Monthly Archives: November 2018

"The Lord is my shepherd." Psalm 23:1

Do you know what to do if you get lost while riding a horse?

Neither did I until I heard this story from an acquaintance.

Alicia is an avid and experienced rider. She and a friend took their own horses to an unfamiliar piece of land. It was many acres, with rolling hills, woods, and water. All the elements to make for a fine morning excursion.

After riding for more than an hour, they became disoriented. After a few uncertain efforts to find the right way they realized they could be wandering around for quite a while. At this point, Alicia's friend said, "drop the reins." They both did, and the horses confidently made their way back to the barn.

"Drop the reins."

Life is full of unfamiliar territory. We often find ourselves in situations where we simply don't know how to make things better, how to help someone else, or how to solve a thorny problem. In fact, many times our efforts to arrange and control matters and people, even benevolently, results in more chaos.

What do we do then? Usually we grip the reins of life more tightly, jerking this way and that. Certain that if we just increase our frenetic efforts then somehow everything will turn out all right. After all, "I am the master of my fate! The captain of my soul!"

Not really.

One of the most uncomfortable discoveries in life is realizing how little control you have over so many things, including careers, health, children, spouses, etc. In fact, if it's on the outside of you, then you need to forget controlling it.

I've too often wrangled life, sometimes getting my way, but not feeling any lasting peace from all the battles. Only when I let God lead do I find my way home. When I drop the reins means I stop worrying so much, and I start trusting more. I accept that God is in charge of my life and this world. Not me.

The Bible, as it often does, presents us with a beautiful paradox. On the one hand we are to ask, seek, and knock. We are to strive, pursue, and build. But we are also to trust, abide, wait, and lose. Jesus' most common invitation to disciples is "follow me." A follower doesn't lead. A follower follows. If the Lord is my shepherd, then I relinquish the right to determine which pasture I want Him to lead me to.

Some of my golden dreams have tarnished. Some people have let me down. I'm not as strong, wise, or influential as I might have been. But I've discovered that my desperate wanting inevitably led me to disappointment. When I want, I get lost. When I let God lead, I do not want. I drop the reins, and He leads me home.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis November 30, 2018

"Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

A few years ago while going through a period of uncertainty and fear I called a good friend of mine, Bill Hamm, and said simply, "Bill, I'm just afraid." He replied, "Terry, God's got this."

God's got this.

The best theology is simple, and you can't get much simpler than "God's got this." Those words at that time allayed my fear, renewed my trust, and calmed my heart. The outworking of that particular "this" still took some time, but "God's got this" reminded me then and reminds me today that in all the truly important ways, God is in control of my life and this world. Because of that, I can relax in the rhythms of His grace and take it easy.

I'm writing this on Thanksgiving Day, a day on which we are to particularly remember that the spiritual discipline of thanksgiving is grounded in a fundamental trust in God's providence. We look back and see how God's gracious hand has guided us. We look to the present and realize that we are surrounded by a bounty that is truly astounding by any reasonable standard. We look to the future with an abiding trust that as God has acted in the past, He will act in the future.

And that covers every present and future "this."

What is your "this" today? What is the event, relationship or circumstance that has stolen or threatened your peace? As a prayer and confession of faith say quietly "God's got this."

I don't know that we ever actually articulate the words, but many times we live with an attitude of "my 'this' is too big, too frightening, too entrenched. It keeps returning. The solution can't be as simple as "'God's got this.'"

As with so many deep and abiding truths, we tend to believe them except when we really need to embrace or apply them. If your "this" really is huge and overwhelming doesn't that mean you really need to say "God's got this" instead of dismissing or neglecting it?

Lincoln declared a national holiday of Thanksgiving in 1863. You don't have to be a history buff to recall what was going on in our country in 1863. Civil War (could there be a more oxymoronic phrase?!?) ravaged the country. The outcome was in doubt and the future of our nation hung in the balance. Lincoln realized something we need to remember, thanksgiving is most necessary when it seems most difficult.

"God's got this" is not conditional. It goes right to the heart of what Paul meant when he wrote, "Be thankful in all circumstances." Not some circumstances. Not pleasant circumstances. Not mildly challenging circumstances. ALL circumstances.

A final observation. Note that Paul did not say be thankful "for" all circumstances. Some of your circumstances are terrible beyond description. You don't need to be thankful for those. But even in those extreme circumstances be thankful to God. He is with you. He'll take care of you. God's will for you is that you let God be God.

