You Must Wait

 

A dear friend sent me this anonymous poem last Thursday , and I have read it every day since! It not only encourages me to trust the Lord’s perfect timing, but also not to waste this season of waiting. I don’t want to get to the end of it and realize that I don’t know God any better, I’m not any holier, or I didn’t depend on Him.  May it encourage and challenge you as well.

“Desperate and helpless and longing, I cried.
Patiently, lovingly my Lord replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate;
And the Master so gently said,
‘Child, you must wait.’

“‘Wait? You said wait?’ my indignant reply.
‘Lord, I need answers. I need to know why.
Is Your hand shortened or have You not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I’m claiming Your Word.

“‘My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance, and You tell me wait.
I’m needing a yes, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a no to which I can resign.

“‘And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry,
I’m weary of asking, I need a reply.’

“Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, ‘You must wait.’
So I slumped in my chair defeated and taught,
and grumbled to God, ‘so I’m waiting for what?’

“He seem then to kneel, and His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, ‘I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun;
I could raise the dead, cause the mountains to run.

“‘All you seek I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depths of My love for each saint;
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.

“‘You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

“‘You’d never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of My Spirit descends like a dove.
You’d know that I give and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart,

“‘The glow of My comfort late in the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked of an infinite God
Who makes what you have last.

“‘And you’d never know, should your pain quickly free,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dreams for that loved one overnight may come true,
But oh the loss if I lost what I’m doing in you.

“‘So be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious of all is still, Wait.'”

Thoughts on Mackelmore’s “Same Love”

Though it might surprise, shock, or befuddle  you-I really like rap music. Now, not all rap of course-I don’t like anything degrading to women or void or morality or musicianship-but there is much Christian, and secular rap that I respect and enjoy. There are many intellectual modern theologians who can weave truths about the gospel and theology into rap songs and I love it! Mackelmore is a secular rap artists whose giftings are  easy to appreciate and enjoy in recent chart toppers such as “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us”.  He seems to be a young man full of insight and talent, and in many ways I see him as the voice of our generation.

In his well-crafted single, “Same Love” Mackelmore has packed much truth into a 5 minute song. He rightfully condemns homophobia, hate, and oppression whilst promoting love, equality, and acceptance.  I will stand by him in telling Christians that we need to remember to love ALL people, as Christ does and I agree that “If you preach hate at the service those words aren’t anointed. That holy water that you soak in has been poisoned”. I wholeheartedly believe that we have “become so numb to what we’re saying” in matters of confronting sin. We need to remember the value that each human being has, and the respect that each human being created in God’s image deserves- especially in matters concerning our speech.

Unfortunately, there is much about “Same Love” that I disagree with as well.

First off, the very premise of the song is paradoxical in nature. The chorus is: I can’t change/even if I tried/even if I wanted to/I can’t change, yet the entire song is asking me, as a conservation evangelical Christian to change. Though I don’t think BEING homosexual is a decision, I DO believe living a homosexual lifestyle is a decision. You want me to change that. I do think it can be “cured” (I use that term loosely) by “religion” (again loosely) in the sense that the gospel changes your desires from sin to obedience when you get to know Christ. You want me to change that belief as well? I can’t change. Even if I tried. Even if  I wanted to.

Though I know many have been hurt by so called Christians manipulating and poorly representing Scripture. I and many of my other brothers and sister do NOT “paraphrase a book written thirty five-hundred years ago”. We CAN give you exact quotes from the New Testament that articulately and lovingly explain why we believe that God would call you to not act on your homosexual tendencies for His name’s sake.

Lastly, I cringed at the phrase, “Whatever God you believe in, We come from the same one”. How is that possible? Gods from each religion known to man have MINIMAL similarities at best, and MASSIVE essential, fundamental differences.  We all came from the same One, yes. But we all are not believing in the same one.

What do you think?

We Learn in the Pain-Filled Points

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Whether it is a friend, significant other, or family member – relationships bring both great joy and great pain.  When I am in the center of the painful points I am sometimes tempted to covet an “easier life” that would be void of such pain bearing relationships. But I know that not only is that not POSSIBLE, but it is also not PROFITABLE. We learn in the pain-filled points. We see our sin more clearly-our need for a savior more clearly. We are blessed by the example of our Triune Creator who engages in intimate fellowship despite ALL outcomes of hurt and short fallings. We are reminded of the grace extended to us-grace than we are commanded to extend to others.  We are reminded that God is at work in each and every scenario whether we see him or not. And ultimately, when we disappoint others, or they disappoint us-we look to the cross and then to the empty grave-worshipping in gratitude the One who will never let us down.

What Are We Known For?

In his book “UnChristian”, David Kinnaman found through research that Christians are known for such things as being:

• Antihomosexual
• Judgmental
• Hypocritical
• Too involved in politics
• Out of touch with reality
• Old-fashioned
• Insensitive to others
• Boring
• Not accepting of other faiths
• Confusing

 

Over a breakfast of eggs and toast this morning I was reading in Romans 12. The heading above verses 9-21 read “Marks of the True Christian”. The following are quotes straight from that text:

• Let love be genuine
• Outdo one another in showing honor.
• Be fervent in spirit
• Rejoice in hope
• Patient in tribulation
• Constant in prayer
• Seek to show hospitality
• Live in harmony
• Bless those who persecute you
• Never avenge yourselves
• Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.
• Overcome evil with good

That’s in quite juxtaposition to what Kinnaman found. God’s word tells us what the marks of a true Christian should be. They should know we are Christians by these things.  We need to be living this! So frankly, I don’t care if they think I am old fashioned, as long as they also see me associating with the lowly, and rejoicing in hope. My genuine love for others should far outshine the fact that I am indeed antihomosexuality. I don’t want to be judgmental, but living in harmony with all people.  I may not be accepting of other faiths for salvation, but I still want to show them honor.

Take some time today to pray through Romans 12 and ask God to reveal to you ways that you can honor Him, and represent Him better here on His earth. And when the Holy Spirit convicts you of something, or shows you something to do-ACT ON IT!

What is God Doing?

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity