Posts Tagged: Luke 12:32
“No ‘Oh-You-Agains’ in God”
Have you ever gone to someone for help and had them give you an “Oh, you again?!”? Eye rolls are optional, but often present. This person has helped you before, but figures you ought to know what to do for yourself by now.
And maybe we should know by now, but we don’t. Or perhaps we simply can’t do certain things on our own, even if we know how. We need help.
Some of us grew up with parents who were oh-you-again-ers. We began to feel stupid and incompetent almost before we could walk. It is difficult living with folks who are reluctant to help. Eventually, we quit asking.
Worse yet, we are in danger of becoming our parents. Perhaps we become good at something and forget all the not-so-good steps along the way. Novices come to us for help, but we have become eye-rolling oh-you-again-ers.
And worst of all, we begin to think that God is part of the oh-you-again-er tribe. We mess up and refuse to come to God with our mess-ups because we are afraid. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we hide from God. Yet only God can forgive us and restore us.
Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32, English Standard Version). James says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). I suspect that, if James were asked if God would reproach us for asking for other good things, James would look at us incredulously and exclaim, “What!” In fact, James, later in the same letter, tells his readers that they don’t have what they really need, simply because they don’t ask or because they ask with wrong motives (James 4:1-10). If we ask for the wrong things or ask with evil motives, God is under no obligation to give those things to us, In fact, it would be cruel of God to give us those things when we are asking in that way.
But the bottom line is this: God is pleased when we ask for God’s help. God knows that we are weak, foolish, erratic people who need a boatload of help. I was reading some wisdom from an American Indian website (White Bison) this morning and was helped by the following statement:
“if we practice this for awhile, our thought life will be different. It helps if in the morning we ask God to direct our thinking. God loves to help us.
Great Spirit, today, direct my thinking so my choices are chosen by You.”
We have a God who loves to help us. There are no oh-you-agains in God. Now that is good news indeed!
“WHEN GOD ISN’T IN THE PICTURE”
I receive a daily e mail from Loyola Press entitled “3-Minute Retreat.” (You may access today’s meditation at http://www.loyolapress.com/retreats/like-sheep-with-a-shepherd-start-retreat, accessed 06-01-2017.) Each meditation has a brief passage from the Bible, a few thought-provoking comments, a couple of questions, and a closing prayer. It also has a background picture.
The Scripture today was Luke 12:32. “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Part of the comment from the author of this meditation is as follows: “We are created and sustained by a loving God, on whom we depend as sheep on a shepherd. With our generous God as shepherd, we have no more reason to fear.”
Luke 12:32 is a wonderfully comforting and energizing verse, and the comment was right on target. However, it was the juxtaposition with the background picture that especially struck me this morning. There is no shepherd anywhere in the picture!
And that is the way feels most of the time, isn’t it? God seems very absent from our daily lives. There is grass, sky, hill, other sheep, but no Shepherd.
However, neither cameras nor our eyes can catch all that is there. God is indeed working in our lives, though we rarely suspect it. He is indeed pleased to give us his kingdom.
In the background picture, one sheep out of the approximately fifty-seven sheep is looking directly at the camera. Most of the time, I am like the fifty-six. I’m eating, looking at other sheep, and doing whatever else it is that we human sheep do.
Perhaps the person who is taking the picture is the shepherd. Perhaps our Great Shepherd is taking the picture that we call “our lives”. Perhaps we are the subject of God’s shutter art. Perhaps God is too humble to be very obviously present in our lives.
It may be that you and I could choose to look up every once in a while, and look in the direction of the One who is taking the picture.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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