Through a Mirror Darkly

 

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting has heard, but doing what he it says he will be blessed in what he does.         James 1:23-25 

What a great word picture!  And how convicting it may be.  Do we do “church” on Sunday and then forget about it during the week?  Do we come to church and honestly worship, or do we do the time without the heart?  It’s so easy to walk away and put it all behind us.  But God should be a part of everything we do, every minute of the day.  When we’re preparing breakfast or eating breakfast, there should be thankfulness in our hearts – for the food itself, for the ability to prepare it and to eat it.  Going to work – how many would love to have a job, any job?  Are you thankful for work?  Are you thankful for school?  So many people world-wide don’t have that opportunity.  My own great-grandmother was taught to read by my great-grandfather, who held government positions under both the tzar and the Soviet because he was one of the few literate people in his village.  EVERYTHING is a gift from God.  But how appreciative are we about all of it (or really, of any of it)?

We’re told to forgive others as God has forgiven us.  Do we?  We’re told to remember, and care for, the poor, the orphan, the widow.  How good are we at that?  Do we truly recognize that all we have are gifts from God, so whatever we expend for others is really His providence?  If we say we love the Lord, do we show it by loving people as He loves them? 

In Acts, we learn that the early church gathered together and gave up what they had, and shared everything.  Care for the needy came naturally, because they recognized that everything was God’s to begin with; they were simply helping God with the distribution.  How well do our actions reflect what we claim to believe? 

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do                   James 2: 14-18 

I don’t want to recognize myself as one way on Sunday and some other way the rest of the week.  I want the person people see reflect God’s truths no matter when.  Yet, even George Carlin saw through me, and he never met me:  “Have you ever noticed, in traffic, anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac!”          ~ George Carlin

However, when I’m conscious of God and act accordingly, amazing things happen:

“When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.” -Rabbi Harold Kushner

.Prayer: “Dear God, please give me a heart for wisdom that I might know your truth and live according to it. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

Emily Montfort

Resolutions – Philippians

Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have laid hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward  the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.    Philippians 3: 12-14

A new year, a time of new beginnings – I think mankind celebrates each new year for just that reason.  We can put the past behind us and look forward to a new, fresh start.  So we make resolutions – to exercise more, to lose weight, to learn something new, etc.  However, while all that is good, it is far from perfect.

I, for one, prefer to take my cue from the letter Paul wrote to the church in Philippi.  Philippi was a wealthy trade-crossroads city.  But the church membership ranged from the wealthy, like Lydia, to the working class, like the jailer, to the very needy, like the demon-possessed slave girl.  A diverse membership, but what Paul writes them pertains to them all – and to us, too.

So, with Philippians as guide, here are my resolutions:

1)    That I be aware of and thankful for all those whose lives touch mine

• I thank my God upon every remembrance of you.  Phil: 1:3

2)    That I continually pray for the spiritual growth of those I come in contact with.

• And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which is by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.   Phil: 1:9-10

3)    That whatever I say and do be worthy of my title as “Christian”

• Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ   Phil. 1: 27a

4)    That I continue to look out for the needs of others and help where I can.

• Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.   Phil. 2: 3-4

5)    That I do my part to bring about unity in the church

• …that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.   Phil. 1: 27b
• …fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.    Phil: 2:2

6)    That I keep my focus on what really matters.

• Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things.  Phil. 4 8

Prayer:  Lord, please use your Hold Spirit to enable me to hold fast to these, my resolutions for this coming year, not only throughout the year, but henceforth, to your glory.  Amen

Emily Montfort

Seeing the Star

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Matthew 2:11-12

When the magi saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.  We have all these lights out to remind of Christmas, the day we set aside to celebrate Christ’s birth.  But do they remind us?  Or are they just lovely to look at.  When we see them, are we reminded of what they represent?  Do we then rejoice?  Or are we in too much of a hurry to even pause to consider why they are up?  The magi only knew that a king of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem.  They didn’t know him or what he would do.  Yet they fell down and worshipped him.  They offered him gifts of great value.  We have all the recorded history and accounts of him that they lacked.  Do we take time to really worship him?  Do we offer him gifts of great value?

Of all the gifts exchanged at Christmas, none can hold a candle to the greatest gifts of all – that which God gave us on that first night, when Jesus was born, the example and teaching that Jesus gave, and the ultimate gifts on the cross and on Easter Sunday.  But we get even more. 

