The Seed of Hope

Working Through an Issue

Working Through an Issue

A few weeks ago I was having a discussion with Andy, a friend and customer, about faith in the workplace. Our discussion was taking place in the midst of my workplace, which is the hair salon that my wife Jackie and I own and operate, and it came on the heels of a tour that I had given Andy of our recently completed expansion.

At one point in our conversation, Andy told me that he’d like to be as open as I am about God, and my faith, but he just couldn’t do it. When I pressed him for a reason as to why he couldn’t, he looked straight into my eyes and said “Because you’re a blatant Christian, Sam. You share your faith and love for God, wherever you are, with no fear of the consequences.”

For a brief moment I almost took offense to Andy’s remark, because the term blatant is most always associated with offensive behavior. But just as quickly I realized that Andy was paying me a compliment. Brazen, bold, or outspoken may have been more fitting descriptions about my sharing of God’s goodness, but I’d certainly accept blatant.

I’m certainly not bashful when it comes to sharing my love of God and my beliefs with others, no matter where, no matter when.

To be honest with you, it’s my openness and transparency about what I believe and who I am that is prompting this post.

I’m a Christian…

a blatant Christian, according to my friend Andy. I share my heart with people because, well because I love ‘em, and because that’s what Christians are supposed to do. I share my love for God with people, because that’s what I’m supposed to do, as in “being a light that shines” for Him.

Look, before I continue I’ve gotta tell you that I’m working through a couple of issues right now, and they have to do with being a Christian. Well, what I’m struggling with is the result of being a blatant Christian, and I have to get through this, and I guess that if you hang around, you’re gonna work through it with me.

And I’m gonna tell you a couple of things right up front. First of all, I’m not looking for pity. I don’t own a “pity pot” for you to sit on with me, and I certainly don’t want one. Secondly, if it seems as though I’m frustrated, it’s because I am, and it’s been building up in me for weeks.

And apparently it’s part of God’s plan for me to share this with you because I can’t find a way over, under, or around it! Today’s post was gonna be For Him, and it’s 80% complete, and it’s really good, but for the life of me I couldn’t finish it because this is in the way…

Yep, I’m a blatant Christian.

I wouldn’t be anything else.

BUT…

Sometimes I wonder if being an open book Christian is an invitation for others to treat me in whatever manner they see fit. Does it give them license to lie to me, or to steal from me, or to take advantage of my giving nature? And why is it seemingly so easy for some to renege on a spoken agreement? Is it because I’m a Christian, and that makes everything okay? Do they think that I won’t mind?

Well, it doesn’t make it okay, and I do mind, and that in itself is giving me problems for reasons other than the most obvious ones.

Everyone is looking.

And they’re waiting to see what my reaction to certain situations is gonna be. I think that some are waiting for me to show that I’m not the Christian that I say I am, that this thing about God is just a sham. Perhaps they find it hard to believe that a man can be born again and completely devote his life to God. Perhaps they’re just waiting for that one last thing that pushes me over the edge, the one that makes me show my true colors.

Well guess what?

These are my true colors. Oh sure, I get hurt. And I get frustrated. And I wish that these things wouldn’t happen, but they do. And when they do, I can only turn to God and to prayer.

You see, it’s the blatant Christian in me that will not allow me to get angry, or to seek vengeance, or try to get even. I just can’t do that.

I’ve actually come to a point in my life that I actually pray for those who’ve offended me. This is due, partly in fact to who I am, and partly because of the man that I used to be. The “old me” was short-tempered, vindictive, greedy, and very angry. I cannot go back to being that man. Besides, I’m so filled with God’s love and presence that there’s no room for that man.

Yep, I’m a blatant Christian.

And I’m just a regular guy. I suspect that I’m gonna struggle with this in the future. I’m not foolish enough to think that it’s gonna go away because I’ve written about it today. And I’m quite sure that I’m not gonna change who I am, what I do, or how I do it.

This afternoon I was sharing my frustration with Brooke, a young ministry student visiting from Minnesota who will spend the next ten months living in our home. Sensing the anguish that was on my heart, Brooke suggested that I read the following verse from the Bible.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:18-20

What a perfect verse for me today. Thank you, Brooke, for your wisdom, and for your caring.

I leave you with one final verse. I don’t know that it “fits” here, but I’m gonna include it because it always gives me comfort and strength when there is seemingly none to be found.