Think now of your challenging "this." Now say it: God's got this.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis November 22, 2018

"The Lord made a covenant with us at Horeb…" Deuteronomy 5:2

I wrote last week that God always speaks, but He usually whispers. However, you may be in a situation where you want a rushing mighty wind not a gentle breeze. Earthquake, fire, and wind are preferable to the still small voice. You want His voice to be louder than the noise of your crisis.

In the Bible God sometimes does shout His answers. A divided sea, a healing, an exorcism, a stilled storm, a resurrection. It appears to happen all the time in Scripture. Why should today be different? What we don't realize is that between the pages of two miracles in the Bible may be months, years, decades, or more. People lived long stretches "in the meantime."

At the close of his life Moses addressed the people, and he began by reminding them of all the clear ways God had spoken to them. There were unmistakable events in their history that they had to remember during the quiet whispers of the meantime.

We're certainly not wrong to want something clear and concrete where we can say "THAT was God!" I believe God does provide those mountain-top-clarity moments and then we tend to forget them in the long periods of the meantime. We need to hold on to our sacred memories.

Isak Dinesan wrote a story about a man who became a rich author early in life. "Like most people to whom wealth and fame happen unexpectedly, the young man developed significant adjustment problems. He had written out of poverty about poverty, but now he was rich and felt isolated from the condition and the people who had given him his first book. He was estranged from his wife, from God and even from himself. He wandered all night in the streets of Amsterdam, trying to sort things out. He decided that he would never write again and gave away the manuscript of a new book he was writing.

"About at the end of his rope, he was considering suicide when suddenly, he felt overcome with the presence of God. God seemed to speak to him directly that he should write again, 'not for the public this time, or for the critics, but for me.' 'Can I be certain of that?' he asked. 'Not always' said the Lord. 'You will not be certain of it all the time. But I tell you now that it is so. You will have to hold on to that.'"

You've had a moment, at least, when you were sure. The clouds parted, the window opened, the noise died away, and you KNEW it was God. You have to hold on to that. To get you through the long stretches of God's whispers when fear and doubt are likely to set in, you have to hold to that.

When were you sure? What was the moment? Was it in a sanctuary? Your den? Driving in the car? In the words of a friend? A walk in a forest? God has spoken to you. Remember that moment right now. That was real. That was God. Your faith now is not in vain. You're right to believe. It's called perseverance, an important facet of faith.

Now hold on to that.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

November 11, 2018

"The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread." 1 Samuel 3:1

This verse is sad and familiar. God created Israel, and all of us, to be in close fellowship with Him. Yet a dreadful silence had descended upon the people. I wonder if they noticed?

It's not unusual to hear someone suggest that God is silent. In America's Four GodsPaul Froese and Christopher Bader write that one of the four main ways people view God is distant and uncommunicative. Interestingly, this group tends to have more years of education. I'll leave that little detail for a future edition of GraceWaves.

The Bible, however, uniformly presents God as constantly speaking. God's voice created the universe and all that is in it, except for man and woman whom He formed with His fingers from the dust of the earth (a powerful, personal, and deeply tender image). Psalm 19 marvelously claims that "day to day pours forth speech…their voice goes out through all the earth" (v. 2-4). The Gospel of John begins with the Word that was God and with God from the beginning before becoming flesh. The Word created all things and later became flesh so that He could speak to us first-hand.

The Hebrews conceived of the spoken word as a unit of sovereign energy, though they would not have used that kind of language. When it was spoken, something happened. This is why the idea of blessing is so important to them. Words somehow shape a destiny. So, if God is involved in our lives, then He must be speaking, for that is His nature.

Yet we can all relate to the feeling that God's word is a rarity in our lives. After all when was the last time you heard from God?

Yet he speaks, and that is a tremendously hopeful thought! The trouble with hearing Him lies in our reception, not His transmission. Strip away the barrage and clatter of the world, and the even louder noise in our heads, and you will hear God.

Our constant challenge is this: the world shouts, but God whispers. Always. Find a time to be still and you will hear the subtle sighs of God. Scripture, prayer, worship, the words of faithful friends, nature, etc. are all means through which God speaks. All of these "work" if we give them a chance.

Though this chapter of 1 Samuel begins with such despondency. it ends with plea and a promise that all of us can embrace this week. In the quiet watches of the night God called his name, and Samuel replied, "Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening."

Let that your prayer this week. Ask God to specifically address some area of struggle in your life. Then listen. The word of God is NOT rare these days. And a quick final assurance, God's speaking to you depends not at all upon your worthiness, but on your willingness. That is grace.

Grace,

Dr. Terry Ellis

November 4, 2018