Guarding Our Hearts From the Three “R’s”

“Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!  And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

 Genesis 45:4-7

I closed yesterdays’ blog with these thoughts:

“How have you handled rejection in the past?

Let’s look together this week at how it should be handled.

If your past handling of rejection is less than honorable, we can learn how to surrender it to God for His use and His purposes.

Are you ready?” 

So our ‘how-to’ today needs to start with a warning.

We must learn to guard our hearts from resentment, retaliation and revenge.  

If anybody had reason to ‘get even’ it was Joseph.

He was sold into slavery by his own brothers.

That was only as a concession because their original intent was to murder him!

How easy it would have been for Joseph to count the days until he could pay them back for their evil to him.

But a resentful heart, bent on retaliation and revenge, would have kept Joseph in a personal prison far longer than the prison stay he endured after being falsely accused by Potiphars’ wife.     

There is a high price we pay for taking vengeance into our own hands.

We yield to our desires but in the process God’s purposes in the rejection we suffered are lost.

How tragic.

It becomes a ‘fruitless rejection’ when Gods’ will is not worked through it!

We used to speak of formal education at the primary levels consisting of the:

 “Three R’s” – Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic.  

Perhaps we can remember today’s’ point, i.e., that we handle Gods’ rejection properly by guarding our hearts from the:

“Three R’s” – Resentment, Retaliation and Revenge.

When Following God Causes Rejection!

 “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more.  He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.”

 Genesis 37: 5-8

Joseph knew Rejection with a capital “R”.

Why?

Because he had a dream from God and made the mistake? of telling his brothers!

I know you may not want to hear this but rejection was not unique to Joseph.

We all face it.

We all fear it.

We all hate it.

We all experience it.

As a matter of fact rejection is not always just the result of some mean person out to hurt you.

Sometimes its’ Gods’ purposes in your life that cause rejection.

Joseph’s brothers, we are told, hated him all the more because of his dream.

Josephs dream was not from a bad meal the night before.

His dream was from God.

If you know the story of Joseph then you know his dream was fulfilled.

It took many years but, nonetheless, the dream he received from God came to pass.

But, between the dream and its fulfillment there was a whole lot of rejection Joseph had to deal with.

Who knows how different the story might have been if Joseph had not dealt properly with rejection.

He faced it from his brothers.

He faced it at Potiphars’ house.

He faced it in the prison.

But most importantly, he didn’t allow that rejection to form him into a bitter, resentful, retaliatory and vengeful old man.

Instead he allowed it to be used by God to shape him into a vessel fit for Gods’ purposes. How have you handled rejection in the past?

Let’s look together this week at how it should be handled.

If your past handling of rejection is less than honorable, we can learn how to surrender it to God for His use and His purposes.

Are you ready?    

The View From the Cockpit

 “And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always.”

I Samuel 2: 34-35

How good is your vision?

Can you see as much of your environment at ground level as you can see from a window on the thirtieth floor of a building?

Your perspective is quite different at those two vantage points isn’t it?

How about the window seat of an airplane several miles up?

It may be a great view on a sunny, cloudless day but it cannot compare to the view the pilot has from the cockpit.

Now let me ask you about your spiritual eyesight?

Can it compare to Gods?

Of course not!

God is Omnipresent and Omniscient.

 There is nothing – past, present or future that is hidden from Him.

The last few days we have been talking about the hardship that Hannah endured and her persistence in prayer.

I wonder if, on her annual treks to the Lords’ house in Shiloh, she ever encountered the bad behavior of Eli’s sons.

Scripture says they were wicked and their behavior contemptible. 

We are not told in the record of any interaction between Hophni, Phineas and Hannah.

Suppose she did observe their evil handling of the sacred priesthood they had been entrusted with?

Do you suppose she would have made a connection between them and her barrenness?

Probably not.

She was looking at life, hers in particular, at ‘ground level’.

If she ever prayed for a restoration of holiness in the priesthood she doubtless would never have thought it would be tied to her fervent prayer for a child. 

She did not have the perspective of God.

Neither do we.

God answered her prayer and she greatly rejoiced in His answer.

Her barrenness was over and God was, through the answer to her prayer, also addressing the spiritual barrenness of the Nation of Israel.

Her prayer answered a need she probably never considered.

How about your prayer?

What will God accomplish when you remain persistent in prayer through the hardships you are enduring?

You may never understand the full scope of the answer to that question but don’t let that stop you from persevering.

Hannah didn’t!

Are We There Yet?

“Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast. Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the Lord remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”

I Samuel 1: 17-20

 

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Maybe you are a parent and reading this.

If so, the familiar refrain is apparent!

You are on a long car trip, the children in the back seat anxious to arrive at the destination.

Their anxiousness and eagerness is trying your patience but you simply say:

“No, not much longer though!”

Their anxiousness and eagerness translated into the refrain above doesn’t make the trip any shorter though does it?

