Tag Archives: Endurance

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Run

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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

I was never much of a runner. I tried cross-country in high school but only made it half a season. Later, friends talked me into giving running another chance. I did… but the passion never ignited. I like variety when it comes to exercise—different movements, different forms of exertion that trip my trigger.

Still, those handful of forays into running, and the many friends who’ve kept at it with lifelong devotion, taught me a few things.

I was in high school when my hardcore cross-country friends trained for their first marathon. I don’t recall any of them making it to the finish line. What I do remember is how they compared notes afterward—each one describing the exact point on the course where they ‘hit the wall.’

It was the first time I’d heard the phrase. It’s that moment when physical exhaustion breaks the mind. The brain can’t will the body to push through the pain. The finish line—the very thing that motivated their months of training—suddenly seems meaningless. The wall isn’t only physical. It’s mental. Even spiritual.

The author of Hebrews is writing to an audience of believers in the middle of a grueling real-life marathon. Thus far they have been socially ostracized by friends, family, and community. They have been publicly insulted and persecuted. Their homes and possessions have been confiscated. They have watched fellow believers imprisoned, beaten, stoned, and executed. Then came exile. They fled everything familiar to find refuge.

They are at risk of hitting the wall. The author knows it. It is the primary purpose of his entire letter, and it crescendos in today’s chapter. As I meditated on the text in the quiet this morning, I found four key movements in this climactic passage.

Remember

Yesterday’s post/podcast was all about those individuals in the Great Story who already ran their earthly race—men and women who stumbled, suffered, persevered. Today the author tells us to remember them. To let their lives whisper courage into our weariness. They ran with faith and perseverance. Today’s chapter begins with the author telling us to remember this cloud of witnesses. The Greek word is martyrōn from which we get the word martyr.

They suffered as you are.
They kept the faith.
They finished their earthly race.
They are right here. Living examples. Cheering you on.

Race

The author then lays down the metaphor for this entire capstone chapter. The race set before us. This life is not a sprint. It’s a marathon, just like the ones our cloud of witnesses endured. They weren’t perfect—they were beautifully, stubbornly human. They had their weaknesses and flaws. What they did have, was faith.

Fix your eyes on Jesus. It isn’t merely gazing at Jesus—it’s deliberately refusing every distraction, like a transfixed lover choosing to gaze on one face in a crowded room.

Consider all Jesus endured for us. The garden, the sweating of blood, the tears, the trials, the scourging, the mocking, the crown of thorns, the bloodied walk to Calvary, the nails, the cross.

Don’t think for a second that you can’t do this.

Run.

Rigor

The author then moves into discussing the rigor required of anyone in this race. Suffering produced endurance and perseverance. There is progress in the pain. The discipline a parent instills in a child is not easy in the moment, but it’s good and necessary. In the same way, the discipline called upon to gut-it-out in life’s most difficult seasons is never easy. But it is also good and necessary.

It pushes me to shake off the weight of bitterness and hatred.
It forces me to dig deeper to tap into the spiritual resources I need.
It tests my faith and develops my endurance.
It develops levels of maturity within that I can’t get any other way.
It teaches me how to lean into hope.
It leads to depths of joy found only on the other side of suffering.

Reception

The author then describes the finish line with an interesting contrast. He begins by looking back at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus when Moses climbed the mountain and God met him there to deliver the Law. Fire, thunder, smoke, fear, and trembling.

That was the beginning of the Law that the author has stated has been completed and is obsolete. Old things pass away. New things come.

He then points us to a new mountain. It’s an eternal and heavenly Mount Zion and the New Jerusalem John describes in Revelation 21. This mountain is an unimaginable finish-line reception. Angels and celebration—movement, music, and unspeakable joy.

There will be shaking and there will be fire, because “Our God is a consuming fire,” but it’s not like the former. Not a fire meant to burn me up, but to burn away everything that keeps me from being who I truly am.

Tom—pure gold, refined through the flame.
Tom—unshakable, when the shaking ends.
Tom—welcomed on Zion’s festival-drenched mountain.

