Discipleship

If you want to know what it means to wrestle with God or how to wrestle with God, we can help. Read here to learn three steps to wrestle with God effectively. My desperate decision to wrestle with God My vision was at the worst point in a series of blurry days. I was afraid to drive and worn out from trying to see through the blur to view my computer screen. The problem was a severe viral infection of my cornea, probably contracted during a trip to the Middle East, and it threatened to completely destroy my sight. Months of uncertainty left me more desperate than ever. Would I lose my sight or not? I wanted an answer, one way or the other. In desperation, I determined to fight the battle of Jacob and wrestle with God. I would not let go until God moved in one way or the other. The struggle left Jacob with a permanent limp, so I wasn’t sure how I would emerge but, after the long struggle I was exhausted and ready for answers. I spent a day in prayer and repentance, seeking an answer about my eye. My prayers were based on three important principles: Surrender to God’s will. The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving Repentance of Sin It was the hardest intercession I’ve ever done, but neither of those three steps was optional if I wanted an answer to a seemingly unanswered prayer. How to Wrestle with God: Three Vital Steps 1. Surrender to God’s Will The chronic viral infection in my eye left me with one of three possibilities. Either God would heal me, I’d have chronic blurriness and struggles, or the infection would take my vision and leave me blind. Would anyone choose blindness? Not likely. The only answer I wanted to accept was healing. That day, however, I surrendered to whatever God thought best for me. “Take my sight or leave it, God, but help me understand what you’re doing. I’m choosing to want what you want more than my own desire for healing.” It may sound like a bunch of words but, as one who sees answered prayer on a daily basis, I know how deadly serious prayer is. What I didn’t know was what God’s will would be, and I feared it. 2. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving If we are to give thanks “in all things” we must find cause for gratitude even in the most difficult circumstances. I’d already begun to thank God for the good eyesight in my right eye, the continued ability to drive, the blessing of audiobooks, the benefits of large print, the doctor’s wisdom, the kindness of the office staff, and the ease of travel. On the wrestling day, I took it a few steps further. I walked through my home and thanked God for everything I saw. A stroll around my property found new reasons for thanksgiving. My contacts-list offered up hundreds of friends, family, and other relationships for which I could (and did) give thanks. Finally, I moved my thanksgiving into the difficult zone. I tried to remember all the hard things God had allowed, then looked for positive outcomes from each trial for which I could thank Him. Surrendering to God’s will was a hard-fought battle, but it didn’t take long. The sacrifice of thanksgiving was a different matter. I literally spent hours giving thanks. The longer the time spent thanking God, the more an overwhelming sense of gratitude increased and the less my trial mattered. 3. Repent of sin Repentance was the hardest step of all as I wrestled with God, but the most necessary. Repenting for the sins I recognized wasn’t a problem. It was the sin hidden too deep in my heart to see that remained unconfessed. I started by addressing any sin for which I thought I might not have repented, then moved on to sin I wasn’t sure I had. Before the day was over, however, I finally came to the deepest point of surrender. “Lord,” I prayed, “show me the sin you want me to relinquish.” He did. “Let go of the idol.” The words in my heart were so clear in my heart, I had no trouble understanding them. As soon as I heard them, I felt waves of nausea, revulsion, and dread flow through me. Instantly I knew what God meant and I feared what was to come. My first article was written for a junior high school newsletter in 1969. After forty-nine years, the last five years spent writing nearly constantly, I consider myself a writer even more than a physician, and I am. Writing is how I process life, how I communicate, and how I touch the world. It’s my preferred art form and a huge part of my ministry. Printed words on a page are beautiful to me. Fonts and text size delight me. I love how words slash through our defenses, open our hearts and change our minds. I love being a writer. The thing I feared most was not blindness but losing the ability to write. Sometimes we need to release our dream to have the heart God desires for us. My love for writing isn’t a bad thing and it hasn’t been used in a bad way. It’s a gift from God used to glorify Him. On that beautiful, dreadful day, when I learned how to wrestle with God, I realized I’d allowed the gift God gave to become a consuming priority in my life and, eventually, an exhausting, devouring idol. When I saw it, I opened my hands and metaphorically released this good-thing-turned-idol. That idol shattered into a million pieces and lost its power in my life. I apologized to God, asked for forgiveness, and reveled in the cleanness of my heart. Thanksgiving and surrender to God’s will prepared me to walk away from writing altogether if that’s what it took to relinquish my idol. At the moment of surrender, I had no idea

