Last month I did an update asking for prayers on CJ’s condition in which I said she was feeling weak, not eating well, and we were concerned that she may not improve. In response to that, one of our dear friends who has fought cancer twice herself responded that they are always praying, and asked me “Are we still praying for victory?” That question convicted me a little and made me think. Having been a pastor for 40+ years and seen countless faithful friends struggle and pray for their loved one to recover from cancer or some other deadly situation, I realize that most of the time God does not “miraculously” heal loved ones the way we might hope for. And I know that when even dear Christian friends hear that the cancer is advancing and that we are now on hospice, our “default” prayers tend to turn to asking God to be gentle as the person is dying and that the end will be peaceful and not be painful. Trust me, if CJ or anybody gets to the final stages of life, I would cherish that prayer and pray for that myself! BUT, at this point, we are not there! CJ is feeling better and stronger this last week or two, and has been going out to shop with me often, and has been planting flowers around the house all week. As a matter of fact, she went to Meijers by herself this morning because she is tired of shopping with me and my penchant to hurry her along and not allow her to shop “her way”! I’m sure some of you   women can identify with that!

Anyway, are we still praying for victory? ABSOLUTELY! And for Christians who know their Bible, victory has two levels of meaning for us.

1) As we put our faith and hope in Jesus, we ALREADY have victory over sin and death! Yes, we will ALL die physically, even if God heals us for a season. But because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, he promises that our soul, the real you and me that lives in our body now, will live with him forever, if we put our trust in Him! Jesus says in John 14:19 “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you will also live”.  This is Jesus’ unfailing guarantee to all who trust their lives to him. So, we ALREADY have victory in Jesus over death! Mature Christian believers realize that our future life in God’s Kingdom will be amazingly, unbelievably better than anything we can imagine here, so that takes the “sting” out of death for us. We have already won that battle through Jesus, as Paul says so beautifully in Romans 8:
¹⁵  For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷  Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. ¹⁸  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  ²⁸  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.³¹  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  ³⁵  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  ³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2) BUT, beyond the eternal victory over death we already have, sometimes Jesus intervenes in the natural order of the world and “supernaturally” changes things to draw attention to him and his glory! In these “victories over the natural effect of sin in our lives”, these are always about God and his love, power, and Kingdom, not about us!

So, getting back to CJ for a moment, I ask you to also pray for God’s victory over the evil of cancer in her body! When CJ began this difficult journey about 14 months ago, God led her to II Chronicles 20:15, which says ‘This is what the Lord says to you: “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, BUT GOD’S!”

– Notice, this battle belongs to God, not us. I can’t tell you how many times we have wanted to take control of this battle and tell God “please do this and have these results!” And when it doesn’t go our way and the results are not good, it’s easy to question God and want to take matters into our own hands! We don’t dictate to God what he will do. That’s a hard lesson to learn, especially when you have no control over things and feel helpless. But I also know that whatever God’s plan for this battle is, it will be perfect from his perspective!

– Notice also, God says for us not to be afraid or discouraged in the process of the battle! Sometimes that’s really tough when the news is bad, but God has slowly strengthened our faith in this area through these 14 months. My favorite “go to” verse now has become Isaiah 41:10- “So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!”

So, dear friends, are we still praying for victory? You better believe it!! Not only our guaranteed eternal victory over death, but victory now, over this evil of cancer in CJ’s body!

I know that’s a “big ask”, especially when scans don’t look good and your doctor says you now have “months, and not years, to live”. But for God, such healing is nothing at all for Him! God is not phased by that which brings fear to us; rather, he calls us to trust him in the storm and expect him to bring us through it for his glory!

SO, would you specifically pray with me for these requests:

– CJ has a CT scan tomorrow. Pray the results might be good and show a decrease in cancer growth. But if there is an increase, pray thankfully that God is still in charge and that is not his answer. Pray that through his divine touch and/or through the treatments she is taking, God will reduce the cancer, lead to healing, and use this journey to encourage others and point to his power and grace in our lives.

– Pray for us to remain strong and unafraid, even in the down times of the journey.

– Pray for all of us, CJ, me, and you as well, to trust God for the good plan that he already has for our lives, now and forever!