And so, once again I set out into another day of the race. This race doesn’t belong to the swift, but to those who keep running.

Press on, my friend.
Press on.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Snake on a Stick

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They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
Numbers 21:4-5 (NIV)

Wendy and finally returned last night from what was supposed to have been a six-day trip that began with a client event and ended with a visit to see our kids and granddaughter in South Carolina. What it became is eight days of the worst air travel I’ve experienced in over 30 years of regular business travel.

I’ll spare you the details (and there are many, many details) but United Airlines delayed or cancelled almost every flight we were on. They chose not to put our luggage on the plane from Chicago to North Carolina for weight reasons, but then couldn’t get us our luggage for over two days, which meant we didn’t have our materials for the client event. We had to shop for clothes and necessities for over two days. Our return flight was cancelled and it took over two days for them to get us home. At one point, Wendy said to me, “They’ve completely broken me. I have no more emotional energy to even care.”

It is good to finally be home, but you can imagine that we’re still stinging from our travel week from hell. So, when in today’s chapter the Hebrew tribes grow “impatient” and begin to complain, I feel their pain.

One of the things that has become obvious to me in our current chapter-a-day trek through Numbers is that the events recorded are not random coincidence. Everything is connected to each other. We just had the death of Aaron and Miriam, two of the trinity of sibling leaders of the tribes. As happens when a family experiences the loss of a patriarch or matriarch, there was gathering, grieving, and remembering. It brings family together. There is connection, camaraderie, and commitments made.

The very next thing that happens is a tragic and unexpected attack from a Canaanite king. The Hebrews handle this appropriately. They unify, go to God for direction, and follow the Lord’s command. They are victorious.

But how quickly the afterglow of the unity of grief and the victory over the king of Arad lasts. It doesn’t take long for the people to grow impatient, complain, and grow angry. Their complaint to Moses is strong and bitter. They call the manna God has been providing “detestable.” Scholars have noted that this is spiritually equal to rejecting God’s grace. Their impatience and anger lead them past complaining to the point of rejecting both God and Moses. They’re broken.

What happens next is a critically important moment in the entire Great Story. Venomous snakes invade the Hebrew camp and start biting people. Now what are snakes and their venom metaphorical for in the context of the Great Story going back to the Garden? Yep, the evil one and his death dealing lies. God does something strange. He has Moses make bronze snake, put it on a pole and lift it up. Anyone who looks at the snake on the pole is healed from their deadly snake bites. They live.

Fast forward thousands of years to a clandestine meeting in the late watches of the night between Jesus and member of the Hebrew leaders named Nicodemus. Jesus tells Nick, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15 NIV) Jesus, on the cross, took upon Himself the sin of the world. As Paul put it to the believers in Corinth: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us.” Jesus was the ultimate snake on a pole, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

What happens through the rest of the chapter? After they look at the snake and are healed, the Hebrew tribes go on winning streak like they’ve never experienced before. Blessing, favor, victory.

So, in the quiet this morning I look back to tremendously trying week. Our client event was great despite the fact that we were wearing clothes hastily purchased on a late-night Walmart run. We felt beaten down by a system we didn’t control. We were just small anonymous cogs stuck in the depths of United’s global operations. Yet, even in the midst of our impatience, anger, and frustration Wendy and I took time to initiate the chain reaction of praise. We stopped our bitching for a moment, in prayer we looked up to Jesus – the snake on the stick – and we offered praise in the midst of our pain.

There were no miracles. But, our prayer and praise helped us endure, it pushed us to have faith and persevere, and yesterday afternoon we finally returned home. Now, our week of travel hell will fade into memory. Forgetting what lies behind, keeping our eyes on Jesus, we press on into the good things God has for us.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Paul & the Prisoners of Rome

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Paul & the Prisoners of Rome (CaD 1 Cor 4) – Wayfarer

We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.
1 Corinthians 4:12-13 (NIV)

In ancient Rome, successful military conquests and campaigns ended with a triumphant homecoming parade. It was spectacle on a grand scale and the crowds loved it. The victorious general would lead his legion through the streets with their banners flying while the masses lined the streets and cheered.

