Confessions of a Whiner

I have a confession to make. I'm a whiner. And like Alcoholics Anonymous members say, I'll always be one. But I'm recovering. I'm usually too proud to whine to other people. But God? Now that's different. "God, you've dealt me a short hand" "God, why do things have to be so hard for me?" "God, please please please change my difficult circumstances!"

But something happened a few years ago. I started reading the Psalms each morning, and they started to sink into my soul. As the months went on, my focus started switching from myself to God and his character traits.

David's Psalms could be considered whiney by some because he often laments his circumstances, but he had an entirely different attitude in the way he went about it and I think it is a key to his greatness. He always did it with his focus being on God and God's character traits. Read Psalm 41 below:

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor. The LORD rescues them in times of trouble. 2 The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity and rescues them from their enemies. 3 The LORD nurses them when they are sick and eases their pain and discomfort. 4 "O LORD," I prayed, "have mercy on me. Heal me, for I have sinned against you."

5 But my enemies say nothing but evil about me. "How soon will he die and be forgotten?" they ask. 6 They visit me as if they are my friends, but all the while they gather gossip, and when they leave, they spread it everywhere. 7 All who hate me whisper about me, imagining the worst for me. 8 "Whatever he has, it is fatal," they say. "He will never get out of that bed!" 9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely, the one who shared my food, has turned against me. 10 LORD, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back! 11 I know that you are pleased with me, for you have not let my enemy triumph over me. 12 You have preserved my life because I am innocent; you have brought me into your presence forever. 13 Bless the LORD, the God of Israel, who lives forever from eternal ages past. Amen and amen!

Notice how he starts off reminding God what he knows about God's character. He praises God for being kind to those who help the sick and poor and rescuing them from trouble, etc. And before he tells God about how bad things are going for him, he confesses his own sin (verse 4). I think that's important. We have to know and follow God so closely that we don't have any illusions about our own innocence, because we mess up all the time. And then after he tells God about all the bad things people are trying to do to him, he praises God again.

So here's my synopsis of Psalm 41: Praise God! Woe is me! But praise be to God because at least he is faithful!

Recently, I've gone through some difficult times as I've started to trust God and face fears that I haven't been able to face for years because my focus was always on myself instead of on God. I think it's from the Psalms that I learned to develop a new reflex when a fear of mine pops up, which is sometimes many times a day. I praise God and the fear leaves. I tell God something about himself that gives me encouragement. God doesn't need the reminder, but I do. It's awesome; and now I understand where David got his strength to keep going through difficult times without crumbling.

If we men want to become truly strong and truly wise and make a difference that will last far beyond our own lives, I think we need to actively absorb the Psalms to the point where we can face trouble like David did, with God and his attributes as our focus.

If you haven't spent much time in the Psalms, make the time each morning looking for God's character traits that you can use when you interact with God (like David did). I'll be praying that you will make the effort and that the practice will change your life as it has mine.

Keys to Greatness - Fear of God

One of the keys to David's greatness was his fear of God.

I think this term "fear of God", which is used in both the Old and New Testaments, has been rather neglected in our society because people think of cowering before a harsh, dictatorial God. We we have a hard time holding in our brains both God's righteous judgment and his complete and perfect love for us at the same time. We'd much rather think about his love and grace because we instinctively know in our hearts (some more subconsciously than others) that we are far from perfect and we really need his forgiveness and love.

David didn't seem to have that problem. He both feared God's righteous judgment and he depended upon it.

First, David knew God so well that his own sinfulness stuck out to him like a sore thumb compared to God's perfect goodness. David said this in Psalm 19:12-13 :

How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.

Secondly, God's perfect goodness didn't keep David distant from God. David, like all of us (consciously or subconsciously), desperately wanted for every wrong to be made right. David clung to God because he had been greatly wronged and he knew that God's perfect goodness dictates that every wrong will be made right and every sinful act committed will someday be punished.

I have no doubt in my mind that David knew God well enough that he would rather these people who had wronged him would confess their sins and turn to God for mercy like David repeatedly did, but he didn't see that ever happening, and in the absense of that, he couldn't bear to think that evil/sin would go unpunished. Thinking of evil going unpunished screams against our very being. It's a reflection of God's goodness in all of us.

Psalm 38 shows in stark contrast how David both feared God's righteous judgment and depended upon it to make everything right:

Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me. It is a burden too heavy to bear ... I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain. But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done. My enemies are many; they hate me though I have done nothing against them. They repay me evil for good and oppose me because I stand for the right. Do not abandon me, LORD. Do not stand at a distance, my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.

Here's a story I heard once that explains our misconception of what goodness really means:

A man went before a judge because he had been caught doing something illegal. The man said "Dear Sir, I know that you are a good man, and I'm very sorry that I did this, but I can't pay it, so please let me go". The judge answered "You are right that I am good, but it is precisely because I am good that I can't let this act go unpunished."

