Thoughts on a Quarter Century

Yesterday was quite a birthday. My incredible wife planned out a surprise party involving my youth kiddos, we got to have staff lunch (although, in retrospect, I should have chose another eatery that I had not been to... just wanted something new, now that I've tried that one place, I'll never go back), and it was a sweet Wednesday night to end my tenure at Turning Point on (still have a couple Sundays, though!).

I praise God for allowing me 25 years to live for Him (although not all of them were devoted to Him), and I pray for many more to come. I praise God for the things that He has already taught me in my relatively young life. I praise God for my family, my friends, and yes, even my "enemies" who make me push harder and harder to study Truth and teach it to students. I praise God for continually being in control of my life, a sovereign God who is mighty to save. I praise Him for being the One before time, who has known me from the womb, and who continues to direct my path.

25... a quarter of a century... seems like quite a while... yet, I know that these next 25 years (God willing) will come and go just as fast as the first 25. "Man is but a vapor..." I want to be the heavy sort.

Father of Lights

I never really think about how quickly your world can be changed, whether through incredible gifts or hardships. In a whirlwind of emotion, activity, prayer, and thought, Laura Kate Wiley made her way into the world yesterday (Monday, May 12th 2008) at approximately 1:46pm, weighing in at 7lbs.12oz. and creating quite a stir among nurses, doctors, and other newborns in Covenant Lakeside's Labor & Delivery Section, not to mention her family and families loved ones. And now, as I sit here and look out across Maxey Lake (is that its name?), baseball parks, and a pre-summer thunderstorm-esque cloudbank rolling across Lubbock's skyline, and then back into this hospital room that has been our family's sanctuary for the past day and a half at the two most important and beautiful women in my life, I praise my God. I praise Him and my heart cries out from within a resounding "THANK YOU, LORD!!!" for these precious gifts of love in family and friendship.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

James 1:17

A lot of my posts over the last few weeks have focused on this struggle that Carrie and I have endured on over the course of these last few months, in preparing to leave our jobs and follow the Lord to the mission field. This means stepping away from family and friends here in Lubbock, away from the church that has been a home and an employer for the last three years, and away from really all that we have known. Yet, tonight, I can see that this is one of those "perfect" gifts that the Father of lights has given to my family.

I have such a great gift in my beautiful bride, and another great gift was given to me earlier this week. The Father of lights has been the one who has opened my eyes to how incredible these two women are to me, and how my life will be focused on serving them. He is unstoppable in completing His will, and this is such a blessed part of that. 

My prayer, for Believers everywhere, is that the Father of lights might give us the eyes to see when He is raining down His blessings on us, and we brightly and joyfully give Him praise for what He has done!

Delighting in the Lord

When it comes to the idea of "delight," there are many different definitions for it, depending on the person. For many, delight is found in a summer's walk at dusk, when the stars are just starting to twinkle in the sky. Others may have delight in playing host to a group of people (my mother-in-law takes particular delight when all of her kids are home). Still others may take delight in the smell of a freshly-mown rugby pitch that is just ripe for the sweat and blood that will be spilled on it. There is a plethora of different thoughts that can come to mind when a person thinks of delight.

In my personal study time, I've been moving steadily through the Psalms, for the fourth or fifth time. 

One verse that always sticks out to me is found in chapter 37. In 37v.4, we read the Psalmist verse, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is one of those verses, though, that tends to be misunderstood by many. In a society where so many people love the whole "Health / Wealth / Prosperity" movement, we love verses that tell us we're going to get things. "Say this prayer and God will bless you ten-fold." "With a little more faith, God is going to get you that job where you can go buy your six-figure car!" "He must have not had enough faith, because God didn't rescue him from that disease..." and so on and so on. We tend to think along the lines that whatever we want, that's what God is going to provide. In our little human minds, we dumb delight down to being all about us.

"Delight yourself in the Lord..."

When we take delight in the Lord, we are glorifying Him most. As theologian John Piper says, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him." This means that regardless what happens in the world around us, our chief joy and happiness comes from the Lord; not our bank account, not our 401(k), not the ever-increasing gas prices, our hobbies, or anything else (lest we make these idols). When we delight in the Lord, there is nothing that pleases us more than our walk with Him. 