Of course, every parade has to end, and in this case, at the end of the Roman victory parade were the prisoners of war, chained, beaten, and condemned. What a sharp contrast to the glorious, polished and pompous army who had just inspired and energized the adoring crowd. The prisoners provided the Roman masses with the opportunity to gloat in Roman greatness and bask in schadenfreude at their worthless enemies. The prisoners could be mocked, jeered, and pelted with whatever rocks or refuse was available along the street. In many cases, they’d already suffered abuse at the hands of their captors. They’d been ill-treated and marched for hundreds of miles against their will.

Ultimately, these prisoners would be marched to the Roman arena where, to the delight of the Roman crowds, they would face a horrific death. Among the most popular with the Roman masses was watching people getting ravaged and eaten by packs of wild beasts who had been starved in preparation for the occasion. But that wasn’t enough. The Romans would build contraptions that gave prisoners a false hope of being able to climb and escape from the beasts, but they were rigged to fall apart or fail, giving the crowds a little extra entertainment.

In yesterday’s post, I wrote about our human penchant for turning leaders into celebrities. In today’s chapter, Paul turns that entire notion on its head. He compares himself, and his fellow apostles to one of Roman prisoners being drug through the streets at the end of the parade. And, it wasn’t total hyperbole. When you study the persecution, punishment, and injustice that Paul and his fellow apostles endured, it’s both astounding and gut-wrenching.

Which makes his attitude even more amazing to me. “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.” Which, is not only what Jesus taught, but what Jesus exemplified as He was bound, beaten, mocked, and unjustly executed in a horrific way.

The struggle, of course, is to even connect with these realities here in my 21st century reality. I live in the most affluent country in the world in arguably the greatest time to be alive in human history. So, what am I supposed to take away from Paul’s reality and example?

First, I’m taking perspective with me into this day. I can list every single trouble, worry, or anxiety I might be feeling and then consider a Roman prisoner-of-war’s reality, Paul’s reality, and Jesus’ reality. Talk about a reality check. What am I complaining about?

Second, even in my own rather comfortable realities, I can think of specific instances of people being unkind towards me, unjustly accusing me of things, and using their power or influence against me. What’s my response?

Anger, vengeance, retribution, playing the victim card?

Or, like Paul, do I bless, endure, and answer kindly?

That, is a reminder I need every day.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Motivation vs. Obligation

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Motivation vs. Obligation (CaD 1 Thess 1) – Wayfarer

We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:3 (NIV)

I saw an interesting blurb from an article in The Atlantic that explored the reasons that so many people failed to return to church after COVID-19. It spoke of people who perhaps were slow to return and then found themselves more sporadic in attendance. This created a fear of facing questions like “Where have you been?” that they simply didn’t want to face, so they chose not to. It concluded that they discovered going to church was another task in our ever-busier lives that they learned to live without.

I thought to myself as I meditated on this: “Good. If in your heart and mind going to church is simply a task to be checked off of your list, perhaps your choice not to return is a win-win for you and your church.”

Today our chapter-a-day journey returns to Paul’s letters to the fledgling group of Jesus’ disciples in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Paul made a brief stop there and his sharing of Jesus’ Message led a few Jews and a large number of non-Jewish Greeks to become believers. Paul’s M.O. was typically to stay in a new town for a while to help a new group of believers get established in their faith. That didn’t work in Thessaloniki (see Acts 17) because enemies rose up and started a riot, leading to Paul’s abrupt departure and a number of the believers being arrested and thrown in jail.

Paul writes the group of believers this letter to encourage and commend them. In today’s introductory statement, Paul commends their:

work produced by faith
labor prompted by love
endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

What struck me first about Paul’s commendation was the words “work” and “labor” which in English are typically synonymous. So, I dug into the original Greek words Paul used:

“Work” is translated from the Greek “ergon” which is more easily thought of as good deeds. I think of Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek, walk an extra mile, and bless your enemies. All of which, the Thessalonians were given opportunities to exemplify by their local enemies and persecutors.

