I was doing everything right.
We had more business than ever, I was doing my best, coming to work even when I was a little sick, telling myself that complaining just makes things worse. I was less sick than the year before. It is good to work, to have the responsibility, to be accountable to my colleagues. They would also work with headaches, fever, sore throat, and who knows what else. So if I thought about staying at home for feeling nauseous, I would also end up feeling guilty. The lesson was, work even when nauseous; work as long as I can stand on my feet.
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son..."
1 Kings 11:4, 11-12
I read this part as my Bible study one morning during my sick leave. I picked up what at first seemed like a cold, which in a few days developed into bronchitis. I had to stay at home the whole week (!!!), and it was a good thing that I had vacation after that, otherwise I'd be officially sick even longer.
But, here I was, with a whole day on my hands, the first thing (or one of the first things) was that I had longer time With God. I also noticed that that week was the first after a while when I'd had regular Bible study. My prayer life was there, but I had lost connection to the Word.
So, I went back to my study of the splitting of the Kingdom. This was THE point in time when God decided it had been enough of Solomon's lunacy. His numerous wives - whose number was not even that big of a deal - had led him away from the one true God. Solomon took on other priorities, although he began his reign with splendor of God's wisdom. God fulfilled His promises, Solomon strayed from his. Then God did what had to happen: He took the kingdom away from the king. Well, from his son, but don't think Solomon took it lightly. He later tried to kill the young man, Jeroboam, who was promised to become the king of the northern ten tribes, but he escaped to Egypt.
First thing after Solomon's death, his son makes a bad political move, which leads to the rebellion of the Northern tribes, and they indeed crown Jeroboam the king. God keeps his promise to David - his descendants are still kings.. But with the painful knowledge that ten tribes have a kingdom of their own.
And there I was, with more time in the Word, readying about consequences of Solomon's idolatry. Then it hits me: that's the name of the sin; this is what I did. OK, I don't have 700 wives, nor do I want to have one, but I did let people that I respect and care about lead me away from God's standard. The tension in my friendships was growing. I also noticed how my shifts more and more overlapped with church meetings. And then it took toll on my health. It took insight from a dear friend (thank you!!) to bring my attention to the dynamics of the situation.
Hopefully, I have learned something from the bad example of the wisest man on Earth. It has been days since my realization, and I am still processing all the ways how it affects my attitude and decisions.
It's trickier than it seems, to keep to God's guidance in the midst of all the voices. I believe that recognizing God's voice is again the question of training and the habit of bringing Him into the situations. But God believes it is doable. =)
So let's do it before God starts taking things away.
Do you go to work/ school/ appointments/ ... with the attitude of bringing God's perspective into the situation?
What does it take for it to happen?
Do you really want God with you all the time?
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Thursday, April 03, 2014
The Matter Of Perspective
You know the feeling when the sun is shining, you've just bought the perfect piece for your outfit, dinner was delicious and with great people and you are on your way home to read before you fall asleep..., and then you get a text saying that you need to come up with a certain solution by tomorrow/ the team building karaoke gets cancelled because so many people can't make it/ you come home and find a bill for something you'd forgotten to pay months ago/ somebody puts you down in front of other people... ?
Good feelings gone. And you know exactly whose fault it is, and you struggle to forgive them...
But..
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mt 6:22-23
It is easy to observe an unpleasant situation take place and call it bad and feel bad about it. It is natural.
But Jesus calls us to have the eyes of faith. Basically, it depends on our attitude when we observe something. Imagine your eyes were actual lights, shining out of your head. ...OK, I realize this is a little absurd, but this is what he says.
When the light is shining directly into the thing you are looking at, that thing is clear. Then what we see, we interpret in the perspective of that clarity.
If we take the metaphor further, and say that what shines out of our eyes is God's light, we see things in His perspective. We interpret things from His perspective. That interpretation is good for us, and fills us with God's light.
