I can’t see the forest for the trees!  Perhaps you’ve heard this idiomatic saying or even said it yourself at some point.  It basically means I’m focusing too much on details – particularly on detailed problems – and I’m missing the larger perspective. 

A few weeks ago, in my How Are You Series I wrote about the difference between happiness and joy.  I believe happiness is an emotion that comes and goes unpredictably as the events of life unfold while joy is a spiritual state that is a gift of God’s Spirit and reflects the condition of your spiritual tank.  I referenced Philippians 4:11-13 in that article to illustrate that it was possible to have joy and contentment in life even at times when happiness is not possible.  However, I have to admit that even though I recognize consistent joy is possible and Paul seems to have found the secret to sustained joy in his life, I am all too frequently missing joy and contentment in my life.  I believe Paul gives me a clue how I can fall out of joy in this same passage in Philippians chapter four and it’s the old forest and trees problem.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:4-7

Notice this passage begins with a well-known encouragement to rejoice in the Lord and ends with the promise of the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds.  What a comforting passage about the joy and peace of the Lord.  However, buried in the middle of this comforting scripture is a gotcha!  Verse 6 tells us, “do not be anxious.”  Why would Paul slide this little reminder in the middle of this passage on joy and peace?  Because anxiety is the enemy of peace and joy!  Anxiety will destroy the joy in your life.  More often than not, when the joy has left my life, it is because I have allowed anxiety to attack and destroy my joy and then peace walks out the door behind joy. 

What is the frequent source of anxiety in my life?  Not seeing the forest for the trees!  Jesus himself tells me in Matthew 6:25-33:

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Unfortunately, I frequently forget this promise from Jesus concerning the protection and providence of God and I begin worrying about all the little ankle-biters in my life and in the process, I lose all my Godly perspective.  It’s not that the ankle-biters can be ignored – they demand attention.  Problems must be confronted and solved.  Paychecks must be earned.  Food must be put on the table and the children need shoes on their feet.  God is not telling me to ignore my responsibilities or pretend that preparations and planning are unnecessary.  The message is, “don’t be consumed by the problems in your life so that worry and concern dominate you and kill your joy.  Furthermore, don’t forget that you aren’t in control of even the next minute of your life and therefore your anxiety is useless and unproductive.”

I want to be able to see the forest all the time.  I want to maintain the Godly perspective that reminds me God is in control and He loves me and protects me.  How can I maintain that Godly perspective?  Paul answers the question in verse 6.  He doesn’t just throw a wrench in the middle of the joy and peace passage, he also provides the solution for the problem.  He writes, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”  When the ankle-biters start to get to me, I need to remember two things.  First, turn over my problems to God.  Only through his power will I ever enjoy any victories in my life.  Second, I need to remember to always give thanks for the blessings God has given me.  When comparing the little complications of life to the amazing blessings God has showered down on me, my problems shrink down to nothing and my anxieties tend to fade away.  A thankful heart is the cure for many ills.

This week join me in combating the forest for the trees syndrome by turning things over to God.  It is my prayer that you will have joy and peace in your life as a result.

Until next week,

Meet me at the intersection!

How are you?  How can such a simple question provoke such a complex response?  Perhaps the complexity of the answer is why we typically just say, “fine” even when that response clearly masks the truth.  A truthful answer would simply require more of an investment in time than you or your friend are willing to make.  After all, this common exchange is more of a courtesy than an honest inquiry into the well-being of the other individual, right?

This is probably true, but it’s still worthwhile to consider the reality behind the courtesy.  How are you really?  As I wrote last week, God created us with three fundamental states that can be described as emotional, physical and spiritual tanks.  Today, we are focusing on the physical tank.  It is the easiest tank for us to evaluate in others and in ourselves.  In some ways, it is the foundation for the other tanks.  If your physical tank is empty, it can be a real struggle to maintain your emotional and spiritual tanks.  I believe that is why Jesus frequently met his followers’ physical needs (feeding them and healing them) before he ministered to their spiritual and emotional needs.  I think you also see this same pattern as God ministered to Elijah in I Kings chapter 19.

After Elijah engaged in a spiritual showdown with 450 prophets of the false god Baal and defeated them through the power of God, Queen Jezebel passed a death sentence upon Elijah for killing the false prophets and she placed a bounty on Elijah’s head.  When Elijah heard about the death sentence, he turned and ran into the desert to escape the queen.  I Kings 19:3-4 recorded Elijah’s actions and his thoughts:

Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.  But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”

Why did the mighty Elijah turn tail and run even though God had already made him victorious over the 450 false prophets?  Because Elijah was human just like you and me and in the battle of the previous day, he had run his three tanks empty.  Notice how God ministered to Elijah, first concentrating on his physical condition.  Remember, Elijah had battled the false prophets all day without any recorded meals and then he won a foot race with King Ahab (who was in a chariot) from Mt. Carmel to Jezreel.  Read I Kings 19:5-8:

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.”  And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.  And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.”  And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

When Elijah got to Horeb, God ministered to Elijah spiritually and emotionally but first he helped Elijah refill his physical tank.  I believe Elijah needed to have a full physical tank before God could deal with him emotionally and spiritually.

