Favorite Prophet

I like having favorites when it comes to the Bible. I don't know if you're supposed to but I like to anyways. I have a favorite book, the book of Acts, a favorite gospel, Mark, several favorite verses, way too many to count, and a favorite prophet.

Well sort of. I have different passages where I like different prophets at different times in their different ministries. (Is that enough difference for you?) But overall I think Samuel might be my favorite prophet. For a couple of reasons that I want to talk about here today.

The first is the family that he came from. Hannah, Samuel's mom, was a godly woman. She longed for a child and she prayed fervently that God would grant her this dream that was so close to her heart. She even promised that if God would give her a child she would dedicate that child back to Him. 1 Samuel 1:1-20 That's quite a statement. To finally be given the thing you desire most then turn right around and give it back to God. That's a woman of great faith.

Well if you know the story then you know that the Lord did grant Hanna her dream, He gave her a son, Samuel. After she weaned him Hannah took Samuel back to the temple and put him the care of the priest. She dedicated her little boy, that she had prayed for so fervently to the Lord, vowing that Samuel would live his life for the Lord all the days of his life.

Now I'm the youngest of my family, not the oldest like Samuel, but in this story I still find some commonalities that I love. My parents prayed for children for several years before God first gave them my oldest brother. And, just like Hannah, the Lord gave my parents several more children. There's something far more significant then that in these two stories though. Hannah dedicated her son to the Lord and she prayed for him. My parents gave us kids one of the best gifts that can ever be given, they prayed for us, continue to pray for us and taught us about the Lord. No, they didn't send us to live in a temple, thankfully, but they did dedicate themselves to teaching us about the Lord and helping us to learn to walk in His ways. That's the gift of a godly family and I'm very glad to have that as part of my story as Samuel did.

Second reason I love Samuel so much is how he was called. In 1 Samuel 3 the chapter starts by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." And yet in verse 4 the Lord called to Samuel. Immediately the boy ran to Eli, who he ministered under and said "Here I am!"

I love how quick Samuel was to respond, he went right to Eli but Eli hadn't called him so he sent him back to bed. Then it happened again and Samuel went back, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said he hadn't and sent him back to bed. When it happened a third time Eli realized what was happening and told Samuel that it was the Lord calling him. He told the boy that if the Lord called him again to say "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

That's the part I love. Samuel was give the perfect response to the Lord's calling and it's the one we should still use. Every time the Lord calls me I want my response to be that of Samuel's, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."

The third reason I want to talk about today that I love Samuel so much is his loyalty. See when the Lord spoke to Samuel he gave him a prophesy on how He had condemned Eli's sons for the wickedness. The next morning Eli asked Samuel what the Lord had spoken to him but He didn't want to share it. The Bible says he was afraid, I would imagine he was also sad. He had to have known how much Eli loved his sons. He didn't want to hurt the man who was raising him but Eli persisted and Samuel told him the words of the Lord.

I love what's revealed here about Samuel's heart and I think there's a lot to learn from him. He didn't want to share because he didn't want to hurt a man he loved and respected but he did share because it was the Lord's words and he knew he needed to. That's the combination of love and truth that we should all be striving for in all our conversations.

So there it is, the 3 reasons from Samuel's childhood that I love him as a prophet and a few things we can learn from him.

Command, Choice or Chore?

Rejoice. We see it again and again and again throughout the Bible. Sometimes it's a command, like in 1 Chronicles 16:10 "Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice." or in Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again, rejoice."

Other times it's more like a choice. "I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High." Psalm 9:4 or "I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul." Psalm 31:7

What about when it's more like a chore? When you're having a bad day, when you're sick in bed, when something bad has just happened to someone you love. How do you rejoice then? Is it still a command. Yeah, the command to rejoice doesn't come with the condition of rejoice when you feel like it. Or only rejoice when things are going well. It's a one word command- rejoice. There's no out with this one.

But what about when things are are hard and you don't want to make that choice. It still is a choice, a much harder choice but still yours to choose. You can choose to rejoice or choose to complain. So which do you do?

James 1:2-3 says "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."

This is when rejoicing goes beyond just being a command. It becomes a hard choice and definitely falls under the category of chore. It's something you need to do, that you don't want to do but if you don't do it there's always consequences.

James says to rejoice not just sometimes but whenever you face trials. And not just the easy trials like being sick with cold, but trials of many kinds. But he doesn't leave it at that. There's a purpose in those trials, they develop perseverance and they test your faith. As your faith is tested it becomes stronger and so do you.

So whether it's the easy choice or a chore today I want to remind you that it's still a command. Rejoice.

"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118: 24

Jellybeans!

Confession, I love jellybeans! Like really, really, really love jellybeans. But not Jelly Bellys. The other kind of jellybeans. Those are the good ones. I mean really good. They are so delicious! And this is not the point of today's post. So... moving on.

I have this really amazing friend who has a ministry of encouraging moms. She has two little ones and knows that sometimes the hardest part of being a mom is remembering to take care of herself. If you're not taking care of yourself then you're not going to be able to take care of anyone else. She also knows that when her kids are misbehaving she tends to blame herself. She realizes that moms tend to be way too hard on themselves so she does her best to encourage them, partially by reminding them that they are only human.

Some times when I hear her encouragement ti moms I remember that the rest of us need that reminder too. For me this week it took a friend pointing out that I was trying to do everything on the weekend. I was getting too tired during the week because I was stressing, then trying to dk wverything at once and not getting the rest I needed. So she suggested that I do small things throughout the week so that I could rest more on the weekend instead of stressing so much. So I followed her advice and wrote out my list of things that needed done. Then I broke it down by day.