“Labor” is translated from the Greek “kopos” which can be thought of as being “troubled” or “bothered.” A week or so ago, when Wendy and I were busy moving everything in our basement, ripping up carpet, and recovering from a flooded basement, it was “kopos.” Slogging through the consequences of trouble. This was also the reality in the wake of the Thessalonian believer’s local persecution.

The next thing that struck me about Paul’s three-fold commendation was that the “work, labor, and endurance” were linked to a specific motivation. The “work” of blessing their enemies was motivated by their sincere faith in Jesus and desire to follow His teaching. The “labor” of slogging through the consequences of local persecution was motivated by love for Jesus, and love for others. Their endurance was motivated by hope in Jesus’ presence, provision, protection, and eternal reward.

In the quiet this morning, I couldn’t help but think back to those in The Atlantic for whom going to church once a week was a task. It was work that they felt burdened in doing. It took more out of them than what it provided them. So what was the motivation for going in the first place? Family tradition? Social or cultural expectations? Personal obligation? Having experienced many churches of many kinds along my life journey, I would observe that a congregation largely made of people who attend out of those motives is not a spiritually healthy system.

The Message makes it clear that believers’ regular gathering together is about encouraging one another, building one another up spiritually, corporately worshipping together (a unique experience compared to individual worship), and experiencing a spiritual refreshment needed to help us be examples of Jesus and produce the Fruit of the Spirit each day as we interact in the world. I don’t meet with my local gathering of believers because it’s a task. I meet because I both want and need the regular infusion to remain spiritually healthy in an unhealthy world.

Yesterday, Wendy and I missed our regular local gathering because Wendy had a sleepover with her inner circle of lady friends and I wanted to be present to help host and serve. It was a different kind of fellowship and a healthy change of pace. That said, I texted back and forth with multiple people in the gathering. I missed being there. I was thinking of them, being encouraged by them, and encouraging them in return. I was motivated by Jesus’ love for me, and my love for them. It wasn’t a task. It was the natural fruit of loving relationships. And, that’s what “church” was and is supposed to be.

Note: Thanks to those of you who noticed my absence much of last week and checked to ask if I was okay. Between a couple days of business travel and a number of things on the plate, I found myself taking a few days off.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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“Good Luck Charm” Religion

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"Good Luck Charm" Religion (CaD Jer 8) – Wayfarer

“How can you say, ‘We are wise,
    for we have the law of the Lord,’
when actually the lying pen of the scribes
    has handled it falsely?”
Jeremiah 8:8 (NIV)

A few years ago, I was working with a group of leaders who were tasked with teaching the book of 1 Corinthians to a larger gathering of Jesus’ followers. Before we began, I made a copy of the text without any of the chapter or verse numbers listed. I changed the type face to a font that resembled actual handwriting and printed it and handed it out. I encouraged the team to put themselves in the sandals of a leader of the Jesus followers in ancient Corinth and to read the words as they were originally intended: as a personal letter from their friend Paul. It was a transformative exercise for us.

One of the things that I have to always remember on this chapter-a-day journey is that the chapter and verse designations were not part of the original writings for centuries. Manuscripts as early as the 4th century AD contain some evidence of text being divided into chapters, but it wasn’t until the 12th century that Steven Langton added the chapter divisions and it wasn’t until 1551 that a man named Robert Estienne added the verse definitions. In 1560, the first translation of the entire Great Story referred to as the Geneva Bible, employed chapters and verses throughout. They’ve been used ever since.

Chapters and verses are an essential method for study, referencing, and cross-referencing. That’s why they remain. However, in my forty-plus years of studying, I’ve found that they can also hinder my reading, understanding, and interpretation. Chapters and verses gain individual attention apart from the context of the whole in which they were intended when written. Individual verses get pulled out of context. In other cases, like today’s chapter, the entire chapter is merely a piece of a larger message. I can easily read and contemplate just today’s chapter alone without connecting it to the chapters before and after into which they fit.

In today’s chapter, I noticed that the Hebrew people of Jeremiah’s day were saying, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord.” Something clicked and I remembered something I read in yesterday’s chapter: “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” Both chapters are really part of one message or series of messages to be read together as a unit.