We have recently enjoyed and found encouragement from listening to messages from Dr. Tony Evans. What a great preacher! (You can get all his messages free on Youtube!) He recently did a message on the story from Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm on the sea. Remember, Jesus & his followers took a boat to the other side of the lake. Halfway across the lake, a terrible storm arouse, so vicious that even these veteran fishermen are afraid for their lives. And Jesus, meanwhile, is taking a nap in the boat! Fearing for their lives, they wake Jesus up and cry out “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus calms the waves and gently rebukes them saying, “Why are you still afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Dr. Evans pointed out that in these life-threatening storms of life, we are prone to cry out to God in desperation and fear. But then he reminds us that at the beginning of the story, Jesus ALREADY said “let us go over to the other side!” When God promises us something, he always delivers on his word! Even in the storm, Jesus expected them to trust him for the promise he had already given them!

 Pray with us, that in the midst of this continuing, sometimes fearful storm, that we will keep our eyes on Jesus, and not the waves. God has already won the victory for us over death, and has spoken amazing promises for our future! I believe that God has also won the victory over the cancer in CJ’s body, and I invite you to pray in faith along with me for that hope.

And may you also keep your eyes on Jesus, not on the waves that seem to be around you at the moment! In those times, please remember my favorite verse:

Isaiah 41:10- “So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand!”

I have a plaque on the wall over my desk that says “Live by faith, not by sight”. (taken from 2 Corinthians 5:7) But, just how do we live by faith in these times of great uncertainty? The Coronavirus has pealed back the false layer of security that most of us live under. This leads many to fear, stress, panic, and very real worry about their own health and that of those they love. We also worry about lost jobs, food supplies, children at home, retirement accounts, and on and on… And what’s scary to most of us is the realization that we were never in control of our lives like we thought we were! James 4:13-15 bring us down to that reality:

¹³  Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴  yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” – James 4:13-15 (ESV)

Most of you know of CJ’s and my struggle with cancer this past year. It is a simple illustration of uncertainty that we all experience in life when the unexpected hits us right between the eyes. A little over a year ago, we got a totally unexpected call that CJ has stage 4 metastatic cancer. After 10 chemo treatments and a long surgery, we returned from Florida in February with the hope that it was mostly gone and could be controlled. We were again rattled to hear that it had returned, and is still growing, and if we can’t find something to stop it she may have months and not years to live. Wow, talk about bringing fear and uncertainty back into your life! So, we continue to pray and seek God’s word to us. The REALITY of the situation with cancer, and with the Coronavirus, is that we just DON’T KNOW! I don’t know if God will give CJ years to live or just months, and I have no control over that. None of us can see the virus, we don’t know if we have it or will get it, or whether we will live or die if we do contact it. We’re all in the same boat; some will live in panic and fear, many will blame others, and the wise ones will turn to faith!

SO, HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO FACE UNCERTAINTY IN ALL OF LIFE WITHOUT GIVING IN TO FEAR, PANIC, AND DESPAIR?

 I have a few  thoughts that I would like to share with you that have been playing in my mind for this past year:

1) We ALL try to live by faith, even if you don’t consider yourself a Christian or even “religious”!

The biblical definition of faith is:  Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. – Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)  Faith begins with the understanding that we just don’t know, and can’t see everything in life (and can’t control it), but we can reasonably believe in a more hopeful future because of evidence and what we have experienced in life so far!

Take the coronavirus: we can all be afraid, even terrified, because we can’t see the virus, but know it can possibly kill us. But, by “faith”, we can all see a very likely brighter future. Our faith can be in doctors and researchers who studied similar viruses for years. Their mitigation strategy has been quite effective.  Even their worst projections indicate that less than 1% of our total population will die of this. And, we can have very reasonable hope that they will come up with effective treatments very soon and probably have an effective vaccine in a year or less. So, even though we don’t “know” for sure, a reasonable faith can give us hope and take away our fear and despair!

In the same way, we Christians put our faith in God, whom we believe is much more reliable than any doctor or politician or pundit! Why?… because we know that millions of people have experienced God’s presence and intervention in their lives for 1,000’s of years, often in supernatural ways. More importantly, the cornerstone of our faith is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which we celebrated just over a week ago. Although we can’t “prove” that Jesus was resurrected, the forensic evidence is overwhelming for not only the possibility, but the probability, of his resurrection! Over 500 real people saw him resurrected. Don’t we wish there were cell phones back then and somebody took a “selfie” with Jesus after his resurrection? So our faith is far from “wishful thinking” or a “fairy tale”, it is based on the testimony of real people who suffered and gave their lives based on what they saw and believed. We can also trust the Bible as God’s word to us, revealing his desire to help us and redeem us from our sin. I love the Bible primarily because there are no “super-heroes” in it, other than God! The most faithful and famous in the Bible are fallible, sinful human beings who failed often and came to realize that they ultimately had no real control over their lives, and humbly cried out to God to save them. And he did, time and time again! So today, as we find ourselves feeling out of control, uncertain, and fearful, we can trust, or have faith, in God and his amazing promises, leading us to “be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”!

