The Phil Files

We love the old Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie, Joe vs. the Volcano. For those that like it, it is a cult classic. There is a line in the movie where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are floating on Joe’s luggage, lost at sea, and the moon comes up over the ocean. Tom Hanks looks up and says something like, “Dear God, whose name I do not know, I had forgotten how small.”

My daily Bible reading has recently taken me through the book of Isaiah. I haven’t really gotten to the part of Isaiah that is known for it’s great praise of God (Isaiah 40-66). Yet even in the less “God’s grandeur” portion of Isaiah, we meet a God who is global, cosmic, and glorious. After finishing this part of Isaiah, my response is similar to Hanks: “Dear God, who is bigger than all human names used to praise you, I had forgotten how small I am and how expansive and glorious You are!”

As we say the Lord’s prayer today, let’s remember how incredibly awesome God is!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

I have always been fascinated by the point emphasized again and again regarding the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites: they had enough for each day (Exodus 16; Numbers 11; Deuteronomy 8). They didn’t have too little or too much, but just enough for the day. If they tried to store up extra manna, it would ruin and get maggots.

A key point with the manna, quail, and clothes that didn’t wear out is rather straight forward: they were to depend upon the Lord for their daily needs. As God said, “I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God” (Deuteronomy 29:6). For me, facing the challenge of eating properly, this background helps me hear the key point I must learn to hear better each day: I need to seek the Lord for the food I need each day. It’s about seeking the Lord and my daily need — not over-eating as if there were no tomorrow.

So today, I pray The Prayer and hear these words in a fresh way:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.’”

[Jesus said] “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.’”

Yesterday, as we gathered together in a couple of worship assemblies, we celebrated the work God is doing in us and through us (Acts 14:26-28). It was fast paced, filled with praise, and with a lot of joy at what God was doing — reports, videos, slide show, time in the Word, and a Skype conference from an open Tabernacle for the homeless. As we finished, I was exhausted and also exhilarated.

But, toward the end of our Lord’s Supper time, I went to be with friends who carry a deep wound of grief. Even as I spoke, I could see pain etched on their faces as they had to wrestle with the subject at a whole different level than most of us as we wrote down things we were thankful about that God was doing in us. As I reached out to touch my friends, I noticed that Donna drew close to another precious person in the family. Little did I know how deep the grief that surged in all their hearts.

After lunch, Donna and I talked through the morning and she shared the awful, painful, heartbreaking news that she was visiting with this dear sister about. By the time we got to bedtime, I still couldn’t talk about the deep grief of these precious people — different sides of the same family suffering with unspeakable sorrow.

I confess that I don’t understand the “why” of such pain that rips apart the hearts of such good people. It’s not fair and it sure doesn’t seem right. I know that I am not supposed to question the love, faithfulness, and ways of God. But at the same time, I don’t understand why some walk away with a miracle and some go to bed with the deep loss grief inflicts and also have to wrestle with the questions of prayers that feel unanswered and ignored.

I am thankful for the Psalms that give me a voice to share such feelings of confusion, anger, and loss with God. I am also thankful for life-stories like Ruth and Naomi, that remind me that behind the deepest of losses — home, country, husband, and two sons — comes the unexpected gifts of hope, life, future, and ultimately the Messiah. God, in His faithfulness, used a foreign woman full of loyalty, grace, and beauty to bring deliverance, both for Naomi and for us.

But still, why do my friends who I love — people dedicated to the Lord and His Kingdom and His righteousness — have to carry such pain? All I can see today in the Lord’s prayer is that one phrase, “deliver us from the evil one.” DELIVER US! Yes, that’s all I can think about for my friends tonight.

I believe He will deliver us, but I am not always sure what that means in this present moment. One of my old, long-time favorite faith-anthems is Rich Mullins’ “My Deliverer is Coming.” I’ve embedded it below for you to hear. If you know the story of Rich’s untimely death, I believe it means even more, and it also challenges us to wrestle with the deep well of grief that often goes with walking the way of mortal flesh.

