Hard Truths Can Become Words of Comfort. Isaiah 40, Matthew 6:20.

Sunday afternoons will often find me enjoying my new riding mower. Last week I was mowing a maze into a pasture and wishing I had small children around to appreciate it. But it was just me and acres of partially cut grass. A cold front was coming in and every time I turned the mower to the west, the north wind sandblasted me with the dust of a million grains of shredded grass.

I found a source online that says an acre contains 156 million blades of grass. Think about this: which is more important? Me or a single blade of grass? Can you even compare the two? Yes. Believe it or not, God finds the two lives comparable.

It is a hard truth—but true, nonetheless—that no human life is really that big a deal. Human life and culture is all that we see, and we are deceived into thinking nothing matters more than SIGNIFICANCE. Young people want to be famous, rich, and powerful. You idolize great men of history like Washington and Churchill, or titans of industry like Rockefeller, or world changers like Edison and Einstein, or writers and thinkers like Shakespeare and C.S. Lewis.

But this is the truth: YOU’RE NOT THAT BIG A DEAL. 

And you know what else?

THOSE FAMOUS PEOPLE YOU ADMIRE? ALSO NOT THAT BIG A DEAL.

God offers words of comfort when He says a human life is like a single blade of grass—it is short-lived and hardly noticed.

“Comfort, comfort My people … All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field … The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever” Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 40:6-8.  (See also Ecclesiastes.)

He goes on to say “the nations are like a drop in a bucket and are considered as a speck of dust in the scales” and the people of earth are like grasshoppers in the field, Isaiah 40:15; 40:22.  How can that be?  How is it that EVERYTHING we have ever done on earth is small and meaningless? Because we have never seen the infinite God who made the world.  If He is in your story, then OF COURSE you are as small as a speck of dust. And you can take comfort in that: you are not responsible for the universe, world peace, saving the whales, or actually much of anything. You have one or two tiny responsibilities to your family and community.  And guess what? God is with you.  He matters.  And He can make your life matter.

“Do not fear for I am with you … I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will hold on to you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10. 

Do you feel lost in the crowd? Do you feel like your life does not matter? Welcome to normal.  Walk with God, holding His hand, and keep storing up treasures in heaven.  In heaven the things you have done on earth will matter forever.

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves cannot break in and steal” Matthew 6:20.

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PRAY!  2 Kings 20:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Have you ever thought ‘Oh, well, it’s God’s will—God is going to do what God is going to do’? 

Are you tempted to think prayer won’t change anything, so why bother—as if God has already decided what He is going to do?

THAT’S FALSE!

What God has DECIDED is that PRAYER WORKS!  What He has decided is that He will be moved—PERSUADED—by our prayers.

You know what God’s will is?  GOD’S WILL IS THAT HE WILL CHANGE HIS MIND WHEN WE PRAY.

“In those days Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah came and said, ‘This is what the LORD says, ‘Put your affairs in order, for you are about to die. You will not recover.’  “Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Please Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases you.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly” 2 Kings 20:1-3.

Imagine!  God pronounces a sentence of death: “You are about to die.”  But Hezekiah prayed anyway—and it was not even an impressive prayer, was it?

“Isaiah had not yet gone out of the inner courtyard when the word of the Lord came to him: ‘Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of My people, ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: ‘I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you…. I will add 15 years to your life” vv.4-6.

So God pronounces the imminent death of King Hezekiah. Hezekiah prays a quick prayer and weeps bitterly. And what happened?

GOD CHANGED HIS MIND!  Imagine that! 

“Pray without ceasing—never give up!” 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

God, remind us that PRAYER WORKS—that Your will is to respond to our prayers!

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Does Prayer Really Work? Isaiah 38:1-5; Matthew 7:7-11.

Have you ever doubted prayer? Consider the story of Hezekiah—it is told in THREE books of the Bible: Isaiah, 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles.

“Hezekiah became terminally ill. The prophet Isaiah came to him and said, ‘Put your affairs in order, for you are about to die.’ Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases You.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ‘Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. I am going to add 15 years to your life.” Isaiah 38:1-5.

I’m telling you! GOD ANSWERS PRAYER. I have seen it. Sometimes He says “No.” Or even “Wait.” But often God says, “YES.”

Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7.

What do you need or want that you have not asked for? ASK! What if Christmas were coming and your children could not think of anything they wanted? It would be disappointing because parents LOVE to give their children good gifts, right? God loves to do the same!