2) As humans, God calls us to trust and respect our leaders and experts, even though they all have limited knowledge and understanding. But beyond that, God invites us to trust him, because he alone is God and knows the future and has power over everything!

As humans, we face a unique dilemma: we were the only aspect of creation made in the image of God! That means that we, above every creature, have unique intellectual, emotional, and moral qualities that are amazing. But because we all now have a sinful nature, those qualities are messed up and out of touch with God’s will. So even the best of our leaders, doctors, and experts in any field are limited in what they can see, know, and understand.

So, let’s give each other a break! I’ve been in leadership all my life, and I know most leadership decisions are a lot more complex and less “black and white” than others realize. It’s easy to armchair quarterback and blame others from the sidelines. Maybe one leader or doctor may do better than another. But all of us are biased, limited in knowledge, and will never make the perfect decisions every time. And, as wonderful and heroic as our medical people are in this present crisis, no doctor or researcher has the ability to ultimately “save your life”. They may help your body to survive a few more years, but they are just delaying the inevitable: we are all going to die physically, and no human can stop that.

All of this division, hatred, violence, vile name calling, blame, fear, mistrust, confusion, and despair we see today is NOT from God! We were originally created to live with God, on the earth, and to love Him and each other. That means God intended us to respect, love, trust, build each other up, and bring out the best in each other. But sin has screwed us up so badly that now we settle for just eating each other alive.

That’s why our faith needs to rest in God and not each other!

God is God, and we are not, and that’s the best news we can hear today! God lives beyond our limit of time: he see the past, present, and future, and he is ultimately in complete control of it all. The Coronavirus is no surprise to him, it is merely a blip on his view of eternity. It doesn’t change his plan at all, and is causes him no worry! Even though this is a byproduct of evil, God will use it for good and offer us hope to get through it.

Jesus said, ^“ The thief  ((Satan) comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance.” – John 10:10 (NIV)  Because we live under the cloud of sin and Satan’s influence, we allow him to lead us down the path of destruction of our souls, our lives, and our world. But Jesus came to reverse that path of evil, and restore us to what we were originally created to be! He wants us to have new life, the Kingdom life, that will last forever!  So, by having faith in God and knowing he raised his son Jesus from death, we can now have hope and even peace as we face the worst that life throws at us!

3) So, how might Jesus be calling us to live today? For me at least, this last year has shown me the need to repent, be humble, and trust Jesus one day at a time!

Repent- I am reminded through this that I’m still a sinner and need to repent of my times of unbelief and lack of trust in God’s goodness and provision for my life. I also need to repent of my attitude and judgement toward others that I disagree with, and not get caught up in the game of blame and destructive words towards others.

Be humble- This last year has clearly shown me how little power and control I actually have over the events of my life, and has led me to humbly trust in God more than ever in my prayer and thought life. I gladly trust Jesus with CJ’s life, and my own, knowing that he is the only one who has the power to give us abundant life now and forever!

Live one day at a time- Many years ago Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie wrote that he learned to live in “day-tight compartments” during a very difficult year in his life. Even though the circumstances were difficult, he found that living only one day at a time, looking for God’s goodness and presence that day, made the year much more rewarding and enjoyable. In reflection, all of us only have today! We have no promise of tomorrow, and we can’t change the past, so excessive worry or regret can just paralyze us and steal the joy God has for today. Jesus said as much:

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV)
²⁵  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? ²⁸  “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

As we live together in this rare time of fear and uncertainty for so many, let us remember to :

– put our ultimate trust (faith) in God

– pray for all those on the “front lines” of service and risk

– pray for all those suffering from sickness and their families, that they will experience God’s comfort and hope in the midst of suffering

– pray that our attitudes towards others will be the same as that of Jesus

– thank God for each day and enjoy his goodness today, focusing on God and resting in his power and promise for a new life forever in his presence!