Taken together, I realize that there’s a theme in Jerry’s message that I would never see if I confine myself to each individual chapter and don’t consider them together as a whole. The Hebrew people of Jeremiah’s day had misplaced their trust. They trusted in Solomon’s Temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. They trusted in the “Law of the Lord” which had recently been rediscovered and made known to them. They had not, however, placed their trust in the God who gave them the Law, nor the God who inspired the building of the temple. They were treating the temple and the Law the same way they treated the other gods who they had worshipped, sometimes within the temple they were worshipping. The temple and the Law were basically good luck charms like all the other stars, idols, and pagan images they worshipped along with them.

In the quiet this morning, I thought about people whom I’ve met and known along my life journey whom I’ve observed treating their religion and their local church building, much like the people Jerry is addressing in his message, as good luck charms. When trouble comes in life (and trouble always comes in life – God even says so) I have observed their shock and anger. I have heard them express rage at God for not warding off their troubles and making their lives free of difficulty, pain, or sorrow. But God never promised that.

In fact, when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit of their own free will, God said specifically that the consequences would include pain and conflict, sweat and toil, along with death and grief on our earthly journeys. Going to church and dressing my life up in religious traditions does not save me from any of those earthly realities. However, a trusting relationship with God gives me what I need to endure troubles in such a way that qualities like faith and perseverance, peace and maturity, along with joy and hope hone me to become more like Jesus, who endured more undeserved trouble than I could ever imagine and did so on my behalf.

Once again, a Bob Dylan lyric came to mind as I pondered these things this morning:

Trouble in the city, trouble in the farm
You got your rabbit’s foot, you got your good-luck charm
But they can’t help you none when there’s trouble…

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Into the Wilderness

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Into the Wilderness (CaD 2 Ki 25) – Wayfarer

So Judah went into captivity, away from her land.
2 Kings 25:21b (NIV)

Many years ago, I found myself in circumstances I could never have imagined. I found myself in the middle of a divorce and living in a new community. My world had suddenly turned upside down and inside out. It was a scary, tenuous, anxious, humbling, and stressful season of life.

Along this life journey, almost everyone experiences a period of wilderness. Life as we know it experiences a tectonic shift. Things get turned upside down and inside out. Wilderness could be brought on by unforeseen tragedy, the death of a loved one, war, natural disaster, divorce, loss of a job, financial loss, conflict, illness, or any number of similar life-changing events.

The psychologist Carl Jung and the scholar Joseph Cambell did a lot of work in the 20th century studying and revealing the archetypes and patterns in the epic stories of humanity. Our greatest stories reflect the core of our human experience. They resonate with us because there is something in the story that connects deeply with our human experience. I would submit that the patterns and archetypes are found in our stories because they are found in our lives.

Wilderness is one of these common themes. Here are the first five steps of the hero’s wilderness journey as Jung and Campbell outline it:

  1. The hero’s journey starts in the Ordinary World. The hero—male or female—is “stuck,” but he or she senses some powerful, tectonic energy moving beneath the surface.
  2. The hero receives a “call.” This may be positive—an invitation to climb Annapurna—or negative … we’re arrested and thrown in jail. Or, like Odysseus, the hero commits a crime against heaven and is “made to” undergo an ordeal of expiation. But one way or another, you and I are ejected from Normal Life and flung, willy-nilly, into Something Totally New.
  3. The hero “crosses the threshold.” She moves from the Ordinary World to the Extraordinary World (also known as the Inverted World.) Like the children in The Chronicles of Narnia, we pass through a portal and enter a realm unlike any we have known.
  4. The hero encounters allies and enemies, undergoes challenges and heartbreaks, temptations and overthrows. The hero suffers. The hero loses her way. The hero has been caught up in an often hellish adventure (though with some good moments too), from which no escape seems possible. The stakes are clearly life and death.
  5. The hero perseveres. Reckoning that there’s no turning back, the hero pushes on, often blindly, almost always wracked by despair and self-doubt, seeking he or she knows not what. Escape? Redemption? A conclusion of some kind to this crazy, upside-down enterprise?