Jesus said, “If you then know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give what is good to those that ask Him?” Matthew 7:11. God LONGS to bless you! Why don’t you ask?

James 4:2 says, “You have not because you ASK not.” So why aren’t you asking? And if you can’t think of things to ask for, think harder! Make a list! What do you need from God? Write it down and ask Him to bless you. He is coming to you with a tractor-trailer full of blessings—and you show up with a coin purse to carry them home in? God LOVES to bless you, but you have to step up your game and START ASKING. Ask God for big things!

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NOBODY’S PERFECT. Isaiah 38:17.

Noah feared God and led his family through the end of the world.  Later his sons found him passed out drunk. God called King David a man after his own heart, yet David committed adultery and murder.

In spite of Biblical evidence to the contrary, Christians tend to see everyone like characters in a western movie: good guys wear white hats, bad guys wear black hats, and everyone must pick a side.

Trump is seen by many as pure good (in spite of a long record of evils), but Trump’s Chief Medical Advisor, Anthony Fauci, is seen as pure evil (in spite of Trump’s faith in him). Such a black and white view is wrong. People are not all good or all bad. Consider King Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was a good king. He “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 18:3. Hezekiah abolished idol worship and he “trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that THERE WAS NONE LIKE HIM AMONG ALL THE KINGS OF JUDAH AFTER HIM, NOR AMONG THOSE WHO WERE BEFORE HIM.  For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments … and the Lord was with him; wherever he went, he prospered.” 2 Kings 18:4-7.

Hezekiah sounds like the perfect king.  He encouraged his people and prayed them through an attack from the King of Assyria. In times of national crisis, King Hezekiah seems to have done everything right.

But Hezekiah could also be self-centered. When Isaiah came to him with a message from God that the ill king should “get his affairs in order” because he was about to die, King Hezekiah turned to the wall and wept bitterly, praying for God to give him more time.  God answered his prayer and Isaiah returned minutes later to tell him he would be healed and live another 15 years.  The king was relieved, of course, and admitted his selfishness: “it was for my own welfare that I had such great bitterness” Isaiah 38:17. 

Hezekiah knows he has been spared. But during those remaining years, his focus on himself and his accomplishments continued.  When the king of Babylon sent him a gift, Hezekiah gave the Babylonians “the grand tour,” showing them every treasure in Israel. Isaiah rebuked him, saying one day everything he showed off would be carried away to Babylon, and the king’s own descendants would be made eunuchs to serve in the Babylonian palace.  How did Hezekiah respond? Tear his clothes? Shave his beard? Pour ashes on his head? No. 

“Then Hezekiah said, ‘The word of the Lord is good,’ for he thought, ‘At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime’” 2 Kings 20:19. 

What an incredible example of a man thinking only of himself!  Yet Hezekiah remains one of the great kings. The point is, no one is ALL GOOD or ALL BAD. People you love will fail you. People you despise will surprise you by doing the right thing sometimes. 

God, deliver us from simplistic thinking that would divide everyone into black hats and white hats. Remind us that the best among us is a sinner saved by grace.

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Good Leaders and Bad Leaders. 2 Kings 19:15-19.

Leadership is not about power or titles or money or fame or working with important people. It’s not about YOU. 

Leadership means leading others through challenges. When a plane crashes in the jungle, the leader walks in front, helping survivors find the way to civilization. The leader of a business is involved every day, working alongside employees and casting a vision for them about where the enterprise is headed. The same is true for principals and pastors, prison wardens and hospital administrators, congressmen, senators, and bank presidents.

Good leaders roll up their sleeves every day to tackle the biggest problems their people face.

Bad leaders pamper themselves with “the good life” and show up only when people demand it.

King Hezekiah was a good leader. When the King of Assyria threatened to destroy Judah with his army of nearly 200,000 soldiers, the people were terrified.  King Hezekiah’s response demonstrates five traits we should look for in our leaders:

(1) King Hezekiah encouraged his people.  “Don’t be afraid or discouraged, … for there are more with us than with him. He has only human strength, but we have Yahweh our God to help us and to fight our battles’ so the people relied on the words of King Hezekiah” 2 Chronicles 32:7-8.

(2) King Hezekiah tackled the problem personally.  Hezekiah prayed. “Then Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: ‘Lord God of Israel who is enthroned above the cherubim. You are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone. You made the heavens and the earth … Hear the words that Sennacherib has sent to mock the living God … Now, Lord our God, please save us from his hand so that all the earth may know that You alone are the Lord God. You alone’” 2 Kings 19:15-19.