The guilty man thought goodness meant the judge wouldn't punish wrongdoing, but the opposite was the truth. The judge's goodness required making the wrong right. In this case, the judge stepped down, took off his robe, pulled out his wallet, and paid the fine for the man because he could tell the man was truly sorry.

Now, we don't (and shouldn't) expect this from human judges. But, according to the Bible, those who fear God, ask Him for forgiveness, and work on pleasing God, do receive this treatment from God. If knowing this doesn't instill in us gratitude and a change of heart, then we probably aren't yet ready to receive God's grace and we'll probably receive only judgment on the final day.

With everything in the Bible, it seems, God always provides a counterpoint to keep us from so easily putting God "into a box". This one comes from 2 Timothy 1:7 :

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

I'd argue that we must not "fear" God in a cowering way, but that we need to tremble when we think of God's righteous goodness, just as we tremble when we stand at the edge of a cliff. Even though we know we are safe and secure, we tremble to think what could have been if we hadn't approached the cliff with caution.

I'd be interested in hearing your perspective on this topic in the comment section. Just click on the "Comments" link.

David's Greatness

Why did God want to make David's name great? I think this passage has a hint:

1 Samuel 17:31-37

Paul Alexander, a pastor in St. Charles Illinois, points out that David's confidence to defeat Goliath is not rooted in himself, it is rooted in the greatness of God. David knows God so well, that he knows God is committed to His own glory in his creation, and that Goliath is working against God's glory by making fun of His people.

In return, God makes David's name great in Israel, the world at that time, and still to this day. One key to David's greatness? Following God so closely that he knows God's character and knows that God does what he says He will do.

Is it OK to seek Greatness?

David Murrow, the author of Why Men Hate Going to Church says this: "Most men will not fully invest themselves in anything that does not offer a shot at greatness"

Do men need to just "get over it" and stop looking for greatness because it's too self-centered and not God-centered and community-centered enough?

David Murrow points out two places in the Old Testament where God doesn't feel threatened that we might achieve some greatness. In Genesis, God said to Abraham "I will bless you and make your name great". In 2 Samuel, God told David, "Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth".

Additionally, in the New Testatment (2 Cor 4:17-18), Paul talks about how troubles in this life produce for us glory in eternity.

There's a lot more to explore about how men should seek greatness, but I find this idea refreshing: that the masculine desire for glory and greatness isn't threatening to God.

In the Bible God wants to make his children great because when that can happen, God is the one whose name becomes greater. Ephesians talks about how God's purpose in working through us in our world was to "show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." In other words, it is to help the angels and demons understand how amazing and good and wise God really is. Our glory and greatness makes God's glory and greatness that much greater.

I'm leaving a lot unsaid here, but that's OK. We have time. :-)

Discouragement

This came from Oswald Chambers on my way in this morning:

"Discouragement is disillusioned self-love, and self-love may be love for my devotion to Jesus--not love for Jesus himself" link

He's been reinforcing lately the idea that if we are truly focused on Jesus himself, we won't be phased by setbacks or success in our efforts at seeking God's Kingdom. I've been reading him for a few years now and I'm finally beginning to get a clearer picture of what he's talking about.

That's the kind of Christian I want to be. Consistently, faithfully seeking Christ and His kingdom, day in and day out, whether or not I look to others like a success today. That's how big successes are made and that approach to God's Kingdom is what made William Wilberforce a success even in the eyes of the world. He learned the secret that in order to go up, you first have to go down. (Read Mark 10:35-45)

Amazing Grace

I really want to see the movie "Amazing Grace". I've heard it is a great move and I know a little bit about the subject of the movie, so I'll share what I know with you and maybe you'll want to see it too:

William Wilberforce was a decadent young aristocrat who was elected to the House of Lords at age 21 in the latter part of the 1700s. After his conversion process, he became sickened by his old life and wanted to do something for eternity, like leave politics and devote himself to God. He went to meet John Newton (the writer of the hymn Amazing Grace, who was a former slave trader) who encouraged him to stay in politics and fight for the abolition of the slave trade.

It's an amazing and inspiring story. He had many, many setbacks, but each time he just got back up and reintroduced another bill for the abolition of the slave trade. It was a 20 year battle and even after that, the "war" was only half over because slavery itself was still legal (versus the importation of slaves).

Wilberforce is the kind of Christian I want to be. He was one whose eyes were so firmly fixed on Christ that he could faithfully do Christ's work day in and day out regardless of the success or lack of it. I'm sure he got discouraged, but because his real focus was in the right place, he persevered and finished well. And God eventually gave him success in the eyes of the world as well.

Seeking Greatness

I think every man starts out with a built-in drive to seek greatness for himself, his family, his country, and hopefully for his God. However, I also think that there is only one path to true, eternal greatness. And that is by closely following and focusing on the greatest One, Jesus Christ.

I expect this will be an interesting adventure. Please challenge me with comments if I write something that sounds off to you. The truth is always bigger than anyone can express in a few paragraphs and my intention is both to develop my own thoughts on important topics like this and hopefully to challenge others to think about these things from a different angle.

Take care,

Jon