Heart Song Counseling

Did you know?  Heart Song Counseling has 8 highly trained biblical counselors.

Did you know?  We have 7 counselors who serve the DC Metro (DC, NoVA, Central MD) and 1 counselor in the Chicago Metro.

Did you know?  We provide counseling from a Christ-centered and gospel focused perspective that delights to come along side churches to assist them in caring for their congregation.

Did you know?  We provide support to pastors and lay leaders.

Did you know?  We provide lay counseling training for churches.

Did you know?  We lead seminars dealing with eating disorders, addictions, gospel-centered parenting and marriages.

Did you know?  We counsel couples and individuals as they wrestle with the brokenness of life.

Did you know?  In a world that is filled with sorrow, suffering, and broken relationships, Heart Song Counseling reaches to timeless Biblical Truth, allowing it to speak deeply into our being in order that God may bring about heart change- unveiling a new set of eyes to see hope, joy and intimate relationships.

Did you know?  Our theme verse is “My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.” Psalm 108:1

Did you know?  Our website is www.heartsongcounseling.org and  can learn more about us there!

Did you know?  You can contact me directly at jeff@heartsongcounseling.org.

Thanks for considering us for your counseling needs!

Warmly,

Jeff Rickett
Director and Counselor
Heart Song Counseling

Seeing with New Eyes: Hope in the middle of Suffering Psalm 73

I love to run in new places.  A few years ago I was in NYC for the U.S. Open and my dad and I stayed near Central Park. So I wanted to run in Central Park and I did.  However, after running for some time, I became disoriented and didn’t know how to get back to our hotel.  I was lost in NYC’s Central Park.  What I needed was a bird’s eye view of Central Park!  I needed another perspective.  Finally, I did find  my way back but it wasn’t after many failed attempts.  Often when we are lost or life is hard and we experience suffering, we at times lose our perspective.  During this time, we have a lot of questions about God and about faith and about what really matters in life. Suffering breaks us from the false reality that true happiness is living a pain free life where we get all we want in life.

In this passage, we see one who belongs to God suffering and experiencing deep loneliness in his suffering.  I love this psalm for it is refreshingly honest. This psalm of Asaph, the founder of the temple choir and one who was consider a spiritual leader, shares his own crisis of faith.  He feels very lonely as he suffers.  His response to his suffering challenges us to confession, forces us to examination, and encourages us to rest in the sovereign goodness of God.

¹ Surely God is good to Israel,

to those who are pure in heart. 

² But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;

I had nearly lost my foothold.

³ For I envied the arrogant

when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

⁴ They have no struggles;

their bodies are healthy and strong.

⁵ They are free from the burdens common to man;

they are not plagued by human ills.

⁶ Therefore pride is their necklace;

they clothe themselves with violence.

⁷ From their callous hearts comes iniquity;

the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

⁸ They scoff, and speak with malice;

in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

⁹ Their mouths lay claim to heaven,

and their tongues take possession of the earth.

¹⁰ Therefore their people turn to them

and drink up waters in abundance.

¹¹ They say, “How can God know?

Does the Most High have knowledge?” 

¹² This is what the wicked are like—

always carefree, they increase in wealth. 

¹³ Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;

in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

¹⁴ All day long I have been plagued;

I have been punished every morning. 

¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,”

I would have betrayed your children.

¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,

it was oppressive to me

¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;

then I understood their final destiny. 

¹⁸ Surely you place them on slippery ground;

you cast them down to ruin.

¹⁹ How suddenly are they destroyed,

completely swept away by terrors!

²⁰ As a dream when one awakes,

so when you arise, O Lord,

you will despise them as fantasies. 

²¹ When my heart was grieved

and my spirit embittered,

²² I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you. 

²³ Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever. 

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

I read this Psalm and I am reminded of Val’s and mine faith journey in regards to the pains of infertility and loss of our son Scott.  At times, we were very lonely.  God used this experience to expose my inconsistent views and lies that I believe about God and about my faith.  That is what He does often when he ordains suffering in our lives.  Friends, if you belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ, then suffering is part of our story.  God’s word says if we want to share Christ glory, then we will share in Christ suffering.  Being a Christian identifies us with Jesus Christ.  Jesus suffered on our behalf by taking our sins on the cross so that we can enter into an eternal relationship with God.  So this does not mean that since I belong to Jesus and obey Him that life will be perfect this side of heaven, that nothing will go wrong, that God will give me a pain free life.  You see, I probably would say that I didn’t teach that mindset, but my interpretation of life revealed differently.  What do I mean?

I was discouraged, angry and jealous and envious, betrayed.