So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”  – Isaiah 41:10

As most of you know, CJ recently had a devastating diagnosis from our doctor. After a wonderful month in Florida, walking the beach and enjoying time with many friends, we returned with the hope that her cancer was under control and we would see a better year in 2020. Her CT scan showed otherwise, and the cancer has returned and is progressing to new areas. Our doctor looked for an hour or more for other possible known treatments, but came up with nothing that promised to stop the cancer. CJ has an extremely rare cancer and her bio-markers are different than other, more common strains. So, her diagnosis was that CJ has 6 months to a year of life expectancy. We came home in shock and many days of tears, but we have resolved to put our trust wholly in God at this point. We are certainly not naïve, and know that when the doctor gives you a diagnosis such as this, in most cases they tend to be correct.

But in spite of the doctor’s diagnosis, we know that God is sovereign over this world and us! He created the world and humanity for good, and he originally designed our bodies to live forever and he would dwell with us in the Garden of Eden. (see Genesis 1 &2) But because of sin (Genesis 3), we were separated from God and we will all suffer physical death. One of CJ’s comforting thoughts through this whole process is that God knows the number of our days, and he knew that before her cancer and that timeline will not change in spite of the cancer! (Psalm 139:16) We know from our experience and that of countless others that God’s plan is always good for us, even if it doesn’t seem that way at this moment. SO, we choose to trust God’s plan for CJs life, and mine as well. It appears the medical options are drying up, but God is not limited to that. So we put ourselves wholly in the hands of God. And where else would we want to be? What could be better than being in God’s loving care and plan?

Knowing that God’s plan is ultimately good, we want you to pray with us that we will discern just how that plan works out.

It may be that the doctor’s diagnosis fits with God’s plan, but it may not! CJ has joked that she wants to go home to Jesus in his timing, but she sure doesn’t want to show up too early! So I ask you pray with us on several fronts:

1) Pray for God to heal CJ!

Now as I ask this, please remember that God heals in many ways…

– He heals through medical breakthroughs.

 Our doctors have been wonderful this past year, and we believe God has used them to bring us to this point. We are continuing to check into things like clinical trials and alternative approaches, and its’ still possible God will open up another avenue here. Anything is possible with God. But right now, it looks like this door is closing up.

– He heals miraculously through his own healing touch!

Let me be clear: we choose this way, if it’s in God’s plan! We know for sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God can heal miraculously. We have seen it, and heard stories all our life of this happening.  I recently studied Mark chapter 5 with my men’s study, which has 3 healings of Jesus. I noticed 3 aspects of Jesus’ healings. The first example was of Jesus healing a man possessed by demons, so many they were called Legion. I believe all sickness is evil, in that God’s original plan for us was to never be sick. Cancer, especially, is evil and insidious as it eats away at healthy cells. Pray for Jesus to cast out these evil cancer cells from her body, just as he did those demons. The 2^nd healing was of a woman with years of bleeding that made her an outcast from society. She reached out to touch his robe in a crowd, and was healed because of her act of faith. Pray that CJ and I (and you also) will reach out daily in faith for Jesus to touch CJ in the same way. The 3^rd example in Mark was the healing of Jarius’ young daughter. Even though his daughter died before they got there, Jesus told him “Don’t be afraid. Just believe”. Then he brought her back to life! Pray that CJ and I will daily not be afraid and anxious, but will “just believe” that God has this under control.

Now, I understand praying for miraculous healing is a big stretch for most of us! I am guilty of knowing God can do it, but often thinking that God probably won’t do it in most cases. Truth is, God usually doesn’t heal miraculously in most cases. But when he does, he always does it for HIS glory and purpose, not just for us. Every time Jesus healed, it was to point to his power and his plan for future redemption from sin and the ultimate restoration of our world and us in his future Kingdom. He always has compassion on us, but his ultimate desire is for us to trust him for the future life that will be so much better than we can ever imagine now.

– God heals through death.

 This is God’s ultimate healing for those who trust in him. All of our bodies will die physically, but for those who trust our lives to Jesus, we know that we will never die! Our souls will be with God, and we are promised new resurrection bodies that will never get sick or die. And we look forward to an amazing life in a new heaven and earth where we will be fully human, living free from the effects of sin, and God will dwell with us. So, as much as we love this life and world, we know that this new life will be much better and beyond our imaginations!

2)  Pray for wisdom to discern God’s plan for healing!

