It’s A Love-Hate Thing

October 22, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Are there things you love to do, but hate to do at the same time?

Ah, yes, that wonderful love-hate relationship. I spent most of the first part of this week in a love-hate thing, and I discovered yet again that love outweighs hate. To rediscover this, all I had to do was agree to walk through a funeral with a grieving family again.

I hate seeing families grieving. I love being able to share hope with them.

I hate how drained I feel after funerals. I love seeing the flicker of encouragement glow in others.

I hate tearful goodbyes. I love the knowledge of joyful reunions.

I hate preparing funeral messages that remind people of eternity. I love sharing that Jesus is the Promise of an eternity in heaven.

I hate having every eye in the room on me. I love seeing God speak His truth through me.

Yup, it’s true: walking through a funeral with a grieving family is—hands down—something that so drains me physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually more than anything else I do. But I wouldn’t trade this privilege to step into hurting people’s lives for anything. Yes, love triumphs over hate!

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Pursuing

August 21, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

“They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves” (Jeremiah 2:5).

Simple principle: I become what I pursue.

Pursuing things that will not last into eternity is worthless, and the pursuit of them will make my life worthless too. Allow me to elaborate with a few modified quotes:

“For where your [pursuit] is, there your heart will be also” (Jesus).

“All [pursuits] that are not eternal are eternally useless” (C.S. Lewis).

“But more than anything else, put God’s [pursuits] first and do what He wants” (Jesus).

“The impulse to [pursue] God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are [pursuing] Him we are already in His hand” (A.W. Tozer).

“But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each of us has [pursued]. The fire will show if a person’s [pursuit] had any value” (Paul).

“The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he [pursues]” (Marcus Aurelius Antoninus).

“I love those who love Me, and those who [pursue] Me always catch Me” (God).

“‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will [pursue] his principles unto death” (Thomas Paine).

As each week wraps up, I’m trying to remember to ask myself, “Did I pursue the right things this week? Were my pursuits eternal and God-honoring?” Good questions. Perhaps you could take some time to assess your pursuits too.

Remember, you will become what you pursue, so pursue wisely.

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Objective Beauty

August 17, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Do you ever doubt Scripture? I don’t mean doubting its inerrancy, but its application to real life. You know what I mean: “Okay, that sounds interesting, but I’m not sure that’s for now or for me. C’mon, that can’t mean me!”

Here’s the verse that got me thinking: “He has made everything beautiful in its time….”

Everything?! Really? Everything?!

My viewpoint is subjective. That’s a fancy way of saying, “Things should be the way I want them to be.” I see some things as beautiful, but about other things I say, “This is a pain, or this is ugly.” But if I believe God’s Word, in God’s timing everything is beautiful.

I think the second part of the verse illuminates the problem of my subjectivity. “…He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

Eternity—my soul’s longing for God—is in me, yet I cannot grasp it. Not naturally, at least. God knows how everything will end beautifully because He made everything beautifully.

Even me.

My life might seem like a mess at times: ugly, scared, scarred, even worthless. But God sees beauty. And we know that in all things [even the ugly stuff] God works for the good [the beautiful] of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28). God gives His beauty to replace my ashes.

With subjective thinking, this doesn’t seem very likely. It’s hard to subjectively see how God could turn my ugliness and my pain into anything beautiful.

That’s why Scripture also contains this prayer: A prayer that will change my subjectivity (seeing only my ugliness) to objectivity (now seeing God’s beauty). If you struggle to see everything as beautiful, pray this prayer right now:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Amen!

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Let’s Make A Deal

May 22, 2009 — Craig T. Owens

Have you ever seen the 1970s game show Let’s Make A Deal? Contestants were given some tricky choices to make. They usually held something in their hand that was fairly valuable and were given the opportunity to trade what they could see for what they couldn’t see.

The anxiety about making this decision almost caused some people to have a nervous breakdown on the spot! And, oh, the emotional highs and lows when the contestants discovered what they won or lost!

I was reading about a let’s-make-a-deal moment in the Bible. Jerusalem is facing an imminent threat from an incredibly powerful man (2 Kings 18-19). Sennacherib sent this message to King Hezekiah, “Let’s make a deal” (18:23).

And he made a pretty compelling argument to take the deal. Sennacherib said, “No one who has ever stood up to me has survived before. I’m undefeated. I have a bigger, meaner army than you; more horses and chariots than you; and I’ve blocked your attempts to call on someone else to come rescue you. There’s no way out of this. C’mon, let’s make a deal!”

What makes a deal like this so appealing is that it’s all visible. It’s hard to say “no” to what you can see and say “yes” to what you can’t see.

Hezekiah knew God could deliver them, but would He deliver them? Hezekiah couldn’t see God, but he could see all of Sennacherib’s forces. What to do, what to do??

Hezekiah made the right deal. He put his trust in God! Although He was unseen, Hezekiah believed that God’s deal was better than Sennacherib’s deal. And Hezekiah was not disappointed in the deal he made (19:35-37).

What about you? Are you facing insurmountable odds today? Do you feel like you need to make a deal? Is what you can see more compelling than what you can’t see? I can promise you that any deal that you might make that doesn’t throw your trust entirely on God is a bad deal. A very bad deal!

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without His unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, The Message)

Don’t give up! Don’t make a bad deal! Trust God. His way is always the best deal!

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