God will guide and provide

Jesus said some pretty amazing things! I mean, really, have you ever stopped to not just think about, not just read about, (not just preach about, Michael), but to really whole-heartedly-100% believe all things fantastic claims that we have recorded in the gospels?

            Today as I was sitting with my cup of coffee and a morning Scripture I read from John 14. This is not typically a passage I spend a lot of time in, except in funerals. There are obvious eternal promises in the first 14 verses of this chapter, and there is the obvious comfort from the promises of Jesus to those who are left here as their loved ones have moved in with Jesus.

            Today I wanted to share a couple of things from John 14 that I think are really important to all of us. So, (if you’ve read this before then you know what’s coming next) grab your Bible and check out John 14 with me now.

            “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

            And that’s how Jesus starts this. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. What an amazing statement, right?!

            But we do let our hearts be troubled sometimes, don’t we? We have troubles that are present in our families, our marriages, our finances, our schools, our government, even in our churches. And this trouble can trouble our hearts.

            Maybe that’s why Jesus also said, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew 6:34)

            Trouble is unavoidable. When I was younger my mother said that trouble just seemed to always find me. Truth is, I think I did my fair share to find it, too. I don't really like country music all that much, but I keep hearing that song (I think it was Travis Tritt) about T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

            But in the midst of these troubles of life, perspective is important. First, focus on the trouble of today. Not tomorrow, not next week or next month. We deal with what we can deal with now. Worrying about anything, especially potential future events that may or may not even happen, is pointless, useless, and, dare I say it…faithless.

            Jesus also said, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27).  That’s one of those redundant questions, the obvious answer is NO! And if that is the obvious answer, then the next obvious question is, “so what’s the point of worrying?”

            Do not let your hearts be troubled. And then Jesus goes on to talk about preparing a forever home for us, and then (look at verse 14), he says, “You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it”.

            I have to take a deep breath and pause every time I read this verse. This is one of those passages of Scriptures that have, on one hand, been taken so far to the extreme of craziness that this promise is reduced to our God being a genie in a bottle, or a cosmic vending-machine-prayer-answerer. And on the other hand, this promise is ignored.

            I believe Jesus meant this, or he would not have said it. I also think we need to prayerfully understand what he meant.

            “Ask”. Talk to God. Pray continually, in all situations. Pray believing and pray expecting God to do something, as in answer your prayer! Believe in God. Believe in Jesus. Just, ask.

            “In my name”. In the name of Jesus, there is power in that name! But also in his will (‘thy will be done, not mine’). Believe that God knows best. Pour out your honestly and trust your good Father to answer in a way that is best for you both now and long term.

            “I will do it.” So don’t let your hearts be troubled today. God will guide and provide.

It is well

            Music is good for the soul. I’ve been preaching a series on some of the great hymns of the faith and of our church. This has been fun for me, for as much as I love newer music (and of course classic rock), I deeply appreciate the theology and warmth of our church hymns. A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon based on the hymn by Horatio Spafford, “It is well”.  This is probably one of my favorite hymns.

            To read the all the lyrics to this great hymn, and to read the tragic story that led to the writing of this hymn, check out this site: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-it-is-well-with-my-soul. Horatio and his wife Anna had a son die of pneumonia and then four daughters drown when the ship they were travelling on sank. And while travelling over the spot where this watery tragedy occurred, he wrote, “whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul”.

            Here is what I want us to get at today, this is the question: Is it well with your soul?

            How does somebody write those lyrics in the middle of that kind of pain? I think the truth of how that is possible is very deep, very personal, and very intimate, and is found in Psalm 34:18, “the Lord is close to the broken hearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit”.

I think a key to this is to not wait until disaster strikes to look for the presence and closeness of God, but to be nearer to God every day; in prayer and Scripture reading every morning, in conversation throughout the day, in seeing how God is working in the world around you and in listening to and obeying God’s voice in your life. Day by day, minute by minute. And then, in the middle of our pain, we know that God is still present because he has been with us in every other situation, and our God is close to the broken hearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.

That’s why Jesus said, “blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. The Message translation of this verse in Matthew 5 puts it this way: “You’re blessed when you feel that you’ve lost what is most important to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you”.

No one endured more pain and hurt than Jesus. He was falsely accused, sentenced to be flogged and then crucified. He was stripped of his clothing, lots were cast by the Roman soldiers for his garments, he was then beaten within an inch of his life, a crown of thorns was placed upon his head, he was put upon a cross and nailed to it, with spikes through his hands and his feet, he was lifted up, a sign was placed above him that said King of the Jews. And people spat on him, and they mocked him, and they said, he saved others, let him save himself now. The creation mocking the creator. That's a lot of pain. In the middle of all that physical pain, there was also the consequences, the weight, of the sins of humanity, both mine, yours, the sins of all history placed upon him. And in that moment, at about 3:00 in the afternoon, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why? Why have you forsaken me?”

Have you ever feel like that, you ever feel like, why, I don't get it, why is this happening?

As Horatio stood on the deck of that ship and looked at the waters where his 4 daughters drowned he could have thought that. When Jesus was on the cross and it seemed like most of humanity just didn’t care he could have thought that, too.

But Horatio said “my sin, o the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin not in part by the whole, is nailed to the cross, I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul! “

Oswald Chambers wrote that “any great calamity in the natural world, death, disease, bereavement, will awaken a man when nothing else would, and he is never again the same. We would never know the treasures of darkness if we were always in the place of placid security”

This hymn, is not about deep anguish and question, this is a hymn of great hope and expectation of what God is going to do to create a treasure in the darkness. To bring hope out of the hopeless and peace frm the turmoil

In the midst of this moment, it is well with my soul---

does that describe you?

          Because for some people today, your soul isn't well. Your soul feels broken, your spirit feels crushed. And it may seem like it’s because of external circumstances, but it can’t be. It can’t be that we suffer or go through excruciating times in our lives and that breaks our spirit. Not if Jesus is in us, not if that in all things the peace of God, our Jehovah Shalom is near to us, not if the Holy Spirit actually dwells in us to offer comfort and a peace that surpasses all understanding. As awful as things can get in life it can’t be that these things break us down because he who is in us is greater than he who is in the world. Jesus said we would have problems and troubles in this world but he said, “take heart, have courage, don’t give up, because I have overcome the world”

So the issues are not what is happening to us. That’s not the problem, because God is with us through all these things. So there’s a different problem if our soul is not well.

And the problem is sin.

Every one of us have sinned. Everyone. We've missed the mark. And the penalty, cost of that sin is separation from God. That's not a fun thing to talk about, but it is truth. But it’s so important that we understand this, because it makes the good news even better. And the good news is not religion or theology, the good news is Jesus, the One who took not just part of our sin, but the whole, all of it that ever was and all of it that ever will be. And it was nailed to the cross to set us free.

So, Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!

And may it be well with your soul today.