Do you not know?

          Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

          the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

          and his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary,

          and increases the power of the weak.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

          and young men stumble and fall;

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

          they will run and not grow weary,

          they will walk and not grow faint.   Isaiah 40:28-31

Amen and Amen.

See you next week.

...about plans.

…about plans.

“For 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

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3

These two Bible verses are, without a doubt, among my favorites. It’s funny that of all the verses, and of all the subjects that are covered in the written Word, two of my favorites have to do with plans.

But that’s where the similarities end. You see, the book of Jeremiah reveals God’s plans for us, whereas Proverbs addresses our plans.

“…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

What a powerful statement this is. It reveals God’s intentions for me. For you. For all of us. When we can truly wrap our minds around this message that’s meant for us, and believe in it, our faith in God changes. Our relationship with Him changes. And our lives change.

Plans

One of my Dad’s favorite sayings was “Live for today.” He would always say that, especially if he and my Mom, or he and I, were in a heated exchange about life, finances, personal challenges, or anything beyond that moment in time. I think that he believed in what he was saying; to a degree. But I also think that he used it as a cop-out, as if to say “Okay, I’ve made my proclamation, so that’s the end of this discussion. Let’s move on to something else.” To be honest with you, it used to irritate me to no end. You can’t just end a discussion by uttering some self-proclaimed nugget of wisdom and then move on the next topic. Well, I guess you can, because he did it all the time, and got away with it!

Still, it bothered me, because my Dad did indeed live for today, but he also planned for tomorrow. And don’t we all? It’s why we have all kinds of insurance, and retirement accounts, and day planners. We plan for tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. It’s part of our nature to do so. In fact, it’s that planning that gives birth to hope. Have you ever noticed that on this site, The Seed of Hope is followed by A Gift for Tomorrow?

It’s easy for us to believe that God has the perfect plan for us when things are good. If we’re blessed with good health, and prosperity, and good times, we know that God’s plan for us is just right! And we trust in Him completely.

It’s when the worm turns, or the wind changes direction, or things head south, that we begin to question not only God’s plan for us, but also His love. We want to cry out “How can You love me God, and let this happen to me?”

FAITH

I think the reason for the verse from Jeremiah being so meaningful to me is that when I accepted it as the truth, my faith in God hit a new level. I feel that, for me anyway, the absolute belief that God has my best interest and welfare in mind all the time was a HUGE turning point for me. It allowed me to change the way that I live my life.

I no longer walk in fear.

Strong statement. True statement. You see, I believe, without a doubt, that God has the perfect plan for me.

Look, since I was born again four years ago, and committed my life to Christ, life hasn’t always been a bed of roses. Life, in and of itself, isn’t easy. And as you may have figured out already, life as a Christian may be even harder.

But I have to tell you, even with the rough stuff, God’s plan for me has been so much better than any plan that I may have devised for myself. I couldn’t have imagined the changes that have taken place in and around me, and the blessings that would come with those changes.

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Okay, so like you, I plan for tomorrow. But what are my real plans?

Well, I plan on being the best that I can be in everything that I do. I plan on being as good a Christian as I can possibly be. I plan on dedicating every day of my life to God. I plan on being, not just a light, but a beacon of light that shines for Him. I plan on running through every door that He opens for me to reach others. I plan on sharing the good news of God, and what He’s done in my life, with all who will give me an ear.

And when my time on this earth is up, and it’s time for me to stand before my Father, I plan on hearing Him say,

“Well done, good and faithful servant!…Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21

See you next week!

Waiting for Inspiration

Waiting for Inspiration

I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but I can’t just sit in front of this laptop and write at will. I have to wait for God to give me not only the topic to write about, but the inspiration to do so. It can be a little frustrating sometimes...

Here’s the thing: I have a laundry list of ideas for this site, probably another three or four months worth. Most of them are “meaty” subjects. They’re topics that I could really get into, because at one time or another each one of them has had an impact on my life. Be that as it may, I can’t write about them until God lights a fire in me to do so.

This week’s topic was gonna be When God Doesn’t Make Sense. I’ve been thinking about it since last week, and had developed a layout of it in my mind. And that’s as far as I got. Sunday came and went. Same thing for Monday and Tuesday. Jackie (my wife) kept asking me if I was gonna write, and my response was always “I don’t know. You need to ask God that one.”

