The Seed of Hope

...being fifty-nine.

Today is my fifty-ninth birthday. Fifty-nine.

Notice that I didn’t finish the sentence with an exclamation point. That doesn’t mean that I’m not excited about celebrating another birthday.

Notice that I didn’t use a question mark. That’s because I question neither the date of my birth, nor my age.

Notice that I didn’t add a “frowny face” to the end of the statement. That’s because from where I’m standing, being fifty-nine doesn’t look nearly as old as it did when I was twenty-nine, or thirty-nine, or even forty-nine.

My announcement that today is my birthday ended, quite simply, with a period.

Exclamation points (!) are used to convey excitement or a strong feeling about a particular subject. Quite often they’re used to indicate something of significance.

Question marks (?) are used at the end of a sentence to ask a direct question, or in referencing something that’s unknown, uncertain, or unknowable.

Strings of characters (X#@*!?) are often used in comic strips to convey frustration or anger.

Frowny faces (L), as I like to call them, are used to depict sadness or disappointment.

What’s the symbol?

Yesterday I received an early birthday greeting from a dear friend that I’ve known since school days…

Hey Sam,

Hope you enjoy your Birthday! You know that birthdays are a gift from God, so what I possibly give you top that?!? Love you, Mary Jane

Mary Jane couldn’t have been more spot-on with her message to me, and I agree with her 100%! (Did you notice that Mary Jane used question marks and an exclamation point to convey her emotions?)  

In my heart, the gift reaches well beyond my birthday. You see, it’s not just birthdays that are gifts from God, but every day that He gives me here on this earth. No, I don’t think that way because I’m fifty-nine. I don’t believe that my days are numbered, or that “the end” is near.

The truth is that I appreciate every day, not only because of where I am, but because of where I’ve been….

Before I began writing this post, I scanned the keyboard on this laptop looking for the symbol for gratitude. The closest thing that I could think of for expressing gratitude is a happy face (J), but it denotes happiness. I was looking for something that, in essence, captures the gratitude that fills my heart each day. No such luck. What I’m left with are, quite fittingly, my thoughts expressed through my words.

Reflections

Aside from going to church and attending a meeting on Sunday, and doing some bookwork yesterday, I spent the last two days listening to worship music and reflecting on the fifty-nine years that preceded today. That’s a lot of territory to cover!

In doing so, I divided my life into the six decades that I’ve been around, and revisited a lot of “Kodak moments” in each of those decades. I won’t bother you with details, but I will tell you that each decade had its share of pride and shame, good and bad decisions, highs and lows, successes and failures, dreams and disappointments, and of course, affairs of the heart that brought love, joy, happiness, hurt, and pain.

Given the opportunity, I wouldn’t trade or change the events of my life in any of those decades. I am the direct result of all that I’ve been through, both good and bad. I’m of the firm belief that God has orchestrated those events, and that He has me right where He wants me!

That being said, I can honestly tell you that none of the previous five decades can hold a candle to the one that I’m in right now. This one is the best. This one is the one where it all came together, where the pieces of the puzzle finally fit. You see, this one is the decade that marked the beginning of my real relationship with a real God.

Without Him, there was never enough happiness, or love, or peace of mind, or money, or possessions, or satisfaction, or any of the things that I never could seem to get enough of. Today, I lack for none of those.

Here’s the thing: I don’t have more money or possessions, but I have enough. I have been blessed with happiness, love, peace of mind, and satisfaction because God’s presence, in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, has changed my perspective in life and filled in all of the gaps.

Gratitude

I’ll close today by summing up my thoughts on this, my 20,454^th day of life on this earth…

I’m grateful for my life. I’m grateful for my wife, my family, and my friends. I’m grateful for our business. I’m grateful for my pastor, my church, and my church family. I’m grateful for the things that I get to do to serve God’s Kingdom. I’m grateful that His plans included me. I’m grateful for Jesus and for the sacrifice that He made for you and me. Above all else, I’m grateful for God and His presence in my life. I’m just grateful.

This has indeed been a great, grateful-filled, fifty-ninth birthday.

Termites

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Have you ever seen a film clip of a pride of lions looking for their next meal? The lions hide in the high grass or behind some other form of cover, stealthily making their way towards their next victim. When the time is just right, the lions burst out of their cover to move in for the kill. Almost always, their attack occurs just about the same time that the prey becomes aware that it’s being stalked by the lions. The chase is on!