(3) King Hezekiah enlisted not only the help of Isaiah, but God Himself. Good leaders know when they need outside help.

(4) King Hezehiah stayed the course—he stayed involved until the problem was solved.  “That night the angel of the Lord went and struck down 185,000 soldiers in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” 2 Kings 19:35. “So the Lord saved Hezekiah and all the people … He gave them rest on every side” 2 Chronicles 32:22.

(5) Finally, King Hezekiah remained humble.  He knew victory came from God, not from himself. “God humbles the spirit of leaders” Psalm 76:12.

There is an election coming up.  Vote for godly people who demonstrate these five traits of a good leader.

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OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE. Isaiah 33:14-22.

Imagine a campfire—you stack a few logs, light it up, and then feed it wood for hours. As soon as you stop feeding it, it begins to shrink down to nothing. It may rage right now, but will be ashes in an hour, right? 

But imagine the same campfire with an 18-wheeler truck tire on top. Once the tire is engulfed, you are looking at a CONSUMING FIRE—you can stop feeding it! When the Brazos overflowed its banks, farmers in Waller County lost hundreds of cattle. What to do about the devastation and the stench?  Truck tires—place one tire under each carcass. A single tire from an 18-wheeler burns hot enough and long enough to take the flesh off a half-ton animal. Now THAT is a consuming fire.

God calls Himself a CONSUMING FIRE. He swallows up His enemies. But if you are righteous, you have nothing to fear from the fires of His holiness.

“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?  The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes to avoid evil. He will dwell on the heights… his food provided, his water assured. Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. You will see a vast land. You will no longer fear the barbarians… Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture… for the Majestic One, our Lord, will be there, a place of rivers and broad streams…. He will save us” Isaiah 33:14-22.

Moses said “Our God is a consuming fire,” and the author of Hebrews repeated it, encouraging us toward proper worship: “Let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God with reverence and awe, ‘for our God is a consuming fire.’” Hebrews 12:29.

God teach us to love You—AND—to fear You. Burn from us the things that do not please you.

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DO YOU WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE? Isaiah 35:4.

I do, at least a little. [This was written in August of 2020.]

Not only do we have this virus and the hysteria surrounding it—and its continued impact on schools, churches, jobs, the election, and the morale of every American. But we also have the Antifa nuts burning cities, using George Floyd’s death as an excuse to destroy EVERYTHING, both good and bad. And many, many other activist groups spreading half-truths, misinformation, and outright lies. The governor of California is talking about secession (it will never happen, but it shows how crazy people are), and China has publicly spoken about its plan to take over the world….

BUT—God is in control. He is.

“For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, He will save us” Isaiah 33:22.

“Say to the cowardly: ‘Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God; vengeance is coming” Isaiah 35:4.

When Israel was threatened by Assyria, King Hezekiah said:

“Be strong and courageous! …There are more with us than with him. He has only human strength, but we have Yahweh our God to fight our battles!” 2 Chronicles 32:7-8.

That’s us, right? We have nothing to fear, not illness, job losses, or economic or national ruin. We have God on our side! 

And guess what God did to the Assyrian army after Israel put its trust in the Lord?

“The Lord sent His angel who annihilated every brave warrior, leader, and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria [185,000 men!]. So the king went home in disgrace.” 2 Chronicles 32:21.

Pray. God, we trust You with the days ahead. Bless our cities and our nation with wise, godly leaders. Bless our health and protect us from illness. Bless our schools, colleges, businesses, and economy. Lord, turn American hearts back to You! Humble us. Revive us. Forgive us and make us a Godly nation. May the name of Jesus Christ be lifted up and glorified all over this land. God bless us, and God bless America!

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*Pictured: Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro.

1 (800) TAX-1040: CUSTOMER SERVICE AND HOLD MUSIC. Isaiah 31:17.

Yesterday I spent 45 minutes on hold, waiting for a customer service representative to pick up my call to the IRS. Finally a man answered, told me his name and agent number, and then we were disconnected.

Though I did not want to, I called back. After a 30-minute wait, a woman answered and she handled my questions with kindness and competence. (The IRS is not a pleasant entity, but the accountants who take the calls are by far the most professional customer service agents in American life.) All told, I spent nearly 90 minutes on the phone, most of that time on hold. Near the end of our conversation, the agent asked if she could put me on a brief hold.

“Yes, ma’am. I’d love to hear that hold music again.”

She laughed. “You know, I’ve never actually heard that music!”