At the Passover seder, a song is sung “Dayenu” – it would have been enough (sufficient).  Each verse tells of an act of God, states that that alone would have been enough, and then goes on to the next act of God, which would have been sufficient in itself, etc.  Well, just the act of Christ coming among us as a man to guide and teach us would have been sufficient – Dayenu.  Just his offering himself up for our sins would have been sufficient – Dayenu.  Just his rising from the dead and showing it that death doesn’t need to be the final act would have been sufficient – Dayenu.  But we are given salvation and so much more – and it’s found all throughout the Bible.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29-31

How great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who fear You. Psalm 31:19

For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Proverbs 2:6-8

The list goes on and on all throughout the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament.

But what about us?  What do we offer Him in return?

What does He ask of us?  He asks that we fear (stand in awe of) Him.  He asks that we talk (pray) to Him – keeping the communication lines open between us.  He asks that we love one another, as He loves us.

 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

Prayer:  Lord, may we all keep in mind why we celebrate Christmas, and may we offer Him our best gifts, just as He gives us His best.

Emily Montfort

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together I perfect unity.”     Colossians 3:12-14

Every time we say the Lord’s prayer, we say, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  But how does that play out?  Christ bore our punishment for our sins.  We are told over and over again in the Scriptures that God is faithful to forgive.  But we are also told that we, too, are to be forgiving.  Just as we have been forgiven, so, too, are we to forgive those who hurt us.  Why is that so hard for us?

The dictionary definition of forgiving is to cease to feel resentment, to pardon, to give up any claim for requital, to excuse.  Even when I’ve been wronged, when I have every reason to be resentful and bitter, I’m told to give that up.  I love the term “righteous indignation” because it gives me an excuse to hold onto my wrath.   But when we’re told to forgive, we’re not told to only forgive when it doesn’t really matter to us.  We’re supposed to forgive even when it matters greatly to us.  That doesn’t mean we condone bad acts; it doesn’t mean that we place ourselves in situations where someone can keep on hurting us.  It means that we don’t hang onto our grievances.  We let them go and move on from them.  

How can we do that?  It isn’t easy.  Holding onto a grudge seems to be a lot easier than letting it go.  It actually takes the rest of the Colossians passage.  To clothe yourself in compassion is equivalent to clothing yourself in the other person’s skin – bearing with them, feeling what they feel.  It’s trying your very best to be understanding of them, being kind, gentle and patient.  If you honestly try to understand someone, you begin to see why they might do the things that bug you, and it’s much easier to accept them.  Try to see them through God’s eyes.  He loves them, too, just as He loves you.  So “put on love.”  Even when they don’t “deserve” it, treat them with loving kindness.   And it’s o.k. to tell someone that he/she hurt you (and how), but that you care about him/her and forgive him/her.  If someone is feeling guilty, saying you forgive can be an act of kindness.

What about when we’re the ones who need forgiveness?  Well, we’re called upon to try to right whatever wrongs we’ve committed.  That includes apologizing and humbly asking for forgiveness.  We may not receive it, but we still should confess, apologize and ask.  Even if it’s not granted, at least we know we’ve done what we’re called to do in such circumstances.

Being forgiven can lift a weight off of our shoulders.  Being forgiving not only keeps our hearts from hardening, keeping God out, but actually helps us psychologically, spiritually and physically.  It has been said that holding onto bitterness is like taking poison and hoping the other guy dies; it eats you up, not him.  But we don’t forgive just so we’ll feel better about ourselves; we forgive because we love our heavenly Father, and he wants us to love one another.  Forgiving is an expression of that love.

So let’s clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and, above all, love.

Prayer: Lord, we know we are to be forgiving people.  Help us be more loving, more accepting, more patient.  Help us to see others through your eyes, loving them as you love them.  Help us to move beyond our own selfish desires and to clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience and love.  And thank you, dearest Lord, for the forgiveness you grant us, for your unfailing love and patience with us.

Emily Montfort

6 things the LORD hates, 7 that are detestable

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him,

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up dissension in the community.                              Proverbs 6: 16-19

I think most of us believe we are better than what’s described here as hateful/detestable to God.

 However, when I look at the list carefully, I am convicted.  Have I shed innocent blood?  Not literally, but whose hearts have bled because of something I said, a time when I failed to speak up to defend them, something I failed to do on their behalf?  I can be honest to a fault, but if I pass on a bit of gossip, might I not prove to be a false witness?  If I fail to correct something I know to be false, isn’t that being a false witness?   Can a lying tongue be one where truth is not spoken, as much as where untruths are spoken?  I don’t rush into evil – oh no, not I.  But what about sitting and listening to gossip and doing nothing to stop it?  My feet may not be rushing, but I’m still deep in evil.  And then there are those haughty eyes.  What are haughty eyes?  I do try to treat people in a loving, kind way – but how often do I look down on someone for whatever reason?  How often do I elevate myself over another?  When do I displace God by standing in judgment over others?