I know what you’re thinking – “No, it makes it seem longer!”  

Like Hannah, our persistence in prayer causes us to await God’s perfect timing.

I know how we view it though –

Immediate need = Immediate answer

Our immaturity sometimes makes us think all our requests are answered immediately.

Like the children we expect that as soon as we are in the back seat

(God is in the drivers’ seat of course) we should be where we want to be.

We perceive the need (our destination in prayer) as immediate but God is refining our lives through persistent prayer.

Persistence in prayer allows Gods’ purposes to be fulfilled on His calendar and not ours.

So the next time you go into your prayer closet and are tempted to ask about your petition:

Is it answered yet?

Is it answered yet?

Is it answered yet?

Consider all that God wants to accomplish in you and perhaps in others

through the process of answering your prayer.

Your prayer closet conversation may change from a question to a statement –

Thy will be done!

As Plain As The Nose On Your Face

“In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the Lord…

As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth.

 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard...

I was pouring out my soul to the Lord...

I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

I Samuel 1: 10-16 (selected)

So what do you do when hardship comes into your life?

Well, I tried to make the answer a ‘no-brainer’

-or-

As the title suggests; as plain as the nose on your face…

You remain persistent in prayer!

Of course, Hannah’s example is highlighted above.

You can pray or you can pout.

But keep in mind that pouting won’t capture the attention of God as prayer does.

There is an interesting testimony to Hannah’s perseverance found in verse 7:

   “…this went on year after year…”

True, this is actually speaking of the repeated provoking of Hannah by her rival.

Nonetheless, she remained fervent and faithful in prayer.

I know it is easy to say but tougher to do.

We grow weary or our faith wavers and we forget to pray.

Pouting is easier work!

Hannah didn’t forget, she didn’t pout, she persevered. 

Don’t take my word for it though, listen to Jesus –

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them

that they should always pray and not give up.”

Matthew 18:1

What hardship have you been facing?

What trial has been pushing your buttons?

It is never time to throw in the towel.

Redouble your commitment in prayer!

When hardships come into your life, be persistent in prayer.

After all, it’s as plain as the nose on your face!

God Has a Purpose in the Hardships He Brings

 “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving

for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

II Corinthians 4:17

 

Not all hardships we may experience are from God.

Most of us would confess to doing some stupid things in life that then

created problems for us down the road.

Those would be examples of hardships and difficulties we have brought on ourselves.

In the life of Job we find trials and afflictions brought, not by God or through wrong actions on Jobs part, but by the devil.

Certainly, one way we can distinguish grief and struggles brought on by our own actions or the actions of the devil is to recognize that any hardships God brings in your life, He does so with a pre-planned purpose.

God is not cruel and He does not bring trials, afflictions and hardships just to watch you suffer and squirm.

In our example yesterday He brought, through Hannah’s hardship, a prophet to the Nation of Israel.

God declared in I Samuel 2:35 –

“I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always.”

Now if you say that God accomplished more than that one thing in the life of Hannah, Elkanah and others, you would be right.

Often we can learn and grow much from the trials we endure. 

That, in itself, is another distinguishing feature of Gods hardships in our lives.

But it is equally true that what we learn and how we grow can impact,

not only our own lives but also, the lives of many others.

You need look no further than the life of Christ and His work on the cross to understand how the hardship of one brought blessings to many!

If God has brought hardship into your life, persevere through that it might

accomplish all He  purposed it to do. 

You will be blessed and so too will many others!

Dealing With Quadruplets

“But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb.  Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her.  This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.”

I Samuel 1:5-7

Why is it stated twice?

It clearly says that it was the Lord who closed Hannah’s womb!

Not the devil.

Not some disease or infirmity.

 Not some other reason – it was the Lord who closed it.

Certainly that's not 'feel good' theology and maybe God knew some might look for a way to soften the blow of that truth hitting us so it was repeated - as if to say - YES! I meant what I said! 

But you still have to ask the question. 

Why?

Why did the Lord close Hannah's womb?

I mean, after all, it’s not like it went unnoticed by others.

Because of it, she suffered humiliation and scorn from others to the point of tears.

Didn’t God understand that she was hurt?

Didn’t He care about her feelings?

Yes and yes.

But sometimes Gods’ plans are more important than our ‘feelings’.

That is not to minimize the pain that Hannah surely felt but to recognize that some of Gods’ greatest works, in and through us, are born out of pain, suffering, hardships and trials.

These are ‘quadruplets’ we’d rather not dote over: pain, suffering, hardships and trials.

You know as well as I do that they come into every person’s life.

How we respond to them, what we do with them makes all the difference as to whether God gets the glory through it or whether we throw in the towel, failing to see His purpose fulfilled.

We will look at Hannah’s response as well as the outcome of that response.

This will guide us in better understanding how we need to sometimes deal with

 the quadruplets of pain, suffering, hardships and trials.