My Yoke is Easy…

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

Ahhh-hummm…Excuse me? Easy and light, you say? In the words of Dr. Lennox, “Or am I the only one who…” has thought this might be a little out of sync with my experience? Ok, ok, MAJORLY out of sync. Yet the truth of this statement calls to me. It beckons my heart to come and lay my weary burden down.

I’m going to make the honest confession that lately I have gotten out of step. It started well, I’m sure, but somehow I have found myself mired down with a spiritual to-do list that was about to take me under. I was breaking at the impossibility of achieving that which I sought, when His gentle Spirit intervened. In an effort to sound like I have it all together (intellectual pretense is everything in blogging) I am writing as if I really do have it all figured out and that I am skipping under my new-found light and easy yoke. No such luck. Despite my dashing good-looks, charming personality, and dazzling intellect, I learn spiritual lessons at the speed of lesser mortals.

I confess, somewhere in my desire to draw nearer to the Lord and to serve Him whole-heartedly, I switched into “Law Mode.” Spiritual disciplines became ends in themselves. Thoughts of the future were plagued with the fear that I would settle for less than the best, and end up simply a mediocre Christian. I think I might still be there…not to fret though, I’ll drag myself out of it, if it’s the last thing I DO… (I’m a hopeless Martha.)

In all seriousness, Lord, I truly want to know: What do You do, and what’s my responsibility? Lord, I don’t want to end up a mediocre Christian. I want to be passionately in love with You. I want to spend myself in service to You. I want to make the right decisions about the major opportunities that are presenting themselves to me in these next few months. And yet, Lord, above the din and racket, I hear you say, “Come to me.”

“My faith has found a resting place,
Not in device or creed;
I trust the Ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.
Enough for me that Jesus saves,
This ends my fear and doubt;
A sinful soul, I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.
I need no other argument,
I need no other plea,
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.”

(Classic Hymn "My Faith has found a resting place.")

Blessed Be Your Name

Today in chapel, we entered to some lame pop-ish contemporary worship song. The lyrics of which were about as valuable as the melody was to the history of world music. A friend in front of me sat down, in protest to the vast and profound theological misconceptions portrayed in the song. Though I try to avoid cynicism, I too did not join in singing because he had a very valid point—the song was terrible in every way. (For those of you who don't think theology should be involved in music...I remind you that Jesus says that true worshippers will worship in Spirit and in TRUTH.)

After we were seated, we began to watch a series of video clips related to the Asian Tsunami. The clips were truly heart-rending. I pray that the Lord will never allow me to grow numb to this, nor any other such tragedy. But I can’t dwell on this thought, for this blog is dedicated to something else. After several minutes we were asked to stand. We began to sing the song, “Blessed be your name.” While at first I was resistant to the way we glibly transitioned from sad imagery to pop, feel good music, I did approve of the song choice.

Blessed be Your name when I’m found in the desert place,
Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed be Your Name
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering Blessed be Your Name.

As I sang these words, I was confronted by the thought: “You don’t even have a clue. You have not tarried in the wilderness, nor trekked long on the road marked with suffering. Keep singing, this is truth. But remember that you have no clue.”

It’s all true. I honestly haven’t suffered much. The contrast is made so clear by the disasters of late. I have never lost all but one family member. I have never been left with only the clothes on my back—completely dependent on foreigners from around the world to feed and clothe me. I have not had much opportunity to praise the Lord amidst my hurt and pain. Perhaps my praise should rise all the more fervently because of that fact. (Lord, truly, I do thank You for Your marvelous protection of me.) Yet, at the back of my mind and from deep in my heart, the challenge arises, “Remember these lyrics, so that you truly can say Blessed Be Your Name, in the day of your suffering.” Lord, prepare me for that. May my life pour forth blessing to you when “the world’s all as it should be” or “when the road is marked with suffering.”

There is time to kill…

Nestled between the intriguing and challenging thoughts of Deuteronomy 6 and 8 is a chapter that is fairly disconcerting. Yup, you guessed it….chapter 7. Allow me to set the stage first.

At the beginning of the Fall Semester, I randomly picked up a book at Borders. The title caught my eye immediately. “We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families.” It is the story of the 1994 Rwandan genocides. The book was, simply put, profound. My heart grieved the fact that so many (myself included) are ignorant of the injustice and evil around the world. How can we sit idly by while one people groups exterminates another? 800,000 people were hacked to death with machetes, and America and the UN did nothing. The time and busyness of the semester soon took the edge off those thoughts.

