Humility: God's mercy

At times it is profitable to take time and reflect on life and all that God has done, and all that He is leading you into. In Proverbs Agur son of Jakeh says that "there are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden" (Proverbs 30:18-19). There are many things in this universe that baffle the minds and hearts of men, for we are creatures with limited understanding, often blinded by our own pride and personal experience. Does this limited understanding, however, mean that we should not ponder those questions that might arise to which we have not the answers? Solomon writes this of wisdom:

"'Now then, my sons, listen to me;blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death'" (Proverbs 8:32-36).

To search after and find wisdom is to find life. This is a search, a journey that will not always be easy, in truth seldom will the quest for wisdom ever be described as easy and I hold it is for this reason, that it is not in the end that wisdom is attained, but instead it is in the journey that we discover all that God has for us. When Christ called those we call the twelve, He asked them to follow Him, to journey with Him. And it was in this journey that they became eleven men who were God's instruments in changing the world forever.

In light of this, do we simply ignore that which is not clear to us or do we press in and discover God's will and heart for us in it? I believe God is eagerly waiting for us to rise to the challenge of attacking all that we understand not, for He desires to show Himself to us.

So what is it that as the writer in Proverbs said, is to amazing for us to understand. And it is in my reflection of all that God has done that I find one such thing. God has been proven time and time again, in my life, in the lives of those around me and all throughout history. His word is without fault and has been shown to be right in every way, without weakness or defect. I know all this, I have seen an experienced all of this and yet if one were to look at my past they would see a pattern of ebb and flow. At time I have burned with a deep, seemingly unquenchable fire for God, and at other times that flame was more like a lingering coal on the verge of being extinguished. How can this be? I know that all the world has to offer cannot even begin to compare with the infinite and awesome splendor that is our God, but I still turn my back on all that He is, majestic and eternal and embrace the world and surround myself with all that is cheap and temporal. In truth this has been a mystery that has baffled me throughout the years. I would fall away but God in His infinite mercy would draw me back to Himself, and I would ask myself why I ever removed myself from His favor for when we have the favor of God then the cares of the world fall away. Notice I did not say they are removed, I said they fall away. The cares remain, what changes is our perception of them and our understanding that we have a Father who delights in caring for His children. In stark contrast, the ways of the world only offer worry after worry. In fact, we encounter more troubles walking in our own path than in the path of God and therefore the burden becomes even more burdensome.

So what is it that causes us to continue in this cycle of the path of God versus the ways of the world? I never have and never will claim to have all knowledge but I believe an examination of the life of Nebuchadnezzar offers us insight into this mystery.

Nebuchadnezzar's life held a pattern that many of us can relate to. He would see God work something miraculous and his response would be to glorify God. This happens at least twice in the first three chapters of the book of Daniel. But was his heart really turned? Did he truly understand who God is and what that realization means? After each of his proclaimations he would turn back to his old ways and go on with life, a pattern we all find all to familiar. ANd when something new would arise and he would call on Daniel's wisdom he would always tell Daniel that he trusted him for the spirits of the gods was with Daniel. He may have recognized that God was a god, and even that God was the supreme god, but he still did not fully understand that God is the only God, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He lumped God in with all the rest of his deities and the attitude this reflected had very deep implications in how he lived his life.

God did not reign supreme over all. Nebuchadnezzar may have claimed with his mouth that He does, but his actions speak more loudly and more truly. For he, Nebuchadnezzar still had pride in his heart, he still ruled his life, or so he thought. He refused to submit to the law and will of the Almighty and oppressed those whom God had charged him to protect. He did what was evil and refused to do that which is right. In these ways we are the same as he. We rule our own hearts, or are at least under the delusion that we do; we may not oppress those around us but we do not love as Christ loves and has called us to love and we do not do what is right in the sight of God. Pride fills our hearts. A pride that tells us we may do as we wish for none but rules us and our decisions and paths are our own to chose and follow. We look at the life we have and like Nebuchadnezzar we declare, "Look at what I have created, see what has come to be by my will," and so we fall. But there is hope, for God is a God of mercy and love, and He will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

God showed Nebuchadnezzar mercy. For seven years he learned what it is to live as a lily or a bird of the field. For seven years he was without his mind and yet God still cared and provided for him. And he learned that God reigns supreme and it is only by His mighty hand that anything was, is, or will be. For this is the mercy that God showed Nebuchadnezzar. "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble" (Daniel 4:37). God's mercy to Nebuchadnezzar and His mercy to us is that He humbles us.