“Well, if you haven’t heard it, that means you’ve got your life together.”

If you pay your taxes on time, you may never have to call the IRS. But if you find yourself owing more than you can pay, perhaps you too can spend an hour listening to hold music at 1-800-TAX-1040. (It’s a clever number.)

“The result of righteousness will be PEACE. The effect of righteousness will be QUIET CONFIDENCE forever” Isaiah 31:17.

Most of life is as simple as managing money (it is not easy, but it is simple): small indiscretions create simple problems. Bigger failures create complicated problems.

Debt is not sinful, but it sure can disturb the peace.

Overspending is like overeating—it is an expensive habit that creates more problems than it solves. Reduce your consumption of food and your life will be more peaceful. Reduce your consumption of possessions and you will find even more peace.

If you have worry, anxiety, fear, dread, or just too much stress: live RIGHTEOUSLY. Live righteously, simplify, and minimize.

“The effect of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever” Isaiah 31:17.

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WHEN YOU CRITICIZE YOURSELF, YOU CRITICIZE GOD. Isaiah 29:16.

What teenager hasn’t looked in the mirror and hated some aspect of his appearance?  Even supermodels do it, and you can tell they have spent way too much time analyzing every detail. One article notes these self-proclaimed flaws—Tyra Banks says her calves are too small and her forehead too big. Coca Rocha says her teeth are too big, Karlie Kloss says she is too tall (6’1”), Iman says her neck is too long, and on and on.

I once wrote a series of fake news headlines.  I still laugh about this one:

Tulsa.—CARRIE UNDERWOOD VISITS SUPPORT GROUP FOR “WOMEN WHO WISHED THEY LOOKED LIKE CARRIE UNDERWOOD”: Star points out 25 flaws in her appearance, inspiring group to change its name to “Why Do I Even Bother?”

If stars and supermodels are unhappy with their looks, how are the rest of us supposed to feel? 

I’ll tell you: we should feel contentment, trusting our Creator.  After all, who am I to find fault with His artistry?  Perhaps the supermodels don’t know God and how much He loves them. But I know His love and His creativity and I know He is the greatest artist in the universe. (Have you seen this world, the ocean, a sunset?) God knows what He is doing. If your appearance does not fit into our society’s narrow definition of beauty, then you need to appreciate God’s love of variety.  God loves short people, tall people, dark people, light people, heavy people, skinny people, athletic people, awkward people, articulate people, tongue-tied people—and this list could go on and on. 

GOD MUST LOVE VARIETY—LOOK AT THE PEOPLE GROUPS AROUND THE WORLD.–We come in all shapes and sizes.

Here’s a syllogism:

He makes all things beautiful.

I am a thing.

Therefore, He makes Me beautiful.

“How can what is made say about its maker, ‘He didn’t make me’? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, ‘He doesn’t know what He is doing’?” Isaiah 29:16.

God loves you. God made you. God believes you are beautiful.

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P.S. Notice that Norman Rockwell included himself in the painting above. I love that.

A VOICE BEHIND YOU. Isaiah 30:18-21.

Today I found myself walking behind a tiny woman on a sidewalk.  She was not even half my size. She walked slowly and I was getting closer and closer.  I did not want to alarm her, but—she was really slow.  She had her dog there for “protection,” a poodle that would fit in her purse.  I spoke as I came alongside her:

“I promise I’m not following you.”

She turned with a look of shock.  I thought she must have heard my steps, even seen my shadow.  But when I spoke, it startled her—and seemed to offend her.  I passed her and hurried on.

Not all voices from behind are scary. Children learning to ride a bike expect to hear their parents running along behind them, shouting instructions.  The same is true with coaches on the field.  And God is our parent and coach encouraging us from behind—if only we would listen.

“The Lord is waiting to show you MERCY, and is rising up to show you COMPASSION…. He will show favor to you at the sound of your cry. When He hears, He will answer you…. Your Teacher will not hide Himself any longer. Your eyes will see your Teacher, and whenever you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: ‘THIS IS THE WAY.  WALK IN IT’”  Isaiah 30:18-21.

Do you need a word from the Lord?  Do you need to know God’s will or God’s direction? Seek Him in prayer.  And bring these promises to Him—talk to Him about these words.  Remind Him that He is waiting to show mercy and compassion, that He promises an answer, and that your ears desperately need to hear His voice.

God, SHOW US THE WAY!!  TEACH US TO WALK IN IT.  We need to know Your will!

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