Then there’s the break-down between six hateful things and seven detestable things.  Why did Solomon do that?  Why not just seven things that God hates?  Look at the seventh – a person who stirs up dissension in the community.  How many of us are guilty of that?  We disagree about something, dislike something, are told “no” when we want a “yes,” and we gather folks around us to complain to and convince to join us in our dissent.  I’ve know pastors driven from their churches by the machinations of a very few in their congregations.  These same few frequently do so over and over again.  They are known as pastor-killers.  But one has to wonder about the majority of the congregation who do nthing to stop them.  Where are their voices?  Where was my voice when I heard someone complaining, gossiping, and stirring up dissension?  What was Jesus’ prayer for his followers?  He prayed for unity.  He prayed they wouldn’t fall prey to that 7^th detestable thing.

But, there are opposites to these detestable ways.  While there are seven things the LORD detests, there are also ten things that He loves.  May we continually strive to move away from the seven evils to the ten things He desires.

Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on your holy mountain?

Those whose walk is blameless, who do what is righteous, who speak the truth from their hearts; who have no slander on their tongues, who do their neighbors no wrong, who cast no slur on others; who despise those whose ways are vile but honor whoever fears the LORD; who keep their oaths even when it hurts; who lend money to the poor without interest and do not accept bribes against the innocent.

Whoever does these things will never be shaken.                                              Psalm 15

Prayer:  Lord, help me to move away from those things you detest and help me to be as you would have me be, that I may do and radiate those things you love.

 Emily Montfort

Outward Appearances

When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.  The LORD does not look at the things human beings look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”                1Samuel 16: 6-7

 God was sending Samuel to pick out a king to replace King Saul.   When Samuel arrived at Jesse’s place and saw his son Eliab, he assumed he was the one.  I would guess that Eliab was tall, looked confident and competent, and was probably good-looking.   He “looked the part” in Samuel’s mind.  But Samuel was wrong.

How often do we do the same thing?  How often do we judge (misjudge) others by appearances? 

When my boys were in middle school, I commented to their Sunday School teacher that I was glad he was their teacher that year because my older son was learning that he could relate to and like a nerd.  Now, that was said to my friend in a loving way, and he took it as such.  For one thing, he knew my boys and knew what I was talking about.  While he was teaching them about God and Christ, they were also learning to look past the “obvious” to see what was deeper.   They were thrust into a situation where they were learning to not judge quickly, but get to know someone before deciding whether or not they could relate.

While their judgments were based on what they saw as a negative, positive judgments can also be wrong, as was Samuel’s.  People who “speak our language” about religion, politics, race relations, values, sports, etc. are often perceived to be better than they might really be.  People put on the face they want you to see, speak the words they think you want to hear, behave in ways to bring themselves praise.   But that may all be a façade, with a rotting heart behind it.   Religious leaders, sports figures, movie/TV stars, others – we set them on pedestals and idolize them as if they are bigger than life.  Note the word “idol” in idolize.  Then we are stunned when they fall from grace.  Unlike God, we see their masks, not their true selves.  When judging others, either positively or negatively, we need to turn to God to help us see them as he sees them.

And what about ourselves?  How often do we put on a show for others?  How often do we behave one way in public and another at home?  How often do we say what we think others want to hear, rather than what we really believe or feel?  How often do we fail to speak up when faced with something we know in our hearts is wrong, rather than face ridicule or opposition?  How often, fearing ridicule or rejection, do we pretend to be what we are not? What facades do we put up?  

No matter how hard we try to appear to be better than we are, God sees our innermost being and knows the truth.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  So, again, we need to turn to him, honestly asking him to show us how he sees us – both where we need to turn and change (i.e., repent) and where we judge ourselves too harshly and just need to keep on keeping on.   We need to work on removing our facades and being real.  But we can’t do that on our own.  We need God to help us see as he sees, whether we are looking at others or at ourselves, and to help us change accordingly.

Prayer: Abba, Father, please open my eyes to help me see others as you see them, and then to treat them as you would have them treated.  Open my eyes to see myself as you see me, then help me to change to be as you would have me be. 