When we, as disciples of Christ, consider the rampant pride and sense of entitlement in our society today, it may be difficult to understand why we should choose humility and let go of our pride. Scripture, however, tells us God opposes the proud but pours out grace on the humble. (James 4:6) For those who follow Jesus, humility is not optional. Choosing Humility Isn’t Always Easy Moses was described by God at the most humble man on earth, (Numbers 12:3) but he probably wasn’t the most humble as a youth in Pharaoh’s court. His murderous departure from promience to forty years of anonymity in the wilderness changed him. Those decades spent tending sheep provide a much-needed lesson in humility.  In the wilderness, no one bowed before him, served him the choicest foods, or stood guard over him. Instead, he knelt before his sheep to tend and care for them. Moses sought out the choicest pastures for his rambling charges, chased them over rocky hills, and guarded the herd with his life. It was hard work, often frustrating, and sometimes heart-breaking. Moses left his life of elegance and glamour behind and embraced simplicity and faith. It changed him to his core, and he never went back to his old life. Instead, he embraced the life for which God created him and led millions of his fellow Hebrews to the freedom God promised Abraham. Why should we choose humility? The word translated as humble indicates a person with a modest, lowly opinion of himself, someone who prefers to bear an injury than to cause one. We sometimes call a person with that mindset a “wimp,” but God calls them great. In our culture, humility is in scarce supply. Instead, society rewards those who are confrontational, arrogant and speak derogatory words toward others. We need look no further than the plethora of “viral” posts on the internet to see the truth of our craving for word-bashing. We think we know best, always, and that we’re entitled to our opinion without opposition. Or so we think.  Pride abounds. In the perfect culture of God, humility abounds. In the perfect culture of God, we, His people, recognize He knows best. We bow to His authority and treat each other with respect and honor. In heaven. God is on His throne and everyone behaves as if they know it because they do.  If we want to prepare ourselves for our life in eternity, we will choose humility now because, when we’re in heaven, we’ll humble ourselves and bow before Him. We, the body of Christ, would adopt a humble mindset now if we grasped the enormity of God. Moses didn’t wait for the Red Sea to part to become humble. It was burned into him through years of sacrifice, simple living, and hard work. Humility doesn’t come to us in fancy clothes, bespoke suits, or big bank accounts, but in the simplicity of a life of faith. It comes from following, not demanding the right to lead, and in seeing ourselves as we are before a great and mighty God. How to choose humility In some areas of American society today, the simple life is considered foolish, strange, unwieldy, and senseless. Our lives are often consumed with schedules, productivity, money, success in a twisted version of the American dream. What if we redefined success to include simple faith and simple living? What if a great city was one in which a vibrant community of like-minded individuals worked together to accomplish a greater good for every citizen? We may never redefine society but we can embrace a heart of humility and allow Jesus to change our lives, our priorities, and our definition of success. Even in this busy, mixed-up world of ours, we can choose humility, and we should. We begin by doing what Jesus said. Love God more than anything else and love our neighbor as much, and in the same way, as we love ourselves. When we move our focus from ourselves and our desires to God and His plans for our life, there’s not much room for pride.  The blessings of humility Why should we choose humilty and love? Scripture tells us pride comes before a fall but God gives grace to the humble. Why choose the fall of pride when the grace of humility is freely available? There’s something that’s even better though. The seeds of humility in Moses’ heart grew into a deep relationship with God in which they spoke as man to man, friend to friend. No one else dared to risk it, but Moses walked into the presence of God and experienced grace on an entirely new level. We, too, can have the same relationship if we’re willing to let go of pride and embrace humility. Today, let’s ask God for a humble, gentle, Moses-style heart and embrace the simple faith that brings us into the presence of God and leaves us glowing from the impact of our time with Him. “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, ‘God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6 nasb While you’re here, check out these blog posts: How to Trust God in Hard Times The Benefits of Repentance What Does it Mean to Be Beloved? What Does it Mean to Be a Disciple of Jesus? Promises of God Fulfilled What Does Freedom in Christ Mean? What Does He Must Increase and I Must Decrease Mean? Thanks for reading “Why We Should Choose Humility” and sharing your time with us today. Before you go… Sign up for our twice-a-month newsletter to receive exclusive stories, freebies, and more. Leave a comment and share this post on your social media pages or through email. Bookmark our website so you can visit us often. Take a look t Today’s Encouragement before you go. We add to this every weekday.  Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest Here’s an in-depth, life-changing digital Bible study to help you grow in your Christian faith: (This is