Just having the to-do list helped me a lot. It actually gave me a great sense of accomplishment. Then when I came home I was all prepared to just do my two or three tasks that I had. Instead I ended up so happy I was getting things done that I actually got more tasks done! It was great! I ended up getting more done then I normally would on a work night and even got extra stuff on top of that finished!

So to celebrate I found some jellybeans I had stashed in my room and indulged a bit. What a wonderful end to the day!

To recap there was a point to all this and it's not to tell you how much I like jellybeans. (But I really, really do. And now I'm out so I need to out call my jellybean supplier on my to-do list. For the record, my supplier is my dad. He buys them for me in bulk then just gives them to me at random intervals. Yeah, he's pretty cool. Oh right, I'm off point again.) The point is that when you're feeling overwhelmed there's a few things you can do.

1. Take a breath and remember that you're human. Don't get mad at yourself or talk badly about yourself. Don't get discouraged, just come up with a plan.

2. Make a list. Write down everything you need to do then break it down into manageable amounts, whether it's days, weeks or hours in the day- whatever works for you.

3. Celebrate your small accomplishments, like when I did more then I expected of myself for the day so I had jellybeans. Find your own way to celebrate but make sure you do. It's important to have those moments, it's what give you the encouragement to keep going.

4. Keep going. Even if you lose your way for a bit you can get back on track.

So there it is. The ways to deal with stress and accomplish things. Or at least my way. Hopefully it'll work for you too. And seriously, you should consider the jellybean method. They're awesome.

Service to the Lord

Do you ever get tired and overwhelmed? Especially when you're working on serving? Maybe when you're volunteering or even being paid to work in ministry? It can feel like you're not appreciated, like you're spending all your time serving and never get anywhere. People can be cruel and accusatory and you start to wonder why you're bothering. It's exhausting and frustrating and you really just want to give up. You begin to wonder why you're putting so much effort into something that no one appreciates.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."
Colossians 3:23

Did you get that last part? It is the Lord Christ you are serving. How often do we forget that? Yes, we're working with people, yes people write our paychecks, make our rules and give us our tasks but the Lord is the one we are serving.

The other day I was feeling overwhelmed and looking at my list of things I needed to do for both ministry and practical. I was exhausted and stressed so my amazing friend suggested I go out to the porch with my Bible and a notebook. Sit down, dwell on God's word and write down everything worrying me. That way I could check it off the list or just forget about it or pray over it to give it to the Lord. Whatever needed done.

So I did. I opened my Bible first to Isaiah and read a bit in there then I flipped over to Proverbs. The page that fell open had some amazing words that God knew I needed right then. Words I had written at some time in the past.

The first is some of the most amazing advice that I forget all too often. "No time serving God is a waste of time." I honestly have no idea where I heard this or when I wrote it but it's so true. Serving God is never, ever a waste of time and if we are always working unto the Lord as we're told to be in Colossians then sweeping up the cereal the kids spilled, wiping down always sticky counters or walking our parents or elderly neighbors dog or pulling weeds in their garden, or our own, is not a waste of time. It's service unto the Lord.

Along the same lines is a quote from my Great-Grandma. "The hands of God have human fingers." While you're not wasting time serving God you're also touching lives and hearts of those God has put in your path.

Keep that in mind when ministry and life has you discouraged.

Let's Talk Jericho!

Let's talk about Jericho. This is one of my favorite Bible stories and I've probably talked about it on here a few times before. The story is found in Joshua 6. In the first few verses the stage is set for this awesome drama of God's power to play out.

Joshua 6:1-5
"Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.
The the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with it's king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."

There's so much in just these first few verses that I'm going to break it down and make some comparisons to our every day lives. So just hang in there with me for a bit.

Verse 1- The gates of Jericho were securely barred- Have you ever had a problem that you've looked at from every possible angle and you're going "Uh... Hey God? Isn't there supposed to be a window? 'Cause it doesn't seem like there is and I really need this problem to go away. How am I supposed to make that happen?"
I'm guessing the Israelites felt the same way. They're staring at this impenetrable city going, "Oh sure Joshua. You're totally going to conquer that place. Right... We'll just wait here and see how that goes."
I know that feeling- "Okay God, I'll just stand back and wait for you to fix this." But in my heart I'm not so sure how He's going to do that.

Verse 2- So then God says to Joshua- "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands", now I don't know about you but if I'm Joshua in this situation I'm going- "Um, you have? When was that? Did I miss something God?"
I've had those times too, I mean God has shown me a tiny little crack (Rahab in this situation) but I'm still wondering how all the details are going to work out.

Verse 3- "March around the city once with all the armed me."
Seriously, have you ever had God ask you to do something extreme? Trust Him with your finances, reach out to that difficult person or walk away from the security of the known because you know He's calling you to something else. Somehow as scary as those are this seems more extreme.

Skipping verse 4 and going straight to 5- "Then the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up, everyone straight in."
Seriously there are not enough laughing emoji's in the world to tell you my reaction to imaging myself in Joshua's shoes. "Are you serious God? You want me to walk around the city, do these things, the walls are going to fall in and then my army is just going to march straight in? Sure! Why not?!"
I mean to be fair Joshua had already seen God do some amazing things but I'm still guessing that he was a little concerned about having to give the Israelites these orders. I would be!
But doesn't God ask us to do crazy things all the time? Raise your children in a way that they'll be criticized and ridiculed for their beliefs. Watch your actions, language and clothing so that you are always a testament to how God has changed your life. Take time out of your day to study His word and pray and show up and be involved in your church instead of just spending some extra time on Netflix. That goes against our me-centered culture. So it as extreme as Jericho? No, thankfully, it's normally not but we all have walls and we're all waiting to see how God's going to make them fall. I'm guessing Day 5 felt more like Year 100 to them. But it wasn't until Day 7 (that would be Year 140 for those of you following along) that God came through. Because it was His timing and His plan not ours.