Yes, God WILL heal CJ, but it will be according to his plan. He may choose to heal her through a physical touch, and she will live for a season longer to share the glory of God’s power. In my bias as her husband who wants her around for many more years, this is obviously my prayer! I pray visualizing her sharing the wonderful story of God’s healing in many groups of people, offering them hope and encouragement in their struggles and suffering as well. We would love nothing better than to bring God glory by such a testimony. But God may choose to heal her through death, and we know as believers that this new life with God will be totally amazing. As Jonathan Evans said in a eulogy at his mother’s funeral recently (Google it), God’s answer to our prayer is Yes! Yes, she will be healed, or, yes, she will be healed. Yes, she will live, or, yes, she will live. Yes, she will be with her family, or, yes, she will be with her family!

So pray with us for God to heal CJ according to his plan, because we know that he knows what is best for her. But pray with confidence! James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us of this in James 1:5-8:
⁵  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

3) Pray for our sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren.

Our family knows the reality of the situation and we have had some good talks already. But please pray that no matter how God decides to work this out, they will actually draw closer to God and feel the peace and assurance that he has already given to us. And pray especially for our 9 grandchildren, that whatever happens, they will see in us and their own parents the courage, strength, and peace that only God can give us as we go through a trial like this. It amazes me that the more you realize all you have left to trust in is God, the more you feel his presence and get the impression that he’s telling you “It’s going to be OK. I’ve got this, and I will take care of you”. Scripture has been vital to us this past year, and one of our favorites has been Isaiah 41:10: So dear not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

4) Pray that CJ and I will remain strong in our faith and at peace with God, and that God will use this whole experience to encourage others in their walk of faith and draw closer to Jesus!

In no way are we strong and courageous on our own! There are still many moments of fear, anxiety, and doubt. But Jesus carries us in our weaknesses, and gives us new strength and hope daily.

So, our dear friends, we need you to pray with us more than ever! We have been overwhelmed by the powerful prayer support you have given us in this past year, and we can’t begin to thank you enough!

Pray for God’s plan to be done….

Pray for God’s healing for CJ…

Pray for our family and for us to be strong and grow in faith…

And pray for God to work through this and bring good from it, advancing his Kingdom and drawing more people into it because of this experience.

At some point in the future, when all us who trust in Jesus are basking in the beauty and power of God himself in his Kingdom, we will look back at these days and perhaps finally understand why God did what he did in these trials in our lives. And all of this will seem as an insignificant speck in our past history.

And we will know that God loves us more than we ever imagined, and that everything is fine and good, just as God intended it to be!

Trust God and let him have your life, surrendering to his plan for you, and may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus be with you all!

CJ and I have the privilege of renting a condo in Florida this month with a balcony view of the ocean and sunrise, as well as a view of the sunset! It is one the 9th floor, the top floor of this unit, and I learned it is a “penthouse condo” because it’s on the top floor. This is our first time with a view of the ocean, and it is truly beautiful! As we look out and hear the constant roaring of the waves (day and night), I recognize that I can see more, and see farther, than most other people in this condo unit, and certainly more than those mere mortals down on the ground! I can see why some people fall prey to getting a little “uppity” when they have penthouse views, and can somehow think of themselves as a little better and more special than those who don’t. Of course, for enough money, anybody can have any view they want.

On the other hand, as I look at out at my privileged view, I also realize I have no power whatsoever over anything that happens below. When the water is calm (which it rarely is) I may be able to see some sharks swimming close to the beach and somehow warn swimmers, but in reality with the crashing waves they probably wouldn’t hear me anyway. The beauty and power of the ocean and sky reminds me of the fact that God created all of this, and it beautiful, it is awesome and sometimes frightening, and always beyond our control of what happens below. Most of us struggle managing our day to day lives, and have no control over the circumstances that will come our way in this coming year. So when we make New Year’s resolutions of better health, happiness, and even wealth, we may work diligently toward those desires, but also know there is no guarantee of any of that! CJ and I walked these beaches a year ago with no idea that she had stage 4 metastatic cancer, and no idea that that I would have gall bladder surgery. To be truthful, most of don’t want to know the struggles, suffering, and unforeseen circumstances we may face this year. If we did, it would terrify us at times and leave us feeling hopeless. So while we all love the ocean and mountaintop views of God’s beautiful world, none of us choose to see the view of our life into the future, and even if we did, we would not have the power or the strategy to deal with it on our own!