It may be lost on modern American readers, but today’s chapter is one of the most life-changing historical events in the history of the Hebrew people. The Babylonian siege of Jerusalem was a violent, horrific event. Jeremiah, who lived through it, poetically describes the carnage in the five short chapters of Lamentations. The entire nation, the King and the priests, are taken into captivity and exile in Babylon. Among the exiles were the prophet Ezekiel and a young man named Daniel. Their stories, respectively, are rooted in their experiences in the Babylonian wilderness, along with the story of Esther.

The wilderness, Jung and Campbell explain, always has a purpose in making the hero the hero. It is in the wilderness the hero faces the darkness, the villain, their own fear, and/or seemingly insurmountable odds. It is in the wilderness that the hero experiences an “all is lost” moment, and it is in the wilderness that the hero eventually experiences an important epiphany and is ultimately led back home, a different person with a “gift.” Judah’s return from wilderness and exile is told in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra.

In the quiet this morning, God’s Spirit has brought to mind people I know who are experiencing seasons of wilderness in their own life journeys. I look back on my own season of wilderness and I can see the things I had to face, the lessons God had for me in it, and what a positive difference it ultimately made in my life and my spiritual journey. If I could write a letter to my past self in the midst of that wilderness, I would tell my struggling self to trust the story God is authoring in my story, to persevere one step at a time, and to know that good things, redemptive things, lie ahead.

My seasons of wilderness have taught me that God is more interested in developing my character than in facilitating my comfort.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Prepped for Success

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King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued…. 2 Samuel 8:11 (NIV)

Yesterday I was in my client’s office and he was sharing with me a little bit about his background. He took me through a brief overview of his professional journey and resume. At the end of it, he had connected the dots to reveal how his entire career had uniquely prepared him for his current role in his company and industry. Laughing, he told me “I guess I learned a thing or two along the way.”

I thought about that conversation this morning as I read today’s chapter. David was on a roll. Bent on expanding and establishing his kingdom, his energies were focused on conquest. Connecting the dots, I recognize how all those painful years on the run from Saul now benefitted him greatly. Those difficult years prepared him uniquely to be a successful leader. He had been forced to live in foreign territories and had gathered around himself an international military team. He knew how to lead a diverse group of men. His understanding of neighboring nations, their politics, their militaries, and all of the geopolitical nuances of the region allowed him to be shrewd in his decisions as a general and a king. Like my client, David had learned a thing or two along the way.

I have to believe that all of those years depending on God for daily strength, courage, provision, and perseverance also prepared David with humility. He knew what it was like to be an outlaw living life in a cave. Now that he was king and the military victories were stacking up David had not lost sight of the fact that it was God who made those victories possible. The trophies of his victories he dedicated to God, refusing to take the glory for himself.

Today I am reminded to place credit where credit is due in my own life and victories. Like my client, like David, I can connect the dots in my journey and see how God has led me to this place. I’ve learned a thing or two as well, and have been prepared for my calling.

Though my victories are relatively small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, there is no doubt that I have been richly blessed. God has been good to me and I never want to lose sight of that fact, nor take credit for what has been graciously and undeservedly given.

A Note to Readers
I’m taking a blogging sabbatical and will be re-publishing my chapter-a-day thoughts on David’s continued story in 2 Samuel while I’m take a little time off in order to focus on a few other priorities. Thanks for reading.
Today’s post was originally published in May 2014.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Rogues Gallery

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Rogues Gallery (CaD Rev 17) – Wayfarer

The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
Revelation 17:16 (NIV)

In my previous post, I drew upon a comic book character to discuss the topic of justice in relation to the justice God brings upon the earth with a trinity of judgments that culminates in seven bowls of God’s wrath. This morning, as I meditated on the chapter, I found myself once again finding the world of comic books an apt parallel.

In classic comics like Batman and Spiderman, we are introduced to a rogues’ gallery of antagonists with whom our superheroes wage a battle of good and evil. Occasionally, the writers will weave a storyline in which all of the bad guys join together to fight the intrepid hero or heroine.

