Loving Affliction

May 4, 2013

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word….  It is good for me that I have been afflicted…I know, O Lord, that in faithfulness You have afflicted me.” (Psalm 119: 67, 71, 75)

Many believers like me can resonate with these words written above.  Although this is not always the explanation when God’s people are afflicted, it very often is.  I have been living with a chronic illness since 1978 and I have been paralyzed since 1984.  It was my affliction that moved me to do the life’s work God was calling me to do for Him.

God tells us in His Word that He chastens those He loves (Revelation 3:19).  Although the goodness of God can lead us to repentance, for most of us it is the chastening of our Lord, knocking on the door of our life that moves us to open the door and invite Him into the practical areas of our life.  Like Jonah, it is only through divine intervention that our “I will not” is converted to “I will.”

As a “Type A” obsessive-compulsive, workaholic pastor I left before I got there and people could not keep up with my fast walk.  For someone like me to be slammed down in one place, unable to move anything from the neck down, it was an overwhelming intervention.

It took two years to even begin moving toward accepting my limits. When the acceptance came it was a supernatural miracle of inner healing.  It took twenty years, but I eventually reached the point where I could tell the Lord I loved Him for cutting me back and improving the quality and quantity of what He wanted me to do for Him.

Can you resonate with the perspective of this ancient hymn writer?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

Contentment

April 8, 2013

“And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”   (1Timothy 6:8)

The Apostle Paul makes several observations about contentment as he writes to his son in the faith Timothy.  He tells this young pastor that some believe godliness should lead to gain.  We still have people in the church who believe that way.  Those who preach what is known as the prosperity theology proclaim that if you are godly you should also be healthy and wealthy.  Paul considers that a heresy and proclaims that godliness with contentment is great gain.

Paul also writes that some believe great gain will lead to great contentment.  He warns that those who will to be rich can fall into temptations and harmful lusts that can lead to their spiritual destruction.  He then observes that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Observe that he does not write that money itself is that root of evil.

It is not sinful or wrong to be wealthy.  Believers can experience the blessing of God on them in the form of great wealth because they are faithful stewards and God can trust them with money.  But Timothy is to flee a love of money and a will to be rich in pursuit of contentment and pursue the godliness that will bring contentment here and blessing hereafter.

What did it take to bring contentment to Paul? Paul drew the line at food and clothing.  He did not even include shelter.  (Perhaps that was because he spent so much time in prison.)

What does it take to bring you contentment?  Are your ambitions and expectations Biblical expectations and ambitions?

We could paraphrase what Paul wrote here and in what may be his prescription for contentment: “He who lives content with little possesses everything!”

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Posted by Dick Woodward

Absolutes about Knowing God

March 5, 2013

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11: 6)

The truth is when I first came to faith and to the ministry I was struggling to know God.  Providentially I had several spiritual heavyweights who mentored me to God.  They shook things down for me into three basic and absolute propositions that made sense to me then and still do today.

Their first proposition was that God is there.  I have not struggled with that proposition.  I began by reflecting on the many, many ways God responds to the very many prayers I pray to Him there.

Their second proposition was that God is real.  I found that when I related myself to God He responded by relating Himself to me.  That inspired me to believe that He was not only there, He was very real when I related to Him and made personal contact with His divine presence.

When I found myself sharing with God the intimate dimensions of my personal, private and even secret life He responded to those prayers.  I realized that I had come to believe in a personal God.  That was the third proposition of my mentors: God is personal.

They wanted me to believe in and come to know a God who knew the numbers of hairs on my head.  By the grace and providence of God I have come to know that personal God.  I can believe Him when He tells me He has a plan for my life which when followed will make me a unique person distinct from every other living person.

Will you believe in the God who is there, real and personal?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

What Do You Want?

February 26, 2013

“And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work…For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him.”   (Philippians 1:6; 2:13, NLT)

When Jesus met two of the apostles for the first time He asked them the question: “What do you want?” They were disciples of John the Baptist and John had instructed them to follow Jesus.  They were following behind Jesus as He walked down a road.  Jesus turned and asked them this question when He saw them.

Following Jesus can have a dynamic impact upon the way we answer that question.  We often have a flawed “want to” when we meet Jesus.  But as we follow Him He heals those flaws in the desires of our hearts.  I remember a college student who met Jesus and was following Him for some time.  As she expressed her excitement about the changes in her life she exclaimed, “I wonder where my want to went to!”

As we follow Jesus we discover that when He shows us what we should want we need more than just knowing what we should want.  We need the power to do what we should want to do.  As a pastor over many decades, I have been intrigued by the importance of this question.  Why do some people earnestly desire to do the will of God while many others are apathetic?

According to Paul, it is God who gives us the unflawed “want to” and the dynamic power to obey Him and do what pleases Him.  Would you like to follow Jesus and wonder where your “want to” went to?  Begin every day by letting Jesus ask you, “What do you want?”

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Posted by Dick Woodward

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