Harbingers of Spring If you’re like me, after a long season of hard you probably wonder where to find hope or maybe even is fresh hope possible? The row of daffodils along my fence line after a long, hard winter serves as a harbinger of hope and has ever since I moved to the farm one fall more than thirty years ago. The winter was colder than I expected, and a little harder. Spring finally arrived with a surprise. Daffodils along both the fence line and the driveway. The bright yellow was a welcome sight after months of gloomy weather. Once all the daffodils bloomed, Sam, the farm manager who’d planted them years before, went down the row and picked a double handful, careful not to take too many from any one spot. He presented me with a huge bouquet, as proud as a little boy with a blossom for his mama. The flowers filled my largest vase. Daffodils along the fence became my harbinger of spring, my sign of hope that a long winter would soon be done. The Overcomer Daffodils: Harbinger of Hope Some years ago, I went through a particularly terrible time. Devastated by the events. Powerless to change them. Unable to see any light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Fresh hope was in short supply. That Christmas, the hardest we’d ever faced, a friend gave me a bag of daffodil bulbs. I was out of hope, struggling with faith, and didn’t know if I’d ever find new hope again, but Ryan (my son) and I took a leap of faith. We planted the bulbs in a new row along an unplanted stretch of driveway. In a few months, the daffodils bloomed and with them fresh hope. Things were better. I called them my Overcomer Daffodils. A few years later, another difficult time came and stayed for a while. I bought a bag of daffodil bulbs for myself, planted them, and prayed our circumstances would improve by the time they bloomed, as they had before. I wanted another dose of fresh hope. It wouldn’t actually come in a bag of daffodil bulbs, but I knew where to find hope: in the One who made the daffodils bloom.  Winter came before blooms, of course, and that year was a hard one. The temperatures were low. Sam was sick and frail. The water to the barn froze. I hauled water to livestock in single-digit temperatures until I was nearly crazed by cold and exhaustion. I was too busy to think about daffodils. When they finally bloomed, a thrill of hope shot through me. It was a sign, a harbinger of hope. I felt certain of it. My spirits soared. It didn’t take long to realize the daffodils weren’t the sign I’d hoped to receive. That particular stretch of hard didn’t end for quite a while. When it came, the change was in me, not my circumstances. I relinquished my difficulties to the only One who could intervene and allowed Him to heal my wounded, weary heart. The daffodils served as a symbol of the grace and power I received as I became a little more like Christ. Forgotten Flowers Sam died just before winter began in 2017. I missed him more than I thought possible. Life without him was far more difficult than I’d expected. If the daffodils bloomed that year, I overlooked them. Flowers, hope, and power were in short supply. Despite proddings from well-meaning people to “get over it,” I stayed with my grief until the hardest part of the work was done. Earlier this spring, I remembered the daffodils and waited in anticipation for the buds to shoot up and the flowers to open. When the earliest daffodils bloomed, an important truth came along with them. This year, for the first time since Sam’s death, they didn’t come with the pang of grief and loss.  Their arrival is more than a harbinger of hope. They’re a testimony to more than thirty years of God’s faithfulness and His grace. Those daffodils helped me realize something else, and it was as surprising as ever. I made it through another hard season and God’s grace was sufficient all the way through, even without my beloved farm manager, Sam. More than a Harbinger of Hope: Consider the Lilies “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?… And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:25, 28-32 ESV What about you? Have you been through a difficult season in life? What helped you find fresh hope? What served as a sign, or harbinger of hope for you? Have you learned where to find hope? I’d love to hear from you, so please comment below. Want to read more articles like Harbinger of Hope: Springtime Daffodils? Here are links to a few other posts: Hope: God With Us When the Hand of God Restored My Hope Finding the Beautiful Place Called Hope  Promises of God Fulfilled Thanks for sharing your time with us today. Before you go… Sign up for our twice-a-month newsletter to receive exclusive stories, freebies, and more. Leave a comment and share this post on