"Would you like fries with that?" - God

Imagine for a moment, that you pull into your favorite fast food restaurant and order your favorite fast food meal. Your stomach growls with anticipation and hunger as you decide that you might just have to pull into a parking spot and have dinner in the car. Strangely, the cashier asks you to pull forward and tells you that she will bring your meal out to you in about 10 minutes. “Ten minutes!?”, you think to yourself with irritation. Isn't this supposed to be “fast” food? Reluctantly, you pull over, turn the car off and wait. Exactly 10 minutes later, you’re still waiting and hungrier than ever. Finally, 15 minutes later, your food arrives. Famished, you rip open the bag only to discover not the Quarter Pounder with cheese and large fries that you ordered, but a large chicken Caesar salad! The thought of storming into the restaurant and demanding satisfaction crosses your mind, but considering you are close to starvation at this point, you decide to accept what you have and dine. You take a deep breath, eat your "healthy" salad, and dream about how good that Quarter Pounder would have tasted! You finish eating, sit back, start the car and head for home for a bowl of Cap’n Crunch.

After the drive home, you realize something. You feel surprisingly good. In fact, you have more energy than you have had in days! The anger from your 15-minute wait seems to be gone and you realize that if you had been served that double cheeseburger in five minutes, and eaten it in two, at this moment you would be eating Rolaids like candy.

We live in a “fast food” culture. Everything that we want, we want NOW. We microwave our meals as well as our relationships. The faster the better and anything that we have to wait for, is just not worth it. In fact, we have grown to believe that good things DON’T come to those who wait, but to those who can intimidate others to get what they want immediately. Is it any wonder that our relationship with God reflects how we view our life in America?

Our prayer life is much like the above scenario, despite how ridiculous it may sound. Answers to prayer typically do not come quickly and they are usually not what we expect. How many times have you prayed about something and expected to hear an answer right at that very moment? We tend to look at God as the cashier behind the counter. “OK, God. I’ll have THIS, THAT, but not too much of THAT, and while your at it, through in some of THIS.” We wait. We listen. And usually, we hear nothing. Automatically we assume that God isn't listening, or we question if He is really there at all. Waiting on God is not something that comes easy for us as Westerners. We become discouraged and our faith becomes weak. But as the profit Isaiah said, “Blessed are all who wait for him!”. Even in dark times, He hears our cries. Jonah knew this well as he cried out, “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help and you listened to my cry.”

There are two things that you can be assured of: God always hears ALL of our prayers and He always answers our prayers according to His will. In 1 John 5:14, it says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him.” Notice that this is not an unconditional guarantee because our prayers must be within the will of God.

We see examples of this throughout the Psalms. David prays, waits and seeks God’s will. He goes into great detail to describe his pain and anguish while approaching God. I believe that this shows that David spent a significant amount of time waiting for God. Not only did he wait, but because of his suffering, more than likely, David’s prayers were not answered the way in which he would have liked. Above all, we are assured that David knew that his prayers were being heard: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” David asked, he waited, he heard from God and He accepted God’s will as the best thing for him. He may have wanted the double cheeseburger, but God gave him the salad instead. And David not only “ate the salad”, but rejoiced and praised his Lord for hearing and answering his prayer.

Faith

I spend a lot of time meditating on life and the world we live in. And when I think about it, I've been like this ever since I was a little boy. I remember sitting in my room, staring at the ceiling and asking questions like, "Why am I here?" "Why am I who I am?" "Why does this world exist?" "Why is there death?" As I developed a deeper concept of God, these questions began to make more sense, but I have to admit; even today, I ponder these issues probably more than most people. And probably more than I should. After all, the book of Ecclesiastes opens with the words, "Meaningless! Meaningless!...Everything is meaningless." Maybe he was on to something?

I guess you can say that I got a glimpse of the "meaninglessness" of life a few weeks ago. Let me share with you what happened on an ordinary day after getting my haircut. As I turned my car onto FM 518, I saw the familiar and peppy gallop of two dogs that I met and rescued just after Christmas. Trevor and Faith were trotting down the busy League City street in the familiar and aimless manner of dogs who are not at all street savoy. Afternoon congestion only caused confusion, as they blindly dodged in and out of traffic; for a moment darting off the side walk and then back on again. I instantly knew that I was going to have to intervene to keep these two out of imminent danger yet again.

