended my life, but I’m absolutely confident that it wouldn’t have been pretty. If we had been three or four seconds farther along on our trip, he would have plowed into my driver’s side door at a high enough rate of speed that I would have been badly injured in the very least. The collision was avoided because of the time it took to receive a hug.
That got me to thinking (which in and of itself is a dangerous proposition). I began to wonder how many times God has spared me from something that would have brought me pain – whether physical or emotional – by sending someone or allowing some circumstance into my path that in one way or another helped me avoid disaster. I wonder if there have been times when my car wouldn’t start and I chalked it up to aggravating happenstance, but it was actually the mercy of God keeping me out of harm’s way. I wonder if there have times when I was frustrated by another person’s “slowness” when it was actually the hand of God steering me toward safety. I wonder if there has ever been a moment when someone cut me off in traffic and I responded with a barrage of anger directed at the driver, when it was actually God impeding my progress to keep me away from danger. I may never know, but it causes me to stop and give Him thanks for His mercy, even if there are times I am desperately unaware of it.
The flip side of the coin is this: God can use each of us to cause another person to veer out of the path of danger – whether it’s physical, emotional, or spiritual danger. What if God wants me to give someone a hug because He knows it will help remind that person that they are loved by their Creator? What if one of your friends is about to give up and God sends you with a word of encouragement to derail the locomotive of discouragement? What if someone is hurting and God sends you to be a salve of healing as you embrace them with your heart?
This is why it’s so important for us to cultivate sensitivity to the whisper of the Spirit. Listen for His voice and offer what you have to Him. It may seem small and insignificant to you, but He delights in taking things that are small and insignificant and doing marvelous miracles with them. He can use something as simple as a smile, a card, a handshake, a word of encouragement, or a hug. Whatever it is, don’t hesitate to give it away in Christ’s name. You never know…your hug might just save someone’s life.
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