Emily Montfort

Proverbs 3: 1-6

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, and they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Proverbs 3:1-2

I was blessed with wonderful parents. Perfect, no, but wonderful, yes. They may not have approved of all I said or did, but I never for a moment doubted that they approved of me. I always knew I was loved. But just as important were the values they taught me, their continual attempts to keep me on the straight and narrow.

My father may well have been the most honorable man I’ve ever met. While he tried to teach me that there were various shades to any issue, the fact is that no one would ever have been able to talk him into doing anything he believed was wrong. While I certainly was not exempt from trouble, the fact is that I’d have gotten into a lot more trouble if the thought of him being disappointed in me wasn’t so much greater than any fear of punishment. And, though he has been gone for many years, I think I still view life and right vs. wrong through his eyes, as much from who he was as from anything he said.

In addition, I had a mother who was loving and giving (to a fault). I don’t think there were any acquaintances in her life – everyone she met became a friend. She had the ability to see good in everyone. While her tendency to say whatever popped into her mind could be embarrassing, her loving nature could never be doubted.

I have been blessed with contentment. Generally I am just about always contented with my lot in life. Granted, I do quote Tevya (“Would it spoil some great eternal plan if I were rich”) but I don’t dwell on what I lack and do appreciate what I do have. I am well aware that whatever I may lack materially is more than compensated for by the priceless things I do have. I think that, too, is a gift from my parents.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.   Proverbs 3:3-4

As I passed through my teen years, I so frequently heard from friends about how much they wished their parents were more like mine. So many friends (of both me and my brothers) spent more time at our home than their own, because it was a place where they found the love, support, help and acceptance they hungered for and missed at home.

For those who weren’t blessed with parents like mine, the first two verses may not ring true. But they can still certainly claim and follow verses 3-4, even when loving feelings don’t seem to come naturally. Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.” So when you don’t feel loved or loving, read verses 3-4 and claim them as your own. Act as if things were different from how you feel, and before long you will find that they actually are different. The more that you act loved and loving, the more you’ll find that you really do live in a loving world.

Which brings us to the next two verses, which are far better known than those preceding them and are certainly true, no matter what sort of home you come from:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.   Proverbs 3:5-6

Emily Montfort

Honeycombs

Honeycombs

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.  Prov. 16:24

The perverse stir up dissension, and gossips separate friends.  Prov. 16:28

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.  Prov. 12:18

The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.  Prov. 15:4

Someone once asked me why it took me so long to convert.  My response was that I couldn’t accept Christianity until I could separate it from Christians.  What’s really sad about that is that It was true.  I found too many of them to be narrow-minded, hard-hearted, and judgmental.  Does that sound judgmental?  It was.  I was judging them as harshly as I found them to be judging others.  I heard talk about love, but I saw criticism, gossiping, stereotyping.  They were loving of their own, but excluded others.   When I read the New Testament, I found Jesus to be caring and inclusive.  He showed love and compassion to the unlovable, touched the untouchable, welcomed the outcasts.   I wondered why his followers weren’t more like him.  

When I was in college and debating religion with friends in my dorm, I caused a bit of a ruckus.  Most of these girls had never had anyone challenge their beliefs and didn’t know quite how to handle it.  So they frequently went to the chaplain to get answers to my questions and challenges.  When he and I finally met, he shared with me that one of the girls came to him with a real crisis of faith because of me.  She was a pastor’s kid and told him that she had always been told that I would go to hell because I didn’t accept Christ.  But, she told him, she found me to be more Christian in how I treated people, and the things I did for others, than most of her Christian friends.  And if God would deny heaven to me but open it to them, she wasn’t sure that was a God she wanted to worship.   Fortunately, he helped her over that bump in the road.  But she had a point.  All too often faith is professed better than it is lived.  And the outside world sees how we are more than what we say.  Sadly, though, it frequently is what we say and how we say it that causes the dichotomy between what we profess and how others see us.

I once did a study, looking at how many times sexual sin was mentioned in the Bible; then how many time the wagging or perverse tongue was mentioned.  It wasn’t even close.  Apparently God knew how much trouble we have with our tongues, because he sure kept pointing it out to us…throughout both the Old Testament and the New Testament.   Put-downs, gossip, sarcasm, back-handed compliments, criticism, back-biting….so many ways we find to cut and crush and cause dissent.  And sadly, when we do this, we convince ourselves that we’re doing it to help the others improve.   I believe that hurtful words leave longer-lasting wounds and worse scarring than physical abuse.  I also believe it is a sin as much as adultery or sexual perversions, and God probably weeps along with the victims of our tongues.  But the opposite is also true.  We can lift others up, help them cope, strengthen them with our words.