I began to pull over, but before I could initiate a plan of attack, the two suddenly split up. Trevor, a terrior mix, sprinted down the sidewalk that parallels FM 518, and Faith, a black lab, dodged into an apartment complex, apparently limping as she listlessly hopped a parking lot curb. Assuming that she would be safe for the moment, I chose to try and round up Trevor as he raced East toward my neighborhood. Speeding ahead of traffic, I screeched into the next intersection, cut him off at the pass, and waited for him to get a bit closer. "Come on Trevor! Come on boy!", I yelled out, assuming he would recognize me. But much to my surprise, he quickly darted to the left, and fell into a full speed sprint through an open field.

Realizing that there was no chance of catching him, I quickly made an illegal u-turn, and backtracked to find Faith. Back at the apartment complex, I made my way through the back parking lot until I saw two people standing behind a few parked cars looking down at the grass. I asked if they had seen a black lab, and my heart sunk as a woman replied with tears in her eyes, "Yeah, she's right here! And she's messed up bad!"

Jumping out of my car, I raced over to where the people were standing. And there on the ground, laying in a grassy spot was Faith; gasping for breath and bleeding from the mouth. "Is she yours?", the woman asked. "No, but I know her and know where she lives. I saved her a few months ago and was trying to do it again.". I put my hand on Faith's head and whispered that it was going to be OK. You know, the way "dog people", like myself, find themselves talking to dogs? The other person was a man pouring cold water over her head and mumbled that she must be bleeding internally. We agreed and after a few minutes, we glanced at each other, shook our heads, and without a word, agreed that she was not going to make it. Unfortunately, our unspoken assumption was right.

As I rubbed Faith's head with my right hand, she laid her head on top of my left, gave one last raspy gasp, spit out some blood, closed her eyes and died. Just like that. We sat there, starring at Faith for a few seconds and it was very quiet. I wasn't unusually sad, but I suddenly felt very out of control. Not panic, anger or fear, but just a simple realization that I really don't have a lot of control in life. This elaborate system that God has created is complex and in reality, we are just a part of it. We don't control the system, we only live in submission to it or aimlessly attempt to manipulate it.

The author of Ecclesiastes goes on to say that "No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death." Yes, you may be thinking that Faith was just a dog. And I guess an animal's life is not on the same level as that of a humans, but life is life. God grants it and He takes it away. He starts all the internal clocks of life and stops them when time runs out. We have no real control, and I think a large part of our healthy functioning in this system God has created, is just accepting that.

Job understood this simple concept. And when he found himself in in the midst of the deepest grief and despair in the death of his sons and daughters, he lifted up his hands toward God and cried out from the depth of his soul, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Job knew that life is in the control of the hands of God, just as the wind that blows and cannot be contained with feeble human hands.

Sure, I could look at this experience and say to myself, "Hey, Faith was just another dog that got hit by a car. It happens everyday". But I chose to dig into the moment and focus on what was really happening. God's system of creation is constantly moving around us and for the most part, it functions better than anything human hands have developed. Life is an amazing thing and seeing life end from time to time helps us to realize how incredible each breath of it really is.

The Image of Christ

Over the last couple of years, God has been directing me in odd directions. Strange concepts fill my dreams at night; they wake me up and send me to my laptop to write what I am trying to decipher. Writing has become somewhat of a communication with God for me, because as my thoughts pour into word, He deepens my insight into who He is. And these insights cause me to reflect on who I am; or who I am supposed to be.

Lately, God has specifically been directing my thoughts and prayers to what it really means to be transformed into His image. And through prayer, I meditate on the imperfections in my life. I began asking God to change those things which are against His will or opposite of what He created me to be. But rather than hearing, “Well, Jake I need you to do this, that and the other thing. Be this way. Be that way.” I began to simply hear, “Be transformed into the image of my Son.” And that’s it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I began to pursue this and it caused me to contemplate what this really means in my life. To be transformed into the image of Christ.

