Trust and Vigilance

      

"We put our trust in the Lord, but we kept our powder dry."

-- Regimental Monument epitaph at Gettysburg National Military Park

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There are over 1300 monuments at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, befitting memorials to the over 50,000 casualties resulting from this most-critical moment of American history. While on a trip there years ago, I encountered one of the park's smaller memorials bearing an inscription that was monumental in stature. It's the passage noted above.

The wisdom and insight of this inscription is timeless. Certainly, as believers, we are to place our complete trust and faith in God. But not as mindless drones, scuffling along in life, waiting upon God to do both His part and ours. No, it's a much more active faith that is required. We are called to be agents of light and hope in a world daily battling darkness and despair. Fulfilling our role, we thus need to be ever alert and prepared to engage in the good fight, effort that will likely require all that we have.

In short, we have to get comfortable with the paradox of being both fully trusting in our faith while also being fully committed to acting on that faith. Or, said another way -- pray as if it all depends on God; act as if it all depends on me. 

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Dear Lord,

Thank you for calling me as one of Your own. Thank you for buttressing my faith. Help me to be attentive and vigilant to act on this faith, prepared to take on whatever the day brings. Under Your triumphant banner, I cast my lot.

Amen.

Fortitude

Fortitude 

"Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house." (Ezekiel 3:8-9)

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There is a lot of anger in this world. Some of it warranted, much of it not. But if you are a leader of any sort, you will be dealing with it.  

Some of it will find you simply because you are the face of the group.  Other times, it will be a product of setting some reasonable boundaries for folks who aren't used to them -- at least for themselves. Or it will occur because the unlimited desires of others collide with a world of limited resources. And hard choices have to made.  Still, on other occasions, anger flares up for who knows what reason. But people are upset, determined to let the whole world know, and someone's head is going to roll. Growl! Hiss! Roarrrrrrr!

And typically the most painful of these situations occurs when the anger, the ganging up, perhaps even the betrayal comes from within the group -- the very folks who you are trying to responsibly lead and serve.

In such situations, I have found this passage to be of comfort. Not because I aspire to be some hard-headed jerk. On the contrary, seeking to understand before being understood, meeting legitimate needs in full whenever possible, finding win-win -- all of these should be hallmarks of the servant leader. But there are, regrettably, times when such everyday approaches no longer serve the situation at hand. When after due discussion and deliberation, it's time to articulate a position, demonstrate fortitude, and endure whatever is to follow.

It is important in difficult moments like these to recall that you are not alone.  Our Lord is the rock who can fortify you with the strongest of His stone.  If needed, He can match any force brought up against you with equal force -- and then some.  For geology simply expressed is "time + pressure." And in God, you have the power of eternity on your side of the equation.
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Dear Lord,
Thank you for the opportunity to lead and serve Your children. Help me to daily be an instrument of Your peace. Strengthen me for the burden of each day; fortify me for whatever comes my way.  On the rock of Your truth and love, I will stand, endure, and thrive.
Amen.

Dealing with Trials

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15:1-2)

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As Christians, we are expected to positively impact others, leave things better than we found them, make a difference. Or, as expressed through the common metaphor of scripture, we are to show ourselves to be "fruitful" -- "for a tree is known by its fruit" (Matthew 12:33).

OK, that concept makes sense. Make a difference. Be fruitful. Got it.

But in order to make a difference, we actually have to daily wade into the world, with all its problems and schemes. In order to positively impact others, we need to engage in their affairs, dysfunctional as they may often be.  In order to leave things better than we found them, we regularly have to deeply invest of ourselves, for token efforts simply won't do.  But in deep investment, we expose ourselves in ways that, frankly, may leave marks. For in working to change things, improve conditions, and help others, the world is likely to push back -- and often with a vengeance! Forces collide, claws come out, and we can feel bruised, battered, crestfallen, or even indignant in the process, for all our well-intended efforts.

In such times, we may feel tempted to bemoan our own sufferings and trials. I was only trying to help. So why does it now seem like I'm the one suffering? That's not fair.

But today's scripture from John reminds us that doing good for others despite personal suffering is the way of the Christian.  And it was the choice Christ made for us as well. Christ is the vine, and we are the branches.  Like branches from the vine, our fruitfulness comes from our source.  But in efforts to expand the fruitful influence of our lives on others, we should expect numerous trials and personal sufferings (i.e., pruning) along the way. It's the way of God's vineyard.  Through such pruning, we are cut back again and again, essentially recreated over time into a better form of ourselves -- one more befitting of the fruitful vine from where we originate.

So next time you feel like complaining because of some burden faced in helping others, remind yourself that this is a signal that you, a faithful servant, are being pruned -- so that you may grow through suffering to make even more of a difference -- be even more fruitful -- for a world in dire need of it.
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Dear Lord,
Thank you for placing me in Your vineyard. Make me fruitful. Thank you for the loving hand that You bring to my growth and development.  Help me to understand and accept your regular pruning that makes me more pleasing to Your eye and more fruitful to the harvest in Your vineyard. Into Your Almighty and loving hands, I place my faith and trust.
Amen. 

Letting Go of the Negative

   

"Finally, brothers, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

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It is easy to get caught up in the dealings of the world, especially in those matters that tend to be contentious or negative. And even though such situations generally represent just a small fraction of our day, we can easily dwell on these above all others, stuck in some form of mental loop that plays over and over and over.

Surely, it is difficult to take charge of our minds, but this is what our Lord has asked us to do. And as this passage from Philippians asserts, a key means for doing this is to focus on the positive: the amazing creations of His mighty hand, the kind and loving act within the flurry of daily activity, the abundant blessings (large and small) that He reveals to us each and every day -- if only we are aware to take notice.

We are called to be light to a dark world. But we are not to dwell on the darkness. When we fixate on the negative, we miss opportunity to be agents of further good, while also sapping ourselves of some of the energy vital to making additional loving acts of kindness happen.

So deal justly with what comes your way. But then, with Your Maker's assistance, let it go, and focus on the positive. A little PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) can go a long way for you and for others -- brightening up your corner of the world in the process.

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Dear Lord,
Thank you for the opportunity to serve Your Children and minister to their needs. In the process of daily meeting my life's purpose, please be with me in guidance and comfort and wisdom. When I am anxious, please remind me to cast my burdens on You, and then move on in faith and trust and hope -- knowing that, in You, the battle is already won, and the victory is already secure.
In Christ's name, I pray.  
Amen.