I was praying for someone today and the thing the Lord laid on my heart to pray for this person was for "grit". That's not a term you'll find anywhere in the Bible; it's not listed in the fruit of the Spirit ("love, joy, peace, patience, grit"???). But I wonder if you put the things on that list together, if you don't really have grit, too.
My big dictionary* defines grit as "firmness of character; indomitable spirit; pluck". Indomitable means something that cannot be subdued or overcome, cannot be "tamed". Amy Carmichael calls it "that in us which sets the firmer the harder things are. It is the reinforced concrete of character." People who have grit don't give up, don't whine and complain, don't wallow in self-pity. No matter what the difficulty, they hang on to the truth that they know and keep going.
Just like muscles, grit doesn't develop in a vacuum. It is only shown in the face of opposition and difficulty. There are many examples of grit in Scripture but the verses which come to my mind first are in Daniel (talk about a man with grit!). His friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego said to King Nebuchadnezzar "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire...but even if He does not, we are not going to serve your gods." (3:7,8) How's that for grit?! Later in the same book, in his prophecies of the end times Daniel says that many will be turned to godlessness "but the people who know their God will display strength and take action." People who know God have grit. They go from strength to strength. It is a worthy thing to pray for but it only comes through difficulties. The person I'm praying for is already enrolled in Grit 101 - I hope they pass the class.
*Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sharing Every Joy
I have such a wonderful time bathing in Scripture and journaling the things God shows me. I find myself very reluctant to "publish" these to the world (or the few people who read this blog). A thought from Amy Carmichael this morning cast a new light on it for me. She wrote:
Some of us are like Peter, "Silver and gold have I none." But we have other things: for example, books. Am I sharing my books and what I read in them? Am I sharing every joy I can?
I took that little thought of "sharing every joy" to heart and am laying out these encouraging words from the Psalms today.
The first one was Psalm 68:19-20 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation. God is to us a God of deliverances...
My good friends Keil & Delitzsch mention that this "burden" (singular) is "the burden and pressure of the hostile world...which the Lord day by day helps His church to bear, inasmuch as He is mighty by His strength in her who of herself is so feeble". What comforting words when we do daily and sharply sense the hostility of the world. HE bears it, not just we.
Another verse in the chain of thought God was weaving for my day was Psalm 40:2 & 3: He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. David, just rescued from danger (out of the pit of destruction and out of the miry clay), is still exposed to peril. In that situation he offers praise to God because, according to Psalm 50:23 gratitude is the way to salvation. He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.
Thankfulness and praise are to be my highest priority, for through them God shows His salvation, gives me deliverance and daily bears my burden. There is no provision in Scripture for downcast spirits. I can't always give thanks FOR all things but I certainly can give thanks IN all things. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name (Heb. 13:15). A day spent in praise can't be wasted, no matter what else happens!
Some of us are like Peter, "Silver and gold have I none." But we have other things: for example, books. Am I sharing my books and what I read in them? Am I sharing every joy I can?
I took that little thought of "sharing every joy" to heart and am laying out these encouraging words from the Psalms today.
The first one was Psalm 68:19-20 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation. God is to us a God of deliverances...
My good friends Keil & Delitzsch mention that this "burden" (singular) is "the burden and pressure of the hostile world...which the Lord day by day helps His church to bear, inasmuch as He is mighty by His strength in her who of herself is so feeble". What comforting words when we do daily and sharply sense the hostility of the world. HE bears it, not just we.
Another verse in the chain of thought God was weaving for my day was Psalm 40:2 & 3: He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. David, just rescued from danger (out of the pit of destruction and out of the miry clay), is still exposed to peril. In that situation he offers praise to God because, according to Psalm 50:23 gratitude is the way to salvation. He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.