• We did all right things as a Christian (we waited for the right one to marry, we were not sexually active before marriage, we treated one another with respect, etc.) and yet God is withholding the very thing we want and need.
• I struggled with anger with God.  “How can He say He loves me?  I really thought that He would meet all my needs, and here I am—not a father!
• I was envious.  “God, look at the many who are getting pregnant, and yet they are having abortions.”  God, many who hate you, you are blessing with many children!
• God, I am no better off than a non-Christian!  Is faith in you really worth it?!

What was my perspective in the midst of suffering?  Where were my eyes fixed?  As I faced what seemed an extremely emotionally painful and agonizing trial, was my perspective biblical?  Was it eternal?  How was I interpreting the facts in light of God and my relationship with Him.

This is why I love this psalm because it convicts us that in the midst of suffering, we can bring our questions, doubts, confusion and fears to Him.

Why can I say this so confidently?  Because of God’s redeeming love (v.1, 23-28)!  I believe we need to first understand the glorious, awesome, powerful grace of God in order to properly confess, examine and rest.   This is what the psalm is about:  a poem about life’s most important and significant relationship—relationship with God, the Sovereign Gracious Ruler.

Look with me at verse 1.  “Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.” 

Even though the psalmist experienced a crisis of faith, he was able to begin his psalm remembering that God is good.  We see that He is good in verses 23-28:

²³ Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

²⁴ You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

²⁶ My flesh and my heart may fail,

    but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever. 

²⁷ Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

²⁸ But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge;

I will tell of all your deeds.

This is the story of redemption! In this section, we are reminded of the grace of God.  God is with his people when they face suffering.  In fact, God rules over all things.  You will never find yourself in a location, situation, or relationships that is not ruled by King Jesus! Also, since you are connected to Jesus by faith in him, (Christ has suffered, you will suffer), He is personally with you in the midst of the suffering.  He is not distant but is actively present as you suffer.  You are his child whose Son had to die so you could be adopted.  His eye is on you and his ear is open to your cry.  He cares about you, permanently and deeply.  We may not ever understand the reasons behind suffering but he controls all things for our benefit.  As we experience suffering, He guarantees us his grace because he controls all the situations, relationships and locations where that grace will do its redeeming work.

Paul Tripp reminds: “What makes me rich is not a circumstance or a collection of possessions.  I am rich because of a relationship with a Person who is always with me.  His name is Immanuel.”  He goes on, “I look at the wicked and I can say, “Yes, they have burden-free circumstances.  Yes, they always seem to be increasing in wealth.  But I HAVE GOD!  I am held by His right hand, and I am guided by His counsel.  When my heart fails (my eyes seem deem), He is my strength.  He is taking me toward eternal glory.  He is what makes me rich.  Nothing compares to what I have, I can look around and honestly say, “There is nothing on earth I desire besides You.  You are my refuge.”  

GOD IS REALLY THAT GOOD!  We are eternally rich in Him.  He is our hope! He is our all and all.  He is the one who has redeemed us (ransomed us and is committed to changing us in the image of His Son).

Because God loves us in Jesus Christ (vv. 23-28),

• We can honestly confess our miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering (vv. 1-12).
• We can diligently examine our miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering (vv. 13-16).
We can confidently fix our eyes on God in the midst of suffering (vv. 17—24). 

We can honestly confess our miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering (vv. 1-12).

As we read this section of Scripture, Asaph honestly confesses his miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering by expressing a temporal view of life.  The bad guys are winning; the good guys are losing, so why should I trust you, God (“my feet almost slipped, I nearly lost my foothold”).  Basically, he is saying, God, you don’t know what you are doing and if you are like this, then my faith is not worth keeping.  He was looking at the prosperity of the evil world and the suffering of God’s people, and not on God Himself and His promises.  He was interpreting his facts based on his circumstances and life situations and not on who God is and what He promises.

Most of us, if we are honest, interpret God’s goodness on the basis of our level of present, temporal, and personal happiness.  Our view of happiness has to do with things that are physical, external and immediate.  It is hard for us to imagine that God could be good and not give us our portion of the “good life.”  We have a temporal focus not an eternal, long-term focus.  Our eyes are fixed on our circumstances, situation, (i.e., no children, a dissatisfying job, a bad marriage, illness, disobedient children, a difficult father, a unloving brother, etc.)  My case, my eyes were on Val getting pregnant and having a child to make me happy.

This how it would play out: I would find out news that acquaintances become pregnant, and I would become envious.  At times, it made no sense to me that these unbelieving couples should have more success in getting pregnant than us.  So I would cry out, confessing my envy and asking him to help me make sense out our relationship.