Then over Christmas breaks, two events brought me back to those thoughts. First, the December Tsunami, which has currently claimed at least 150,000 lives. I reeled at the thought that as I sat safely home during Christmas, others lost everything they had, including family. My heart ached for them. Oh Lord, how I long for the day of Your return, when this world will be set aright and death shall be vanquished. And then I saw the movie “Hotel Rwanda,” which is based on the book I mentioned previously. It visually recalled the events of the book, and flooded back those same thoughts and emotions.

Through all of this, I have felt the prodding of the Holy Spirit to be conscious of the world around me. To feel deeply for those who suffer world-wide, and to respond in the ways that I can. I realize that death and destruction are not the Lord’s desire. They are not how He wants this world to be. They are a result of sin, the corruption of the universe, and the reign of Satan in this world.

So when I arrived in chapter 7, I didn’t read anything new—I was quite aware of these events. Yet this time I was conflicted? How could the same God who was prompting me to have this heart from the world, say to His people Israel, “ and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. (7:2)” ??? Lord this is a hard teaching.

I understand the desire to keep Israel pure…and that the Lord may have been pouring out judgment on these other peoples because of their idolatry…but this picture doesn’t line up with the picture of the God I love and serve. Lord, instruct my heart. Give me understanding. Teach me more about Yourself and Your character. Why this command Lord?

I invite anyone reading this blog to respond. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Deuteronomy 6 & 8

I am no expert on blogging…as you can see by my entry dates, I write pieces few and far between. However, the common theme I’ve noticed is that most intelligent writers stick to one topic and explore it through detailed writing. Well I am about to defy those rules. My dear friend Adam Thada commented that I wasn’t doing such a great job at “nursing perspective.” So, here are the enticing thoughts of the day.

Deuteronomy 6:10-12. “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you—a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—then when you eat and are satisfied be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

Perhaps we would do well to heed this caution. “Be careful that you do not forget the Lord…” Among the opulence of the land you inhabit, do not forget Him. When your stomachs are full and you aren’t desperately seeking the Lord for your next meal, do not forget Him. The danger is real.

Chapter 8 elaborates: “(10) When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. (12-14) Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. (17-20) You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.”

Let us not allow money and wealth to become a god that we place in prominence above our God. I fear this is the situation among many, many Christians in America. Even those who haven fallen prey to this god are certainly tempted. How often are job choices dictated by money and not by the Lord’s leading? You may not agree with what I say here, but I really wonder if Christian college students shouldn’t spend a large amount of time considering the motivation in their major selection. Perhaps if we all honestly evaluated and then chose on correct motives, we would find more people in ministry-related fields?
Bottom-line: With fear and trembling we need to evaluate the effects of wealth on our lives.

The Pattengale Theory

According to Dr. Pattengale statistics show the MOST successful students doing the following:

(The following suggestions appeared in a study manual for one of my classes)

• Never miss class (16hrs/week)
• Average 3-4 hrs of study per class hour (4 x 16hrs/week)
• Get 7-8 hrs. sleep per night (8x7hrs/week)
• Never work more than 20hrs per week (20hrs/week)
• Eat 3 well balanced meals per day (7days x 2hrs/ week)
• Have personal quiet time daily (7x 1hr/ week)
• Have a cheerleader. Talk and share often (5hrs/week??)

The above calculations were added by myself.

Successful student= 16 + (4x16) + (8x7) + 20 + (7x2) + 7 + 5 = 182hrs/week

Hours in 7 day week= 7x24= 168hrs/week

Hours in an actual week MINUS Hours in successful student’s week = -14hrs

Successful student = Logical impossibility

**I believe our beloved President (George W.) would say something like, “Seems like fuzzy math to me, Al.” Somebody must know something I do not. I have not yet figured out how to add hours to my week. I am going to hire a personal cheerleader though because I could definitely use more hours in my week.
Keep in mind, we haven’t factored in anything in regards to necessities such as communication with others (family, friends, etc), going to the bathroom, bathing (successful students=stinky!) going to church (or chapel for that matter), extra nursing (or class) meetings (we all know they exist!!), and the list rolls on. AND we haven’t even begun to think of having fun…you can forget that as a successful student.
Also keep in mind, Dr. Pattengale makes the following recommendations which didn’t make the above time calculations:
· Successful students show initiative: their desire to excel makes them do MORE WORK THAN IS REQUIRED
· Never assume that the same effort they expended the year/semester before will earn equally high grades this semester (PROGRESSION CALLS FOR MORE EFFORT!!!)

Well you can count me out. Sounds like success comes at to high a price for me. I’ll settle for being the best student I can, while I depend on the Lord to lead me and show me where to best invest my time.

Here’s to a “successful” semester: Cheers!