Thankfulness and praise are to be my highest priority, for through them God shows His salvation, gives me deliverance and daily bears my burden. There is no provision in Scripture for downcast spirits. I can't always give thanks FOR all things but I certainly can give thanks IN all things. Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name (Heb. 13:15). A day spent in praise can't be wasted, no matter what else happens!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
A Listening Heart
It's Tuesday morning and high time to get rid of Sunday's LA Times. I confess that I don't read a lot of it but thought I'd better flip through before I put it in the recycling. There's a huge section on the latest films that have come out (yes, this really is entertainment city). In real estate I notice that Aldous Huxley's house on Mulholland Drive is for sale for just under $3 million (he died in the 60's but his wife died last December). The lots that he used to live on (the house burned down) recently sold for just over a million. There's advice on how to make a killing by getting good things at estate sales. Lots of pages devoted to style and fashion, most of which make me wonder whatever happened to beauty.
After I had disposed of the paper, I poured a cup of coffee and settled down with my Bible. I've been reading Nehemiah (did you know his name means "Yahweh consoles"? I love that) and thinking about his prayer in chapter 1. It reminded me of Daniel's prayer (Daniel 9). As often happens, one thought and passage leads to another and I turned to Solomon's prayer in I Kings 3. In 3:9 Solomon asks God for "an understanding heart". Another translation calls it "a listening heart". A heart that listens to God. Psalm 25:14 says that "the secret of the Lord is for them that fear Him." Another translation has that as "the secret converse of the Lord". From these verses I was getting a picture of a special quality of heart that is tuned in to and made privy to the thoughts of God. I turned to Keil and Delitzsch to see how they render the Hebrew for "secret of the Lord". As is often the case, their explanation of the Hebrew sheds buckets of light. The root word means "to be or to make tight, firm, compressed". In the context it means "being closely pressed together for the purpose of secret communication and converse, confidential communion or being together...He (God) opens his mind without any reserve, speaks confidentially with those who fear Him...it is used of the imparting of not merely intellectual, but experimental knowledge...it is intended of the rich and deep and glorious character of the covenant revelation."
Men like Nehemiah, Daniel, David and Solomon experienced this "secret converse of the Lord". How much more could I, with the indwelling Holy Spirit, experience each day the rich, deep and glorious character of God's fellowship? It's what Jesus called "abiding in Me". All that is required is a heart that listens. To listen means, however, that I silence my soul so I can hear Him. How much more valuable to hear His thoughts and secret communication than to know the latest real estate prices. As Amy Carmichael wrote:
After I had disposed of the paper, I poured a cup of coffee and settled down with my Bible. I've been reading Nehemiah (did you know his name means "Yahweh consoles"? I love that) and thinking about his prayer in chapter 1. It reminded me of Daniel's prayer (Daniel 9). As often happens, one thought and passage leads to another and I turned to Solomon's prayer in I Kings 3. In 3:9 Solomon asks God for "an understanding heart". Another translation calls it "a listening heart". A heart that listens to God. Psalm 25:14 says that "the secret of the Lord is for them that fear Him." Another translation has that as "the secret converse of the Lord". From these verses I was getting a picture of a special quality of heart that is tuned in to and made privy to the thoughts of God. I turned to Keil and Delitzsch to see how they render the Hebrew for "secret of the Lord". As is often the case, their explanation of the Hebrew sheds buckets of light. The root word means "to be or to make tight, firm, compressed". In the context it means "being closely pressed together for the purpose of secret communication and converse, confidential communion or being together...He (God) opens his mind without any reserve, speaks confidentially with those who fear Him...it is used of the imparting of not merely intellectual, but experimental knowledge...it is intended of the rich and deep and glorious character of the covenant revelation."
Men like Nehemiah, Daniel, David and Solomon experienced this "secret converse of the Lord". How much more could I, with the indwelling Holy Spirit, experience each day the rich, deep and glorious character of God's fellowship? It's what Jesus called "abiding in Me". All that is required is a heart that listens. To listen means, however, that I silence my soul so I can hear Him. How much more valuable to hear His thoughts and secret communication than to know the latest real estate prices. As Amy Carmichael wrote:
What do I know of listening? O my Father,
Teach me in silence of the soul to gather
Those thoughts of Thine that, deep within me flowing,
Like currents of a river, guide my going.
Teach me in silence of the soul to gather
Those thoughts of Thine that, deep within me flowing,
Like currents of a river, guide my going.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)