The word Sanctification, is just a big word for the continuous process of making ourselves holy, or setting ourselves apart. Distinguishing ourselves as a follower of Christ and dedicating our efforts to be more like Him. As we grow in Christ, we are continuously being transformed into His likeness. Becoming more and more like Him. It’s a process that we live our lives by, that begins with salvation and carries on until we are finally glorified; which is just the end result, or reaching the finish line after this life. In many ways, this process is a restoration back to what was intended in the first place, before the fall of man. And to find out more of what the image of Christ is, I actually found myself going back to the book of Genesis, and looking at what man was created for in the first place.

Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image AND likeness”, and in the next verse (27), God goes on to say “in the IMAGE of God He made him.” For some reason, He is silent on “likeness”. Why is this? Well, what I think is going on here is a description of the progression of creation. See, in the first creation, man received the honor and privilege of being made in God's image, but the likeness of God is something that is ongoing, and finally completed when we leave this world. That’s what sanctification is all about.

I see myself living this out in a very practical way; by following the example of Christ. Imitating God, so to speak. And that draws into the even deeper concept of living our lives as Christians and realizing our identity as children of God. The Bible talks about followers of Christ being "transformed". Most significantly, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

As we become more like Christ, a restoration begins to take place in creation. We begin to be transformed back to what we were originally created to be in the first place. We see this in Colossians 3:10, where Paul talks about putting on the “new self” “which is being renewed in the knowledge in the image of its Creator.” And Ephesians 4:22-24, where Paul says that we are “made new” and to “put on the new self” “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

OK. This all sounds well and good, but I began to ask myself, "Do I really believe that this is true? And if I do, why do I not live as a “new creation” on a regular basis. Why do I walk out of the door on Sunday mornings, and live as the “old creation” when I get home?" If I am in fact, a “new creation”, then my life needs to emmulate a life that is lived in constant awareness of this basic principle. Am I conscious of this every waking moment? Am I transformed even to the point of how I physically see the world? Am I looking at life through the eyes of Christ, or am I looking through the eyes of who I once was?

As we find ourselves being transformed in Christ's image, it’s almost as if we are putting on "Christ" glasses that distort all that we see, but in a way that brings clarity, not a blurred reality. You see, when we refuse to allow ourselves to be transformed, we are essentially giving our will over to sin, and that is the exact antithesis of the Christ's image. And this is the essence of the fall of man, and the beginning of man's skewed and distorted image. We lost the image of God that He intended us to have.

In the early days of Christianity, followers of Christ were called Christians as a derogatory term. It meant “little Christ”. I can imagine the Greek philosophers calling out, “Hey look! There's another one of those “little Christs”. But when you think about it, what a great derogatory term. If only I could be called a "little Christ" more often! But could I be accused of that on a daily basis? Am I walking with God in such a way, that I am intertwined with Christ’s image and it spews over into my life? Am I a "little Christ"?

Digital History

I finally went digital, kicking and screaming, about 2 years ago. See, when I was in high school, I was really into black and white photography. To me, there was nothing better than spending an entire day shooting a role of film, entering the dark room that evening, and watching the images of my mind being transformed to print. It was a rush that I still think about from time to time. And when I do, I find myself feeling very nostalgic. I think back to what it was like when I was growing up and all the memories I keep in one of those "LIFE" files. We all have them, don't we? A thought pops into our mind, we smell something that flips a switch and we are transported to a time that seems so distant, but more familiar than much of reality. And it makes me meditate on who I am today and how God has used my history to carve out the man that sits here and writes blogs.

Much like our Creator, history is an entity that doesn't exist in time and space. We harness it through the mystery of the mind and the miracle of memory. And when you think about it, our memory function is really an incredible gift from God. We can restrain it, we can repress it, we can embellish it or we can allow it to run wild. We mold it. Carve it. And we cherish it. But the fact of the matter is that history is what it is. It remains constant despite our manipulation. History is what it is, and one thing that remains constant about history is that it is imperfect.