More often than not, the final scene shows the helpless victim being taken down and devoured by the hungry lions. After all, other than perhaps an elephant, what animal would stand a chance against a lion?

I can certainly understand likening an attack from the devil to being attacked by a lion. A lion is indeed a powerful and stealthy predator, and it devours its prey, leaving nothing but the bones. The lion, much like Satan, is indeed a deadly and worthy adversary.

Be that as it may, there’s another of God’s creations that I would compare to Satan’s attacks.

Termites

Yes, termites.

Look, if a lion were to sneak up on you and bite you, you’d know it immediately, right? Of course you would!

It’s not that way with termites. Do you know how termites operate? They find the tiniest of openings in the foundation, floors, or exterior walls of a structure. This opening may be the result of a structural weakness, poor construction, or a lack of preventative measures. Unlike the attack by lions, there’s no tall grass or prowling around by the termites. They just search for that one opening, that weak spot, and once it’s found, the assault on the wood begins. Unlike a lion attack, a termite invasion involving not one, but hundreds, if not thousands of termites, often goes unnoticed. By the time that it is discovered, the structure has been weakened, if not totally destroyed.

him.

I have to tell you that I don’t like writing about Satan. You see, I don’t even want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he has bothered me enough to warrant mentioning him on this site.

Still, there are those times when I’ve just come out of a round of spiritual warfare, and the impact of it on my life has been so intense that I can’t not write about him (if that makes any sense to you). I’ve just come through one of those battles, which lasted just over a week, and as I told my friend Amy Leigh the other day, it’s not so much being in the battle that’s so draining as much as it is the effort to get out of it.

It all began with a personnel problem in our salon a couple of Wednesdays ago. A situation that had been going on for quite some time came to a head, and I was left with no choice but to take action. Look, I’m not a confrontational person, and I when I have to make a tough decision, even if it’s a “no-brainer”, it takes a lot out of me. (A weakness in the foundation. A tiny opening for termites to get in.) In this case, I felt so rotten that I didn’t even want to go to church that night, which we didn’t do. (More termites.) The next day I had mentoring sessions with members of our team that lasted all day long and left me exhausted. (More termites) On Friday I had a very long and emotionally draining conversation with the person that started all the mess. (Termites are pouring in by now)  By day’s end, I was questioning why we were even still in the salon business! Throughout the turn of events, my wife Jackie and I had begun snipping at each other over nothing, which only made matters worse. I don’t know about you, but when I can’t find peace at work, and I can’t find it at home, things just go into a downward spiral. This trend continued throughout the weekend, and actually worsened when we were unable to go to church on Sunday. The “last straw” occurred on Tuesday morning, when I was at a roundtable discussion with a gathering of Christian CEOs and business owners here in Birmingham. I received a text from the salon that our phones weren’t working. Twenty minutes later I was informed that in addition to the phones, the computers had stopped working! In essence, our business was effectively cut off from the rest of the world! Really? After the meeting I went to the salon and got everything working again, but I have to tell you that I was not a happy camper, and I wasn’t bashful when it came to talking to God about it. (The termites were winning the battle.) I made it through the rest of the day, and it was a real struggle for me to keep my composure. In fact, evening came with Jackie and me in yet another disagreement and me wondering not if, but when, the storm was gonna pass.

They always do, you know. Battles end, storms pass, and life returns to some degree of normalcy; but not without a fight. When I’m in one of these “things” I have to pray harder (even thought my prayers feel empty) and look more diligently for opportunities to share my love for God with someone (doing so makes me feel stronger). I have to dig in and stand firm. There’s no other options, cause I’m not going backwards. Besides; I know that God won’t let me get hit with more than I can handle. I just have to be patient.

Or do I?

I was sitting in the kitchen when Brooke, our live-in ministry student, came home at the end of her day. Taking one look at me, and having known what I’d been going through, Brooke asked if we could pray, to which I readily and eagerly agreed. We called Jackie into the kitchen and the three of us sat down for prayer and joined hands.

Brooke went first, and even as I was listening to her prayer, a war was raging in my mind. I was trying to receive the blessings of her prayers, but this little voice in the back of my mind kept screaming at me about what we’d been through during the past week. Brooke’s prayers were being drowned out by the incessant voices in my head, which only served to raise my level of frustration. Termites…

I became aware of the fact that Brooke was no longer praying, and that silence had filled the room. It was my turn to offer prayers. I frantically searched for the place in my heart that would allow me to feel God’s presence and peace. It didn’t work. War was still raging within.