But if our attitude is not shining God's light on the situation, Jesus says that not only our eyes are impaired, but our interpretation as well. For, how can we see things correctly in the dark? That interpretation is therefore wrong, and bad for us. And it increases the dark.
Whether the light in our eyes is on or off, depends on us alone.
Think about it. Whose fault is it really that our good feelings are gone?
I'm not saying that we should be always smiling like everything is peachy keen, even when heavier drama comes into our lives.
But we can always make sure that we see things in God's light. It may not work the first time. God knows that. Consider:
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
1 Tim 4:7-9 (emphasis added)
'Train yourself to be godly' implies a process. Sure, it starts with a decision, but training takes time, it's a continual follow-up on that decision, involves baby steps and perseverance, perhaps considerable time before we see the fruit of that training.
And yet, Paul says that even the training itself has value. It seems that the promises of this life and the one to come are just a bonus!
Train yourself to see things in God's light. What better way is there to observe this world, than from God's perspective? Love the process. Give yourself a mental high-five every time you see a spark of improvement. Keep training.
I've sort of started this training in November last year. Every time I saw myself keeping my cool in an unpleasant situation, I was encouraged to keep trying, as it always seemed I'm almost "there". The thing is, I have gotten a lot better in keeping the faith, but the more I learn, the more I see that I am in no immediate danger of perfection. But I also see more clearly how much God rejoices when we take on this journey. Because it's a journey with His son.
Meditate on Mt 6:22-23
Decide to radiate light when life catches you by surprise, and allow Jesus to show you life according to God.
Observe wonders and praise Him for it.
Co-written by Alena, Düsseldorf
Good feelings gone. And you know exactly whose fault it is, and you struggle to forgive them...
But..
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mt 6:22-23
It is easy to observe an unpleasant situation take place and call it bad and feel bad about it. It is natural.
But Jesus calls us to have the eyes of faith. Basically, it depends on our attitude when we observe something. Imagine your eyes were actual lights, shining out of your head. ...OK, I realize this is a little absurd, but this is what he says.
When the light is shining directly into the thing you are looking at, that thing is clear. Then what we see, we interpret in the perspective of that clarity.
If we take the metaphor further, and say that what shines out of our eyes is God's light, we see things in His perspective. We interpret things from His perspective. That interpretation is good for us, and fills us with God's light.
But if our attitude is not shining God's light on the situation, Jesus says that not only our eyes are impaired, but our interpretation as well. For, how can we see things correctly in the dark? That interpretation is therefore wrong, and bad for us. And it increases the dark.
Whether the light in our eyes is on or off, depends on us alone.
Think about it. Whose fault is it really that our good feelings are gone?
I'm not saying that we should be always smiling like everything is peachy keen, even when heavier drama comes into our lives.
But we can always make sure that we see things in God's light. It may not work the first time. God knows that. Consider:
7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
1 Tim 4:7-9 (emphasis added)
'Train yourself to be godly' implies a process. Sure, it starts with a decision, but training takes time, it's a continual follow-up on that decision, involves baby steps and perseverance, perhaps considerable time before we see the fruit of that training.
And yet, Paul says that even the training itself has value. It seems that the promises of this life and the one to come are just a bonus!
Train yourself to see things in God's light. What better way is there to observe this world, than from God's perspective? Love the process. Give yourself a mental high-five every time you see a spark of improvement. Keep training.
I've sort of started this training in November last year. Every time I saw myself keeping my cool in an unpleasant situation, I was encouraged to keep trying, as it always seemed I'm almost "there". The thing is, I have gotten a lot better in keeping the faith, but the more I learn, the more I see that I am in no immediate danger of perfection. But I also see more clearly how much God rejoices when we take on this journey. Because it's a journey with His son.
Meditate on Mt 6:22-23
Decide to radiate light when life catches you by surprise, and allow Jesus to show you life according to God.
Observe wonders and praise Him for it.
Co-written by Alena, Düsseldorf
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