Open a photo album before the advent of digital photography. Let your mind go back as you look over the images. You'll find that much of what you see is a vast array of imperfection. Great memories and nostalgia that runs deep, but flawed and irregular. Look closely at the pictures. Look at the faces. Someone's eyes are closed. Your little brother has his tongue sticking out. Someone is not looking at the camera, not smiling or is scratching something that should not be caught on film! And hey, isn't the classic "red eye" hilarious sometimes?

But these imperfections are part of the canvass that is our life. Yes, God has created us in His image and likeness, and His image should be perfection, but unfortunately that image is flawed by the sin that is in our lives. Just read through the first few chapters of Genesis. We do our best to perfect life, but what is left is still the imperfect. We can label that memory file "PERFECT LIFE", but in reality it is still just "LIFE". A digital camera can help us eliminate the little flaws in our memories, but it doesn't eliminate the imperfections. And those imperfections create an elaborate, deep and warm canvass of history, and are who we are.

I lost my camera early this week, but found it this morning, and for some reason, I feel like taking a lot of pictures. I hope that you'll do the same this weekend, and don't be so quick to hit the delete button. Don't be so quick to backup only the pictures that are "perfect", because for that matter, what is "perfect"? Take pictures! Make memories! Fill up the memory card! But keep ALL of them and build a rich history; imperfections and all.

Flux (Part II)

In an instant, you move from the "valleys" of life, to the "hilltops". Tragedy turns to joy and you finally see the hilltop is just up ahead. You've been clawing your way up for some time now. You take a deep breath, take a few more steps, pull yourself up to the next foothold, and briefly consider resting for a while. No way! The excitement of finally being out of the "valley" causes you to accelerate your ascension. You're almost there! You press on, and although your arms ache, your legs quiver as they lose strength, and your fingers bleed from the climb, you finally reach your destination! A sudden rush of adrenaline surges through your exhausted body as you feel release. Like an animal that has just broken free form a confining and painful trap. You made it! The view is great, isn't it? You take a deep breath and take it all in. You're not only finally out of the "valley", but you've reached the peak. This is what it's all about, right? But now what?

"This time, my life is going to change for good! Through this difficult time, I've learned what I need to keep myself on track!" But a few days pass and as usual, life continues to happen around us. We find ourselves moving just a little closer to the edge of the "hilltop". After all, we're too smart to allow ourselves to make the same mistakes as we did before, right? We hop down a few levels, just to see what's going on down there. We explore a bit more than we should, because we're stronger now, right? We've learned ALL we need to know. But soon, complacency gives birth to stupidity and before we know it, we are heading full speed, on our way down to the next "valley" that awaits us; fueled by complacency. Drawn by the excitement of the descent, we make our way down, knowing full well what follows. We become disillusioned.

I've found that the ancient Israelites get a bad rap. Seeing the big picture before us, we see a nation that was chosen by God and continuously blessed by God. Even today, it's easy to see God's hand upon His chosen people. But, all you have to do is read through Isaiah 1:1-31, and you can clearly see how they seemed to have had a habit of discounting the "hilltops" of their lives. They became complacent, discount God's favor and complain until they find themselves heading downhill, inevitably toward the next "valley". But are we no different than them? Each time Israel followed God and cherished their relationship with Him, they thrived! Blessing upon blessing was poured out on them! They succeeded financially, socially, culturally, militarily and of course, spiritually. But what they soon did is not much different than what we do as followers of Christ. We settle into that comfy chair and continue to find more ways to justify mediocrity. After all, it's comfortable, isn't it? The predictability of life becomes something we can count on, and in a world that is increasingly unstable, we begin to rely on spiritual stability. We begin to live in a lull of life, and create an invulnerable persona of ourselves. Sound familiar?

Hence, the danger of complacency. As C.S. Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures", possibly because we should have our ears wide open! But the descent calls to us, and we rush down the slope in a state of spiritual amnesia. Our defenses are broken down and the flux of life continues.