I have found this to be true in my life as well.  Last year I found myself running consistently on a low physical tank.  I was able to get through an average day OK but if the day was challenging, I had a difficult time dealing with things emotionally and I found it more difficult to focus on my spiritual disciplines.  I also came down with several infections in the summer and fall.  It is rare for me to get sick more than once or twice per year.  One Sunday morning, I got up to preach a lesson to my church family and I became very light-headed on the way to the pulpit.  I was scared by that experience and so that week I went to the doctor to get a physical evaluation.  I found out my thyroid was underperforming and a little hormone pill taken once per day has refilled my physical tank.  Within a few weeks of starting the hormone regimen, I couldn’t believe the difference in my daily energy level and how much more stable I was emotionally.  I also found my spiritual life reinvigorated.  It was shortly after I began feeling better that I was motivated to begin Intersections.  I thank God for my diagnosis and a quick and easy fix.  I know many others struggle with physical tank problems without a quick or easy fix.

This experience helped me appreciate the lesson of Elijah first hand.  It is very difficult to maintain our emotional and spiritual tanks when our physical state is out-of-whack.  However, it is not impossible.  I have been impressed and humbled by the examples of so many who have struggled with chronic or even terminal health conditions, suffering through chemotherapy and radiation treatments that leave their physical tanks bone dry while they seem to have emotional and spiritual tanks that overflow with energy.  In the right circumstances, I believe God can overcome the drag of a failing physical tank, recharging the other two tanks with the power of his Spirit.  Ellis, one of my friends and a genuine hero of the faith to me is a perfect example of this effect.  By the grace of God, Ellis has lived with his cancer two years longer than any doctor predicted.  During this time, Ellis has taken his chemotherapy which saps his physical strength but he is extremely positive at all times and he is a spiritual rock.  I am energized every time I see him simply from being in his presence. 

I also think you see this effect in the example of Jesus as he entered the wilderness for 40 days of fasting after which he was called to a face-to-face spiritual battle with Satan himself.  Although his physical tank was surely on empty, Jesus was completely victorious over the temptations of Satan.  I believe we can tap into that same power through God’s Spirit even when our physical tank is running low.  Over the next two weeks, we will continue to look at the example of Elijah and see how God refilled his emotional and spiritual tanks.  I think there are great lessons for us in the conclusion of this Bible story.

In the meantime, do everything in your power to take care of your physical tank this week.  Eat right, get enough sleep, take your vitamins, exercise appropriately and get regular health check-ups.  Don’t underestimate the importance of maintaining your physical tank so you are prepared for physical, emotional or spiritual battle.  It pays to always be prepared, because we never know when the battle will be upon us.

Until next week,

Meet me at the intersection!

I find it very interesting to note how many times in the Gospel accounts Jesus tells us to not be afraid. I think Jesus knew how much we would need constant reassurance that we can defeat fear in our lives and not be held hostage to the debilitating effects of fear and doubt. I also think Jesus knew how difficult it would be for us humans to conquer fear and doubt as we cope with our crazy topsy-turvy lives. I don’t think Jesus expects we will never experience common human fear and doubt. I do think he expects we’ll confront these negative emotions head-on and emerge victorious. That’s why Jesus not only encouraged us with his words, he equipped us with powerful tools to go on the offensive against fear and uncertainty. Over the next few weeks, we will focus on some examples from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus helped people conquer fear and doubt and in the process he gives us the power to also be victorious.

The first example is found in Luke chapter 7:

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

John had baptized Jesus and heard God’s testimony from heaven in God’s own voice. He had probably heard Jesus preach and seen the mighty works and he did expect his own ministry to decline as Jesus’ ministry ascended. So then, why the doubts? Why would John say, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Surely with John’s divine appointment and with all that he had witnessed, he would not question the identity of the son of God. After all, in this same chapter Jesus affirms John as one of the greatest man to have ever lived. Is there room for doubt within such a great prophet?

Before criticizing John, we need to spend some time in John’s sandals. According to Matthew 11, John is in prison waiting a likely execution. I don’t think this is how John expected his ministry to end. Perhaps some of these questions went through his mind: “When is the Messiah going to move this pretend king, Herod aside and claim his throne? When is he going to fulfill his mission? Will I even be around to see his triumph?”

The surprise here isn’t how John responds. He responds like the weak human that he is. He responds like most of us would respond in similar circumstances. Have you ever been in a place you never expected, circumstances totally outside your control, feeling powerless and abandoned? Did you wonder where God was at that time? I think that is the way John felt as he sat in that prison. In the midst of uncertainty and doubt, John seeks confirmation that everything will be OK and things are going according to plan.

Notice how Jesus responds to John’s doubt with a response of love, compassion and affirmation. He creates an impromptu opportunity for John’s disciples to witness the power of the Trinity working in the Son. He lets them see once again the love he bestows on the weak, hurting and fearful. He unveils his power to remind them of his divine nature and packages this power in simple human touch. Then he sends these comforted disciples back to John with his gift to sooth John’s doubts with a reminder of his power.

In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

For the times we struggle with doubts and fears, we should be willing to receive this gift from God. We should meditate on the power of God as evidenced in the recorded miracles of Jesus. We should ponder the testimony of the power of nature and the miracle of life that transpires right before our eyes. Paul tells us basically in Romans chapter 1, when in doubt, look around! Nature itself testifies to the work of the creator.

Although we should be inspired to confidence by observing God’s power in the miracles and in nature, we still sometimes experience fear and doubt. In case we are tempted to think we are alone with our periodic doubts, Luke fills the final chapter of his gospel with examples of Jesus ministering to disciples who struggled with doubts even in the presence of his empty tomb right before their eyes. Jesus blessed his hurting disciples with his healing words and I believe he wants to bless you in the same way. Come back next week to join me in receiving his blessing!

Until next week,

Meet me at the intersection!