"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Devotional
A Choice To Be Single (Part 2)
Aug 13th
Sometimes we make our choice from those around us and they are not interested. Which has happened on many, many, occasions to me. At other times those who approach us wear only the mask of “loving the Lord.” It is as easy to blame those who rejected us for being too picky and we might hurl the same charge at them. Perhaps there is even ignorance or sin involved in the decision to reject us or in our decision to reject others. Sin must always be address. However, sometimes no sin is involved—only choice.
At the end of the day, whether married or single what is most important is not who I am with—but who I am. I dare not let those who have rejected me define me. I dare not allow the fact that my advances have been turned back define my idea of how God loves me. This is, tragically, too often the case. Yes, sometimes our “choice” to be single seems made for us. This changes nothing! God loves us!
I do not know how to solve the matchmaking issue! If I get married I will know only that I have found a person whose passion for Christ inspires Continue Reading >>
A Choice To Be Single (Part 1)
Aug 6th
Some may say, “It’s your choice to be single.” All I can say it, “You are right!” But it is not that simple. Behind their words I hear a suggestion that the relational garden is ripe for the picking and I need only stretch out my hand to eat. Thus if I am hungry it is my own fault. It is a suggestion that on every side the fruit is “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Gen 3:6).
They encourage me to take and eat ignoring the fact that not every fruit is permissible—not all are beneficial. They offer shallow advice to deeper issues and bring me down. It is my choice but sometimes it feels like no choice at all.
Today, as singles, “we are legion,” and our numbers are growing. So the happily married bids us marry, thinking it absurd (as I do) that there are so many eligible singles isolated in their sorrows. It seems only logical that all these singles should turn, find a person to their liking, and be joined in blessed union. Nothing would make me happier. But it has not been that easy since the Garden.
Yes, “it is Continue Reading >>
Summer in Saint Louis: Smelling the Flowers
Jul 30th
It has been a very hot summer in Saint Louis, and I love it. Something about the heat feels good. 100% and I have the window down. I have spent much of this summer writing my dissertation and am closing in on the finish line. When I am not writing, I do try to look up to see the beauty God has placed all around me. We went camping a few weeks ago to the Mark Twain National Forest here in MO. There we enjoyed a rather cool three days. We camped on the edge of a lake and enjoyed hikes around the lake. Each time we were so impressed by the flowers God had seemingly hidden from view. It was obvious that few others ever ventured onto that path. We were alone and the path had been alone since last we walked there. I wondered, “Who saw these beautiful gems?” Well, God does, and that is enough. But, I took a few pictures so that you too could enjoy what God had hidden there.
I also took some pictures of the beautiful flowers surrounding our apartment complex. I was amazed by the intricacy of the sunflower. I was drawn to its Continue Reading >>
Loving Well
Jul 10th
“Never assume someone knows what ‘love’ and ‘closeness’ really mean.”
All of us have strongly held ideas about love and relational closeness. And it seems that most of these ideas were formed deep in us before we could understand them. We all have been influenced by brokenness in our most crucial relationships from birth and have been shaped by the world around us that function as if things can go on without God. But no matter. Many of us still act as if our persuasions are so reliable that they can be taken for granted.
To the questions “What is love? Have I been loved? Do I love others well?” we might reply incredulously, “Of course I know what love is! I’m not perfect, but I have been loved and deeply love my family and close friends!
Why ask such basic questions? Why ask?
Well, in part, because even after growing into an adult and living with the greatest Teacher of wisdom ever known, Simon Peter had to be asked by Jesus, “Do you love me” (John 21:15-17)? The same One who shortly before that, while hanging on an instrument of torture, pleaded, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).