Increasing my grip on Jackie and Brooke’s hands, I called on everything in me to summon up a prayer. What came out wasn’t a petition to God, but a statement of defiance against Satan.

“It ends here. It ends now. This has gone on long enough. I proclaim the victory that Jesus won on the cross, and in his name, I command you to get out of my home and out of my business. You have no power over me. You are beaten. In Jesus’ name, I pray protection over me, Jackie, Brooke, our family, and I kick you to the curb. Now get out!”

As I was railing against Satan, tears began streaming down my face, and I could once again feel the comforting presence of God. It was over. I began to pray. The termites were gone.

Lions and Termites

Satan, much like the termite, finds a weak spot or the tiniest of entrances into a home. Quite often, the homeowner doesn’t become aware of the termite infestation until the damage has been done. Getting rid of them and restoring the structure to it original condition doesn’t always come so easily.

Satan, much like the lion, is always on the prowl looking for its next victim. He’s a formidable foe, a killing machine, and king of the dark world. Because of that, he’s not easily intimidated. He will not respond to timidity.

It’s one thing to know what’s in the Bible. You can know every word chapter and verse from Genesis to Revelation, and you can accept every word in it as the absolute truth.

Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment, the spirit left her. Acts 16:18 NIV

Yes, it’s one thing to believe what the Bible says. It’s another thing to own it; to make it a part of your DNA. If you do, the Bible becomes more than just a written word and more than simply a book. It comes alive, and becomes a part of you, and with it comes the awesome power of God’s Word.

Finally Sam became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to get out of here!” At the moment, the spirit left.

Nothing can ignore the power of God’s word. Not termites, not lions, and certainly not Satan. The next time that you’re being pounded on, why don’t you try it?

Even in those darkest of hours.

Surely there have been days when you’ve questioned what you possibly could have done that warranted the hand that you’ve been dealt in life. You flip through your “mental Rolodex” searching for the thought, word, or deed that caused this! What seed did you sow that resulted in the crop that you’re reaping? What if, after truly searching even the darkest corners of your mind, you come to the conclusion that you’ve done nothing?

Such was the case with Job. In Job 31, he recounted all the ways in which he had chosen to live his life, according to what he believed to be pleasing in God’s eyes. As you read Job’s self-examination, you realize that he had patterned his life on the teachings of Jesus, long before Jesus walked the face of this earth! Remarkable! This man truly had the Mind of Christ, or as close as mortal man could come to it.

When Job lost everything that he had (not as a result of anything wrong that he’d done, but because he was a righteous man), Job challenged not only his friends, but any man to find an offense against God and man that he had committed. He proclaimed that if he was indeed guilty, he would gladly accepted any and all consequences for his actions.

The sad truth is that the adage You reap what you sow doesn’t always stand up to reality, does it?

It’s evidenced throughout the world today, and we don’t have to look hard or far, to see it. Foreclosures, bankruptcy, and unemployment are at an all time high. Turn on the television and check out the world news, if you dare. Innocent children are starving to death. You don’t really believe that all of these people sowed a bad seed, do you?

Okay, perhaps those examples are a bit extreme. What if you had a really bad day, which turns into a week, which turns into a month, and seems to have no end in sight? How do you react to your situation?

Do you get defensive? Do you withdraw into your own little world? Do you wallow in self pity? Do you get angry with the world? Do you get mad at God? Do you, as did Job, make a case for yourself to God, believing that what you’re going through just isn’t fair?

Or do you turn to God, not to complain, but to seek the real comfort and strength that’s only available through His Spirit?

Perhaps we should draw courage from God’s assurance that “...I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

You see, God wants us to put our faith in Him, to trust in Him, and to look to Him for everything we need, even in those darkest of hours that we don’t think we deserve. As with Job, sometimes what we’re dealing with has nothing to do with what we’ve done right or wrong.

Perhaps you find yourself in that very situation today. For reasons that only God knows, you’re faced with an obstacle that you cannot get over, around, or under without Him. Perhaps, like Job, you’re on the verge of losing everything that you have, and you just don’t know why.

The big question then becomes not what you have or haven’t done, or if you can make a case for yourself, or why it had to happen to you, but if you’re gonna cast all your cares on God to get you through it. Even in those darkest of hours.