As you listen, please cry with me: O God, please deliver us!

The Lord’s prayer for today, May 3 (TNIV):

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.’”

I didn’t grow up dancing. One of my nicknames in college was Trip. Except for a brief stint in band in the sixth grade as a drummer, I’ve led a pretty beat impaired life. But as I tried to get caught up in the message I shared today, one powerful image struck me. God has invited me to share His dance of grace. I don’t have to lead. I don’t have to worry about the beat. I don’t have to get uptight about the right steps.

He leads! He supplies the rhythm. He guides my steps.

Just like you, God is at work in me (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:28). I can be His co-worker in His great work of redemption (1 Corinthians 3:9 & 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2). I am invited into the Divine Partnership between Creator and prized creation — the Great Purposer has a plan for me. The great Dancer has chosen me for His dance partner.

But bottom line, it is about bringing God glory … forever.

I think this is a dance that I can’t mess up if I take His hand and let Him lead, even on my most beat impaired days. Sure, I’m going to trip sometimes, but the music will still play and the Great Dancer will still take my hand if I will just get up and dance.

For Yours, O God, is the Kingdom and the power and the GLORY forever. I’ll follow your lead and trust you to hold me up when I stumble knowing I am knew at this dancing thing.

In my Heartlight.org article this week, I talk about how precious we are to God and yet often don’t believe what He says about us — that we are “holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (Colossians 1:22). Several questions that I would love input on if you read the article are:

What makes it hard to believe we are this precious to God?

What are ways you remind yourself that you are God’s precious and chosen child?

How can we help each other realize our preciousness to God?

I’d love to get some feedback from you on this below!

What a week! Or maybe I should say, “What a weak!”

The latter more reflects the reality. When there is more challenge, more ministry, more need, and just plain ol’ more of more, in a collection of seven days, I am much more reminded of my weakness more than I think of it being just another week. Yet somehow, grace sustains me, God uses me, and people are blessed by my feeble efforts.

I fully admit, this does not make sense. Stellar accomplishments, a great week of work, clicking off the to do list items, making a great presentation, and other things I might “pull off” well could lead me to celebrate my sufficiency. But, it has not been that kind of week. Instead, it has been full of hurt, crisis, frustration, risk, conversation, failure, flawed efforts, grief, battling for life, unexpected awful surprises, wrestling with memories, and a deepening sense of insufficiency. So, at what point does it become perfectly clear that the challenge is beyond my ability to pull off?

The apostle Paul puts it this way:

But he [God] said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me (2 Corinthians 12:9 tniv).

In our “Time in the Word” at Southern Hills, our focus is Colossians. So I came in after a day of ministry — with all its opportunities and reminders of insufficiency — and began to read Colossians … again … looking for some clear word of God to refresh me and help satisfy my spirit. Do you know what struck me?

In this vital letter to help this church stay on track, Paul repeatedly — even nonchalantly — speaks about God being the one who does the “heavy lifting” in the life of His people. Look at some of these key thoughts:

God called Paul to be an apostle: it was His will and commission of Paul (1:1, 25).

God can fill them with the knowledge and wisdom they need to be fruitful and live out His will (1:9-10).

God can strengthen them with endurance and patience (1:11).

God has qualified, redeem, and forgiven His people through Jesus (1:12-14).

God, in Jesus, created everything — seen and unseen — and reconciled them back to Himself (1:15-20.

God empowers Paul to proclaim Jesus and help bring people to maturity in Christ (1:28-29).

There are definite moments when I wonder, “God, who is sufficient for this? How can my feeble words be a blessing? How can my weak efforts make a difference in the face of so much hurt?”

And in those moments, God reminds me that no one is sufficient, but the Father has chosen to work with broken, simple, earthen vessels so that the power and the blessing are clearly not my own, but come from Him (2 Corinthians 4:5-10).