So I want to suggest to you a different “view from the top” this year: the one that God has of our lives! God sees and knows everything we do, what we will choose to do, and he knows our future, down to the very moment when we die. This is wonderfully good news, because loves us more than we can imagine, and ultimately wants to redeem us from the chains of sin and give us a new life of peace, joy, and his very presence.  As Paul reminds us: ¹⁷  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! – 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)(And, best of all, He alone has the power to do all of this!) But in order to receive God’s grace and guidance in our life, we must let him be God, and trust him with every aspect and fiber of our lives.

In Isaiah 55: 6-9 it says, ⁶  Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷   Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. ⁸  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. ⁹  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways and thoughts are much higher than ours, but that means we must recognize three very important implications of this.

1) God’s higher ways and thoughts are NOT the same as ours!

Most people, and even most Christians, began this year with a “best scenario” wish list. We want good health, enjoyment for our work and lives, and families that get along well and prosper. That’s human nature. But according to the Bible, God sees things differently. He knows we live in a world stained by sin and under the influence of evil. So, ALL of us will struggle in many ways. We will have physical ailments, we will have marriage and family conflicts at times, and we will most likely all lose a friend or family member to death. It’s probably very likely that of the millions who read my blog (just kidding), at least one of us will die this year. I know, this seems like a “bummer” of a message to start the new year with!

2) Because God thinks and acts differently than we may wish, are we still willing to let him be God in our lives?

Most people, even we Christians, too often worship a counterfeit God of our own creation! We want a God who thinks and sees the world just as we do. We want him to bless our plans and ideas, and if he doesn’t, we question his intentions! How often do you hear others say (or say yourself?) “I can’t believe in a God who would allow this to happen to me”, or “I can’t believe in a God who would judge people like this! Isn’t he a God of love?”  With questions like that, what we really want is a God of our own creation, a projection of our own wisdom, our own self. But God calls us to worship his glory, which is the combined magnitude of all his attributes and qualities put together. The glory of God is his infinite beyondness, meaning he is more than we can ever imagine or even think of! So as good as our thoughts & plans may seem to us, he has something far better for us in the long view of eternal life.

3) To truly trust God with our lives and plans, we need to recognize his purpose in everything that happens to us, especially the trials and suffering of life!

James, the brother of Jesus, reminds us:  ²  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. ⁵  If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶  But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷  That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸  he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. – James 1:2-8 (NIV)

James is not saying to be joyful because of trials and troubles! Rather, when you go through trials, recognize and rejoice that God is using that experience as a test of your faith to develop perseverance in you. And as you grow in perseverance, God helps you to mature so that you lack nothing, meaning you will have the tools and resources in God to face any trail or difficulty that will come your way in the future. God want us to trust him fully every day, so we will have his wisdom and understanding that HE is always with us and we are never alone! But when we doubt that, we become spiritually unstable and are tossed around by waves of fear, panic, and anxiety, crashing down just like I see the waves crashing into the beach all day long, totally out of control.

Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 8 that God uses everything that happens to us to draw us closer to him, to make us stronger and more dependent upon him:

²⁸  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ³⁵  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.-Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)

So for this new year in 2020, I wish you much more than what you may have thought you desired. Surely God wants us to enjoy the beauty of this world, whether it’s a penthouse view of the ocean or a calm walk in the woods. He wants us to celebrate the wonderful relationship experiences with close friends and family. He wants us to find meaning and purpose and joy in our work and activities. But more than that, God wants us to begin to understand the bigger view of life that he has for us, and wants us to trust him with every area of our life, now and forever!

I pray that you and I both will remember that everything that happens to us this year, the joys and celebrations as well as the suffering and tragedies, can be used by God to draw us closer to him and make us stronger. Max Lucado said “God loves us just the way we are; but he loves us too much to leave us that way. He wants us to become like Jesus”. To “become like Jesus”, God intends to use every experience in life to mold us, to stretch and change us, and to draw us closer to him. Sometimes those experiences will be wonderful; often they will be painful and difficult. But God promises that all of this, the good and the painful, can lead us to a future of hope and joy and peace, a Kingdom that will last forever and be free of sin and death and evil. But to get there, we have to trust him with all of our life: the good, the bad, and the ugly. We have to trust that he sees and knows and loves infinitely more than we can ever imagine.

Are we willing to trust God’s higher and more profound view of our life and world?

Are we willing to let God truly be God in our life?

Or, do we just want a God that thinks and acts like us?

The choice is ours, and it will make all the difference in our life this year!

I pray this year is one of trust in God, purpose, and hope for you!