And so it was, until this morning. My message to you today is about something that I’ve been immersed in for the last week or so. It has been powerful, moving, and miraculous. Waiting for Inspiration is the title of this post, but its focus is really on what I’m going to refer to as being…

Called to Prayer

Today marks the day eleven of the Twenty-One Days of Prayer service at Church of The Highlands here in Birmingham. I’ve written on this topic before, so I won’t bore you with the details. I’ll just tell you that each weekday morning at six o’clock a couple of hundred church members meet for an hour of worship and prayer; intense prayer.

Look, I’m gonna cut to the chase here.

Your prayers are powerful. AND, God is listening. At this very moment, some of you are nodding your head in complete agreement with both of those statements. You know what prayer can do, don’t you?

There are many of us that want to believe it, but for a variety of reasons can’t, or won’t. We don’t think that our prayers aren’t powerful enough, or that we’re not worthy enough, or that we don’t know how to pray. For so many years that was me.

But I’m gonna tell you right here and now that I was wrong, and if there was any doubt left in those stubborn little corners of my mind, the past eleven days have erased it.

I won’t go into detail here, but I’ll tell you that during this past week it was answered prayer that gave me the strength and conviction to do some things that I really didn’t want to do, but were necessary. Answered prayer allowed me to come up with the right words in some difficult situations. Answered prayer kept me calm and centered though it all. Answered prayer opened a door for me to serve as a mentor for some young adults in our church.

Yeah, I know; these are all answered prayers that I said for myself. And believe me, I was, and am, grateful that they were answered. But there was one other prayer that was answered, and it was a prayer that I was offering, not for myself, but for someone else.

There’s a young lady that I’ve been praying for this week. Well, I’ve been praying for her family too, but I’ve really been praying for her. I’m not talking about including her in my morning or bedtime prayers, but praying for her whenever and wherever I had the opportunity. I was so blinded by my prayers for her that I couldn’t bring myself to even think about The Seed of Hope. Her needs, or more specifically her spiritual needs, were more important this site. And I wasn’t the only one praying for her; she was being held up in prayer by many others, I’m sure.

You know what? God answered those prayers. At what you might call the last minute, of the last hour, of the last day, God gave this young lady and her family a miracle of sorts. No, it wasn’t in the way of a healing, or a narrowly-missed tragedy. Well, it did have something to do with sight…

You see, the eyes of this young lady’s Dad were opened to something that they had been blinded to for a long, long time. And as his eyes were opening, so did his heart. What her Dad may not yet realize is that his restored “sight” is going to open the door for his daughter to touch the lives of many, many people.

I’m calling you to prayer.

Your prayers matter. They’re heard. They’re powerful enough, and you’re worthy enough.

And this thing about “not knowing” how to pray? I hear what you’re saying; like I said, I’ve walked that walk. For years I would say the Lord’s Prayer (because that’s the one I knew by heart), and then I’d ask Him for my needs. And get this: To make sure that He heard me, and because I felt like I hadn’t done enough, I’d go back and recite the Lord’s Prayer again, and again, and again. It got to the point that I wasn’t even paying attention to the words, which in turn, diminished both the effectiveness of my prayers as well as the continued growth of my relationship with God.

If you know how to talk, you know how to pray. I believe that the purest form of prayer with God is talking to Him. It allows us to express our emotions, and to voice, with our voices, our fears, needs, and concerns to God. And it allows us to express, in our own words, our love for Him, and our gratitude for what He’s done.

I’m calling you to prayer.

Go talk to God. Pray for the needs of others. Pray for our country and our President (Even if you didn’t vote for him.). Pray for our elected officials at every level of government. Pray for your church, and your Pastor, and all those who serve to keep it going. Pray for our troops in harm’s way. Pray for your families, and your friends.

Pray for anyone and everyone that you can think of. Pray for your enemies or people that have hurt you; yes even the ones for which you feel hatred (you’ll be amazed at what happens to your heart when you do this!).

Pray for lost souls, that they may come to know God.

Finally, pray for your own needs. And when you do, don’t be timid in your petitions. If there’s something that you need, or if there’s something that you’re facing in life, ask Him, with boldness, for it. Perhaps what you’re needing is more of Him in your life. Ask Him. He answers prayers and works miracles every day!

I’m calling you to prayer.

See you next week!