Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Go Climb A Tree

I can’t see much right now.  It’s one of those times in my life where it seems like I can’t see what the Lord is doing and my only choices are to trust and to worship.  And it can be a challenge to trust and to worship when you feel isolated and shrouded in darkness.  We are always taught to press through these times, forget about what’s going on and focus on the Lord and what He has done in the past.  We pull out those platitudes that while true are quoted to placate us in times of trouble.  The ones like, “God is never late, He’s always on time!” or “He did it before, He will do it again!”  Like I said, true, but not always what you want to hear when you’re so crowded by troubles and issues that you can’t even see a glimpse of the hope that you know can and will deliver you.

At times like these, you gotta just climb a tree.  I loved to climb trees when I was younger although I didn’t climb to many growing up in the Bronx.  And I never went very high when I did because I was always afraid of heights.  But when I did get a chance, I would clamber up as far as I dared to get a different perspective of the world below.  So that’s what I’m going to do now, climb a tree.

In Luke 19, Verse 1-10 Zacchaeus the tax collector climbed a tree because he was too short to see Jesus through the crowd.  Zacchaeus was so determined to see the Lord that he even ran ahead of the crowd and climbed the tree.  And Jesus saw him in the tree, called him down by name and came to his home blessing him with salvation. Zacchaeus’s entire life was changed because he climbed the tree. He changed his outlook on life and changed his actual behavior because he met Jesus when he climbed a tree.


Well, I can’t literally climb a tree and wait for Jesus to pass by.  But what I can do is go higher and change my perspective about what is going on. I can believe that Jesus will see me when he passes by.  Going higher simply means that no matter how I feel, I should worship more, I should trust more, I should read my word more, I should serve Him even more.  I have to change my perspective and trust that at the end of this trial I will be changed.  I am going to hang out up high so I can see Jesus when He passes by and most importantly because I’m hanging in a tree up ahead I believe He will look up, call my name and my life will be changed forever.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

When The Walls Have Fallen

Together we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ himself.  Ephesians 2:20, The New Living Translation

I love the book of Nehemiah… when I think about how he worked to rebuild the walls of his beloved Jerusalem despite opposition, oppression and a lack of resources I feel encouraged.  It’s been a rough winter and everything that I thought I knew, all the places I thought I was going turned out to be wrong… We have been sidetracked, wandering, displaced and knocking on every door we knew to knock on.  And in one of those times that are maddening to the believer, the Lord has been pretty silent.

I’ve tried to worship while I wait for answers.  I tried to explain to people that sometimes all you can do is wait on the Lord and trust that he will answer in his own good time.  But sometimes doubt creeps in and it cripples, and stirs up bitterness and it finds you wiping tears from your eyes as you try to go forward despite not being exactly sure where you are going.

So where are we? We are waiting, we are rebuilding, we are shoring up some things that the Lord has shown us are important to our character.  The walls have fallen, but the chief cornerstone still stands, and on this rock we will go forward and rebuild.

Dr. Nay’s Random Life Lesson for April
When it looks like the walls have all come down, remember the chief cornerstone is still in place – and on Christ, everything can be rebuilt.
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