Faith and Fear

I have an app on my phone that is centered around health and fitness. Actually I have several of those apps. This particular one tracks my steps, healthy habits, gives me nutrition tips, fitness pointers and more. The other day it showed me a quote that really struck a chord with me.

"When fear knocks, let faith answer."

As I did a little more research I learned that in one of his sermons Martin Luther King Jr. said this was a quote that used to hang on people's walls. "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there."

I love this quote so much. The fact is that the Bible is quite clear about the matter of fear. 1 John 4:18 says "There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear..."

When I searched BibleGateway for the phrase "do not be afraid" 81 results came up. One of my favorites was Exodus 14:13 "... Do note be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today."

Or here's one in Deuteronomy 1:29 "Then I said to you, 'Do note be terrified; do not be afraid of them.'"

A couple of chapters later in Deuteronomy 3:22 the Word says, "Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you."

I could go on and on like this but you get the idea. We're told not to be afraid and the reason why is quite simple. As believers we have the Lord fighting our battles. He will fight our battles and shoulder our burdens. We don't have to. When things get hard we lay our problems at His feet. When you feel like you can't go on then He "will lift you up on eagle's wings". 

I don't know what type of fear is knocking at your door today. I do know that faith in the Lord is the best way to answer. And although you might still feel some of that fear, He'll help you deal with whatever comes your way.

A Take on Teaching

Albert Einstein once said, "I never teach my students, I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."

This quote really stood out to me when I first heard it a few weeks ago. It makes me think of the old adage, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink."

At work probably my favorite part of my job is training people. I love the feeling when things start to click and slowly people go from feeling completely out of their depth to realizing they have the skills and knowledge of how to do this job. It's amazing, but not because I really did anything. All I'm doing is talking and giving them tools as I explain how to use the different programs and the rules of the job. They're the ones who have to choose to learn.

In a similar way I feel like God will sometimes use this same process. Don't get me wrong, He definitely teaches us. Often though, He teaches us by allowing us to experience things.

Good things, bad things, all of them make us what we are today. Each experience teaches us something. So often we ask why do bad things happen? I don't have a good answer to that question. Not one that will really satisfy someone who is hurting. I may not be able to explain why bad things happen but I know that when God allows bad things to happen He also allows us to learn from those things. He provides the conditions in which we can learn.

I don't believe that God causes bad things to happen. I believe He allows them to happen and then helps us learn from them. So often the worst things we go through end up teaching us the most. We'd love to be spared the pain. If we were, would we still be the people we are? Would we still be able to help the people we come across? Would we we have the strength to deal with what comes up in our lives?

Who has God put in your life to teach this week? Can you find a way to provide them conditions where they can learn? 

What conditions has God put you in? And what is He teaching you by putting you in that situation?

Computer Dinosaurs

 Today I'm hanging out with my dad and one of his good friends. As we've gone through the multiple topics of conversation we eventually came around to discussing computers. Both of them are IT guys. Dad's retired these days but they've both been around computers so long that they have a lot to talk about. Today they were talking about what computers used to be like.

Now because I grew up around computers I know a fair bit. I didn't just grow up using them but I grew up with Dad working in IT and running his own computer business on the side. So I remember back before laptops were common and when PDA's first came out. What they were talking about today goes back wayyy further then that. So here's a post for all of you computer nerds who want to reminisce and some fun facts for everyone else.

Did you know there used to be a computer called Zenith? It sounds like a video game. I'm not sure how we went from computers being called Zenith to Apple or Dell but they don't sound nearly as cool. Then again they do sound a little more normal so maybe it's a good change. 

One of the first laptops called Kpro weighed 29lbs! Check out this picture of the Kpro 2! You had to flip up the keyboard to close it and then carry around this huge computer! I don't think I'd want this thing sitting on my lap all day, how about you?

How about this fact, did you know that Tetris (my second favorite game as a kid, Oregon Trail was probably my first) was originally from Russia? And the original software had a function that with a simple command key you could switch your screen from the game to a spreadsheet. I remember my dad admitting to me when I was little that he could play a game in the office and when his boss walked up he could hit that command key so the spreadsheet made it look like he was working. That's some smart programming!

There was also something similar that you could play some different games and keep up to ten programs in resident memory so with just a simple key stroke you could pull up the other program. It had the same affect of making it look like you were working, even if you weren't.

There was a program where you created a typed phone list, but of course this was before the days of cell phones so you just printed the phone list to carry around with you and then had to find a landline to call from. 

I always thought some of the old computers are loud but some of the early ones sounded like a jet turbine was starting when you turned it on, at least according to Dad. Of course he's always been half deaf so if he thought it was loud it must have been insanely noisy! Although I doubt it actually sounded as loud as an airstrip, it still must have been pretty insane.

Here's one that surprised me. There was no mouse, just a keyboard. I can't even imagine using a computer without a mouse!

Microsoft Windows didn't exist so every program was loaded on a separate floppy disk. (How many of you remember floppy disks? Surprisingly I do.) So for instance you would start the computer, load a floppy disk to open a word processer. Then you could type a document. Then you would have to take out that floppy disk, install a different floppy disk to load a spell check program in order to look over everything, before you printed it out to hand over to whoever needed it. And if it was a report for your boss you were going to walk that over to their office because that was before email.

So there it is folks, a blast from the past that allowed a couple of computer nerds to reminisce together and laugh at my horror, while also reminding me of how far we've come in the world of convenience. 

Living Sacrifice

Romans 12:1-2

"And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."

This passage talks about presenting your body as a living sacrifice but what does that mean? 

Paul starts with telling us why we should do it. He says that because of all that God has done for us we need to give our bodies to God. The Lord lovingly created us and sent His only Son to die for us so we can be forgiven of our sins and spend eternity with Him. He is the one who has done so much for us. Every day He provides for us, He cares for us, He forgives us and gives us strength to get through each day. These are just a few of the things that the Lord does, and in return one of the things we do is give our bodies to God as a living sacrifice. Not out of obligation, but love. And because we know that by following the Lord in this way, staying in His will, we end up living our best lives.

So next we see the sacrifice, Paul calls it- a living and holy sacrifice- the kind he will find acceptable. We're not expected to lay on some altar. We sacrifice ourselves by living, but keeping ourselves holy. We set ourselves apart for the Lord and live our lives for Him. In that way we make ourselves an acceptable sacrifice. 

We're also told this is a way to worship the Lord. Just by living our lives in a way that pleases Him we worship Him. So how do we do that? Simple, don't copy the world. The behaviors and customs of this world are in direct defiance of the Lord. That's why we're told to live our lives differently. It's not only about living differently, but thinking differently. By changing our thoughts, it changes our words and our actions. Every time.

Finally as we worship the Lord in these ways we learn His will for us, which is good and pleasing and perfect. We know that His will is for us to have the best, so as we learn to follow Him our lives will end up better. Every single time.