In a similar way, today’s chapter reveals John being given a vision of a rogues’ gallery of earthly power-players bent on waging war on God and God’s people:

  • The “Great Prostitute”
  • The “Beast” on which she rides
  • Seven Kings that are also seven hills
  • An eighth King, the anti-Christ, allied with the Seven Kings
  • Ten Kings who have yet no kingdom, allied to the Beast

When Jesus began His earthly ministry, Satan (whom Jesus called the “Prince of this World”) showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their earthly power and splendor. The Prince of this World then offered to give them all to Jesus if Jesus would only bow and worship him. Jesus passed on the offer, knowing that His kingdom was “not of this world” and that He was sent on a mission with a much higher purpose.

The rapidly approaching climax of John’s Revelation, just like a great story or movie, has the key players from the beginning of the story and conflict advancing towards the story’s ultimate clash: God, the Serpent, and fallen humanity. Satan and his rogues’ gallery scramble for power and authority to wage this war.

What struck me as I read the chapter was the in-fighting among these earthly power players. In his letter to Jesus’ followers in Galatia, Paul listed the characteristics of those who live according to the Prince of this World: “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.” When you have multiple players each driven by hatred, discord, and selfish ambition, it’s basically impossible to create any sustainable alliance toward a common goal. Evil always ends up imploding from the inside out as evil ones will always eventually turn on their own to satisfy their personal hatred, rage, and selfish ambition.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded that in the earthly conflict of good and evil to which I am subject on this earthly journey, God continually reminds me to persevere and endure. Jesus passed up the quick and easy way to earthly power offered by the Prince of this World instead choosing instead to endure the suffering and death that led to a eucatastrophic resurrection and eternal power. So Jesus urges me to follow in His footsteps.

The opening verses of Hebrews 12 came to mind as I pondered these things:

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!
Hebrews 12:1-3 (MSG)

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Facing the Giants

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At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites from the hill country: from Hebron, Debir and Anab, from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua totally destroyed them and their towns.
Joshua 11:21 (NIV)

I sometimes marvel at the fact that Wendy and I are such sports fans. Neither one of us was an athlete. It’s not like we love sports for the sake of sports. You’ll never find us listening to sports podcasts or watching Sportscenter on ESPN. It’s more like we’re the fan of certain teams. We tend to follow our teams, and we only follow the sport as it relates to our team. I know. We’re quirky.

The interesting thing is that when I consider the teams we cheer for there is a certain underdog theme to our choices. Our teams tend to be the ones who rarely, if ever, have won the big one. Our teams tend to have perennial rivalries with teams who are perennial winners and almost always (at least it feels that way) beat our team. This means that winning the big game is a rare treat. But man, oh man, does it feel good when that day finally comes and our team faces the giant and wins.

Today’s chapter marks the end of Joshua’s seven-year conquest of the land of Canaan. The last enemy he and the army face are the Anakites. The Anakim were legendary people rumored to be giants in size. It’s fascinating to note that today’s chapter mentions that there were still Anakim living in the Gath region after the conquest. About 300 years later, a young shepherd boy named David would fight a giant warrior named Goliath, who was from Gath.

It’s also important to remember that 40 years before the events of today’s chapter, Moses and the Hebrew Tribes were camped on the other side of the River Jordan. Twelve spies were sent out to get a look at the land and the people living there. Joshua and his colleague Caleb were the only spies who believed that the Hebrews could take the land. Ten of the spies were afraid to do so because the Anakites lived there. They were afraid to face the giants.

The events of today’s chapter are a victorious vindication for Joshua and Caleb. It took 40 years, but they finally faced the giants and were victorious.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the “giants” I have faced and continue to face in my own spiritual journey. When I think about giants, I find myself considering:

  • Sins and fears to overcome
  • Broken relationships to heal
  • Callings to faithfully follow
  • Trials to endure
  • Disciplines to instill and develop
  • Enemies to love, bless and forgive

The author of Hebrews said that our lives and spiritual journeys are like a marathon. My friends who have trained and run marathons tell me that throughout the 26-mile course one might “hit the wall” multiple times and consider quitting. I thought of this as I contemplated the “giants” I have faced along my journey and the ones I face today. There’s always another wall to hit or another giant to face. I guess that’s why the author of Hebrews encourages his readers to “run with perseverance” this marathon of life we’re on.