"...and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is where things get really misconstrued. If our joy and hope are found in the Lord, why do we think that we're entitled to the materialistic things that we often want. I don't know how many times I've had conversations with students who were disappointed with God because He didn't give them something they wanted and desired. "I really wanted a boyfriend..." "I wanted a new computer..." "I wanted my parents to stay together..." These are all great wants of a teenager, college kid, or even adult. But, the question here is not whether or not God gave the person those things. The question is whether or not the person was more focused on those gifts rather than on the Giver.

When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, we are saying, "Jesus, there is nothing that I desire more than You. You are the desire of my heart and nothing in this world compares to you. I would give up everything for You." Sometimes, this may be asked of you. Delighting in the Lord is so much more than just feeling happy about God and singing few praise songs to him once or maybe twice a week. Delighting ourselves in Him means that everything we do has Him in mind. 

As Spring has "sprung" and summer time (at least here in Texas) is quickly approaching, there are many things that we take delight in, this time of year. There are many things that we can focus on and lose sight of the One who gave them to us. My prayer is that we truly take to heart what it is to delight ourselves in the Lord, and that we seek to live that out in everything we do in this life... as well as the next.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day... a holiday that the vast majority of Americans have no clue about. For most of us, the day after Christmas is consumed by taking back the things that we don't want, don't fit, can't use, find ugly, or would just rather trade in for cash. But, unbeknownst to most of America, the 26th is a holiday that is celebrated by numerous people around the world. 

Boxing Day's origins come from latter-century England, where the upper-class and nobility had many a servant. Servants were expected to work nearly every day of the year, Christmas included, in order to assure their masters' happiness. On one certain day of the year, though, the nobles gave their workers the day off, December 26th. The tradition of Boxing Day began when nobles "boxed up" gifts for their workers and went to their houses in order to give them. Boxing Day was, and is, a great day of celebration, as the poor and lower-classes received presents with great joy from those whom they served.

It was on this day, last Wednesday, when I sat in the room of mine and Carrie's apartment that we have chosen to make into our baby's nursery, that I had an epiphany, a realization. As I sat, surrounded by boxes of the things that we had received for Christmas, I realized how often we don't talk about the great joys of receiving, choosing, rather, to focus on the joys of giving. Although I'm a huge fan of giving (I love the feeling of giving that perfect gift), what good is the joy of giving without the joy of receiving? So often, we don't take the time to truly enjoy those things that we are blessed with receiving. I looked around the room, at the new crib, glider chair, decorations, changing table and bookshelf, at my new camera (to record our baby's growth and the fun, as well as hardships, we will face as young parents), a new Nintendo DS, DVDs, books and clothes, the orders that I had already made on Amazon for cases for my new things and realized how great it was to receive these things. I gave thanks for that which the Lord had given us, even the material things that many people find to be just "stuff." It would prepare me for Thursday, when Carrie and I found out that we're having a daughter (Laura Kate) in May. And it made my heart overflow with joy because of what God has given.

As a man, I am sinful and destined to die. But, being the gracious and ultimate Giver that He is, God chose, not me, to give me eternal life and an intimate relationship with Him in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the one who gave me an intense desire to glorify Him in all things. He is the one who gives the strength to overcome obstacles, rejoice and dance on mountaintops of scaled adversity, and bury my face in His chest when I fall and fail. HE is the ultimate Giver, not man, and we are called to receive that which He has given, from every hardship that can make us question His goodness, to every newborn joy such as a baby, a financial blessing, or just more realization of His plan for our lives, with great joy.

Tomorrow begins a new year. Many of us might start a new one simply by looking for all that God has given us and rejoicing in His goodness and His provision. Am I saying that the joys of receiving are greater than the joys of giving? No... that could lead to great amounts of consumerism, something that we already deal with all too often. Am I saying that there is a need for us to stop over-spiritualizing giving and focus on both giving and receiving? Yes, absolutely. God gives us blessings which we receive with great joy and, in turn, we glorify that which God demands, GLORY for His Name, which He receives, and is alone worthy of. May we all, as Believers, seek to glorify God in all things, this new year.