So far as we know, Nebuchadnezzar continued to walk after God for the remainder of his life. It was not until he was humble that he understood. It was not until he was humble that he truly saw God for who He is. Isaiah look upon the face of God and cried aloud, "Woe to me...I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty" (Isaiah 6:5). When he saw the world as God sees it, he saw it for what it is and he could not help but declare the truth. God humbled him, God broke his flesh just as He broke Nebuchadnezzar's flesh. He removed them from the thrones of their hearts in order that His reign might extend into their lives.

When was the last time you were broken? When was the last time you allowed God to take control of some aspect of your life? He did it with Isaiah, He did it with Nebuchadnezzar. God is supreme and will do what is His will. At times it will be hard, at times it will be painful. But at the end we will declare praise and glory to the King of heaven for all that He does is right and His ways are just, and He has humbled our proud hearts.

So it has been a while since my last post and while nothing dramatic has happened so much has changed. It is all the subtle ways that God chooses to work in our lives that really shape who we are. The day to day living defines who we are more than the major events or roadmarks. Don't get me wrong those roadmarks are important but I've learned to focus instead on taking life step by step and remembering that today is all that I have and I must make the most of it what I can.

My growth in D.C. has been slow and in subtle ways. For the first little bit up here I became very much a cynic, not trusting the establishment and people in general. While my belief regarding the proper structure of government has not changed I believe my attitude and perception has changed. It is hard to remain an idealist in a place where the reality of life is so pronounced. But God has taught me to have faith, to trust in Him and rest with confidence in the knowledge that His will will be done. There are big changes going on up here. I've said before that we are at a crossroads and the decision made in the next few months will shape the course of our nation. That hasn't changed and the decision is now before us. The question before us in whom shall we rely. Is our hope going to rest in the government or in God, that is the question before us now.

Update from D.C.

So I am at the end of one week here in D.C. Started work on Monday and had a very busy week. I am doing a lot of work with mail. It is very interesting getting to know what the major issues are up here and also what Congressman Thornberry's stand on them are. I have also gotten to do some Capitol tours and that is one of my favorite things to do (when I am working that is). It is a great privilege to work in the seat of power for what is one of the most powerful nations in the history of the world. I love getting to meet new people and talk with them. I did get to go to a briefing on Afghanistan. That was really cool. Please, in the fog of all the huge things that are happening here at home, don't lose sight of all the other issues that are really vital to this world all over the rest of the world. Afghanistan needs to be in our prayers. But don't ignore the domestic issues either. We are at a crossroads. We can continue down this path of increased government control or we can take a stand and say that we will not allow for this to happen in our time. I am really blessed in who my roommates are. They are really great guys/gals and we really getting to know each other. A couple of us are looking for a church right now. So if you could keep Kayla, Billy and me in your prayers as we do that I would be grateful. So that is about it. I am going to sign off for right now and do some other stuff. If you want to here more you can go read my blog. There is a link to it on my facebook. God bless.

My first blog, sorta

So this would be my first blog if I hadn't already written one about a story that my roommates told me. In reality none of that was my writing. I was just the scribe. So I am sitting here sipping on a glass a wine, in my smoking jacket, with my pipe in front of the fireplace in a comfortable high-back chair. My hound dog, Sir Winston, is lying at my feet savoring the warmth emanating from the glowing coals. I am currently residing at 202 East Capitol Street NE in Washington D.C. I work in the House Office Buildings for Congressman Mac Thornberry of Texas. It is very stimulating work. My days are filled with important phone calls and even more important letters. It is my job to make sure that all these correspondences make it to the proper authority. Without me the office would fall apart. I and the people like me are the mortar that hold the stones of the Capitol together, we make government possible. Ok, enough of the malarkey. I am an intern working for Thornberry in his office. I do answer phones and work with letters. But I am certain that if I were not there they would do just fine. I am enjoying my experience though. Even the mundane stuff is in its own way interesting. I mean stuffing letters isn't exactly exhilarating but as I stuff I read the letters and get a better grasp of the issues, the constituent's feelings and Mac's views on them. So I am here for 12 weeks and I am looking forward to it. Maybe you'll here more from me this semester, if time and my faulty memory allows.

Good times on Capitol Hill

"So this is how it went down. We were all standing there and we had just exited the buffet line with our steak. Four interns were standing together. So one of the interns asked another intern where did he get the drinks. Then they turned around and another intern is asking Congressman Gingrey, "where did you get that?!" and pointed at the Congressman's drink. Congressman Gingrey looks at him and said, "I don't know, somebody brought me my drink." Everyone started laughing while his friends grabbed him and ran away."

This story was conveyed to me by my roommates.