Prayer:  Abba, Father, guide me and help me make honeycombs as I interact with those that I come into contact with, wherever and whoever that may be.  Help me be aware of my words and use them to build others up, not tear them down.  Make my words sweet to the soul, unifying and healing.

Emily Montfort

Thoughts for Mothers Day

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.  Prov. 31: 28-31

The book of Proverbs ends with this passage.  King Lemuel’s mother admonished him to lead a sober, clean, caring, upright life.  He honored her by describing the woman of noble character, the woman he saw her to be.  He describes a hard-working, diligent, caring, generous, strong, wise, dignified, capable woman.  Wow!

I used to have a poem from a mother to her son that included a line to the effect that the world would judge her by how he was.  I love that.  I’ve often said that, whatever mistakes I’ve made in life, my sons are not among them.  They’ve grown to be capable, loving, honorable men…men I’d want to know even if they weren’t my sons.  They both are terrific dads and that’s reflected in how their children are, too.  So, apparently, I did o.k. in raising them.  Their lives do honor me.

But what about the rest of my life?  Is that praiseworthy?  I want God to smile when we’re face to face and say “well done.”  I want to live the kind of life He has called me to live.

King Lemuel says of the noble woman that “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hand to the needy.”  31:20 And, “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.” 31:28 

That’s the kind of woman I want to be.  I want the lives that my life touches to be better for that touch.  I want to help bring peace, not discord; comfort in times of grief; God’s truth and values in a land where both are diminishing.

When we open our hearts to others and our eyes to see them as He sees them, we truly are able to reflect Him to all we meet.

Prayer: Lord, my children are grown.  But I want to offer all I meet the accepting love and support of a loving mother.  With Your help, beloved Lord, I want to be a woman of noble character, a woman who brings a smile to Your face.

Emily Montfort

Fear Not

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.    Isaiah 4:10

As for those who come to me and hear my words and put them into practice, I will show you what they are like.  They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house, and could not shake it, because it was well built. But those who hear my words and do not put them into practice are like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.  The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete    Luke 6: 47-49

When I lived in White Plains, a tornado struck our neighborhood.  Fortunately, we were not in its path and only a few houses were damaged.  What struck me, though, as I walked through the neighborhood to assess the damage, were the trees.  Huge trees, strewn every which way, plucked up from the ground and dropped back down.  The spread of their roots was enormous, but apparently their depth in the earth was shallow.  However, during another wind storm, we had a tree in our yard snap and break.  The break was over 6 feet above the ground.  But the bottom of the tree remained rooted in the ground, for its root system obviously ran deep.

The same holds true for us.  God tells us not to fear or be dismayed.  But for that to really work in our lives, we need to build a foundation that’s solid…our roots must run deep.  Otherwise, when the slings and arrows of life strike us, we’ll succumb to them; we won’t claim the promise. Our faith will at best falter; may well disappear completely, and we will sink.

I read about two incidents with much in common, but with important aspects not in common.   In the first case, one brother fell from a fishing boat in the ocean.  His brother, seeing him go over, rushed to the side and saw him clutching the side of the boat, struggling to hang on.  He ran and got a pole and lowered it to his brother calling to him to grab the pole so he could pull him up.  But his brother was afraid to let go, wouldn’t grab the pole, eventually lost his grip, dropped down into the ocean, and was lost.  In the other incident, one brother slipped off the trail while .  hiking in the mountains, but managed to grab some roots that kept him from plunging to his death.  His brother rushed to the edge, lay down and extended his arms towards his brother, calling to him to grab hold so he could pull him up.  At first the brother hesitated, then he lunged for his brother’s arms, caught hold and hung on while his brother slowly pulled back and brought him up the hill to a point where he could climb up.  One trusted and lived; the other didn’t and died.

We may never face such a life/death situation.  But we will face problems, disease, broken relationships, etc.  How we respond to those situations will depend on our faith.  If we truly believe that God is holding us up, we’ll hang on and weather the storm, leaning on him for support as we go through it.  But in order to claim that promise and hang on to it, we have to have built that strong foundation first….based on how well we know him.  And how well we know him will be based on learning about him through his Word, through seeing his hand in experiences we, or others, go through, through prayers answered.  Our foundations are based on how well we experience him day after day.

Prayer:  Abba, Father, Lord God Almighty.  I thank you for your loving care, both when I recognize it and when I don’t.  Help me to grow ever closer in knowledge of and relationship with you, so that when the torrents strike, my strong foundation will not crumble and I will be able to hang onto your supporting hand.

Emily Montfort