Joshua and Caleb finally faced the Anakites and won. The conquest was ended. Now for the challenges of dividing and maintaining the land. I’m not sure Joshua had any idea how giant those challenges were going to be.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Trouble and Peace

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Trouble and Peace (CaD John 16) – Wayfarer

“They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God.” 
John 16:2 (NIV)

The little Iowa town where Wendy and I live has a fascinating history. It was founded and designed by a pastor who was escaping persecution in the Netherlands. That sounds odd to most people since the Netherlands is known for being a place of tolerance. In the early 1800s, however, the King of the Netherlands, and the government, controlled the church of the Netherlands. Pastors were told what to preach, and were threatened and punished if they disobeyed.

There was a group of rebellious young pastors who led an organized secession from the state church. Some were imprisoned for it. The leader of the secessionist movement was H.P. Scholte, and it was during this period of conflict with the state church of the Netherlands that he decided he wanted to experience the freedom of religion and the freedom of speech guaranteed to all Americans. In 1847, he led hundreds of followers to the Iowa prairie and created a town out of nothing.

In America, Scholte fully exercised his freedoms. Always a maverick, he refused to join any denomination and eventually built his own church which he led as a local, independent, non-denominational congregation. He practiced his freedom of speech by publishing his own paper, loudly speaking out for the abolition of slavery, and getting involved in the political process. He became a friend of Abraham Lincoln. The faith and spirit that Scholte and his wife imbued in this town is still evident for those who have eyes to see it.

Today’s chapter is the third of four chapters that John dedicates to all the things Jesus told His followers on the night before His crucifixion. Almost 20% of his biography is dedicated to those few hours on a Thursday evening.

Two chapters ago, I observed that all of the players present in the “fall” in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) are represented and/or referenced on this fateful evening. Again in today’s chapter, Jesus references the “prince of this world.” Jesus points to the fact that the events of this evening are part of a larger story; They are part of the Great Story.

What fascinated me as I, once again, read Jesus words to His followers this morning was both the warning and the promise with which today’s chapter is bookended. Jesus begins by warning His followers of the difficulties they will soon face: institutional persecution and the threat of death. Jesus wasn’t lying. All but one of the eleven disciples listening to these words (Judas was, at that moment, carrying out his betrayal) would be killed, martyred, for carrying out Jesus’ mission. At the end of the chapter, Jesus reiterates the “trouble” that they will experience in this world adding that “in Him” they would find peace amidst the conflict.

As I contemplate this, I am reminded of three things:

First, that when Wendy and I attended our local gathering of Jesus’ followers yesterday, it was the result of a legacy of believers who literally risked life and limb to escape “trouble” to carve out lives in the freedom of America.

Second, I am reminded of the “trouble” that many followers of Jesus face this day. I recently read that in Nigeria, 43,000 followers of Jesus have been killed in the past 12 years. An additional 18,000 have permanently disappeared. 17,500 churches have been attacked. There are 49 other countries in which the risk of “trouble” for being a follower of Jesus is rated “very high” to “extreme.” Those are dangers a follower of Jesus in America can largely ignore because it’s not my reality.

Which brings me to my third thought. In recent weeks, almost 60 churches have been attacked and burned in Canada, and last week a group of followers exercising their right to freely assemble and publicly worship were physically attacked by Antifa while police allegedly stood by and did nothing. “Trouble” is suddenly hits closer to home in ways I never expected to see in my lifetime.

In the quiet this morning, I’m reminded of Jesus’ promise which was a very direct contrast statement: “In this world you will have trouble,” He stated, while “In me you will have peace.” The latter was never intended to negate or escape the former. Rather, it was intended as the means to endure it.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.