I needed to be reminded of 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Through outwardly we are washing away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Paul fixes his eyes not on what can be seen (i.e. no babies) but on what is unseen (on what God is doing in me through this situation).

God used our struggle with infertility to move me towards Him – by showing me my sin of discontentment, confessing it honestly and changing me in the midst of the circumstance. He chose not to fix the situation but to change me to reflect more of Him.

How about you?  How are you dealing with your miss-focused eyes and how are you interpreting your trials/sufferings or life situations in the reality of God’s grace?  What are you living for (the job to make you happy when it doesn’t, envious of others who seem to have a great job, marriage, children, etc.)?  Where is God showing you that you are getting more life in your personal happiness then in resting in God’s goodness in the midst of the difficult situation?  Where are you envious, angry, confused, and discouraged?  Where are your eyes focused?  Where do you need to confess the wrong interpretation you are basing your life on? 

You see, God moves us to run to him and not from him in order to learn to trust Him in the midst of suffering.

We can diligently examine our miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering (vv. 13-16).

In v. 13, Asaph concluded after viewing the situation, “Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.”  He is saying, “I wasted my time trying to keep my heart pure.  It’s been useless to be careful to obey God.  What have I received as a result of all my faith and obedience?”  “I don’t deserve to suffer in this way?”

So in his examination, he found himself envious and bitter.

This was what Asaph was concluding:

• God, if He is good, will bless the righteous and punish the wicked.
• God has blessed the wicked while the righteous suffered.
• Therefore, God is not good.
• Asaph’s and as well my practical conclusion was that it was vain to worship and serve God.  I do not deserve to suffer.

Asaph wanted results in his obedience.  We want results.  We want our service of God to result in a wonderful spouse, obedient kids, a good job, no sickness, and a beautiful house in suburbia.  Because of our service, we shouldn’t experience physical or emotional pain.  Life shouldn’t be messy for us.

We tend to focus on good results.  But God focuses on the process of making us good. 

He is working on us to free us from our bondage to the desires of our sinful nature.  Thus, the process of trial and suffering is no indication that God has forgotten His promises to us and He, therefore, is not good.  Rather, the process of trials, suffering, and loss that He ordains for us demonstrates His stubborn, faithful, eternal, and redeeming love.  He will not give up on us even when we are tempted to.  God is relentlessly committed to our good.

This is why we can diligently examine the conclusions of our miss-focused eyes in the midst of suffering.  In light of God’s goodness and commitment to us, we can begin to understand our faulty conclusions that are based on a wrong view of God and life.

We need to understand that we often draw our conclusion about life in unbiblical ways.  As God moved in Asaph, he realized that if he continued to believe the faulty interpretation about his suffering (that life is to make him happy), he would betray others in the faith and it would become oppressive to him. (v. 15, 16: ¹⁵ If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children. ¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me.

Asaph’s examination forces us to examine our own conclusions as follows:

• We need to understand what it means to think biblically about suffering.
• We need to recognize and confess where we have blamed God for our disobedience.
• We need to face the idolatrous nature our conclusions.

Sometimes we need help in our examination.  I want to take you through this examination by the counsel of two friends.  Bryan Chapell, “Is that how you are really dealing with the loss.”  and Jim McKee, “Is Jesus enough?” “Is God good even if we are not granted children?”

We need friends who will walk alongside us to help us diligently examine how we are living life, what we believe about God and ourselves.  We are often blinded to our sin and the incomplete way we are living, and we need others who lovingly and patiently hear our story and ask us questions to help us return our eyes on God.  (Not to fix us but to point us back to God and his perspective; not to give us Scripture and run but to help us uncover what is ruling our hearts).

Confession and examination of our miss-focused eyes, and the  bitterness, envy that may occur amidst suffering will lead us to rest in our Sovereign God.

We can confidently fix our eyes on God in the midst of suffering (vv. 17—24).

When did things begin to change for Aspah?  In v. 17 when he entered the sanctuary of God!!!  God gave him a new perspective as God drew himself into His presence.  What a perspective!

“To walk around with such an inner conflict is deeply painful, made worse by how wearisome it is to understand this: it seems impossible. But when the singer goes into the sanctuary of God, the holy place where God's people gather for worship, the light is finally allowed to break through.” (ESV Study Bible)

It is impossible to make sense out of life without including God’s eternal perspective as it relates to our suffering.  Tripp, “Eternity confronts us with the delusion of the permanence of the created thing (infertility, etc.).  Without this perspective the believer looks at his little pile, and is discouraged.  How different it is when he looks at the same picture and realizes that what the wicked has acquired is already in the process of fading away while what God has given him is an inheritance that will never fade!”

Asaph uses two metaphors to show us the delusion of permanence of this world.  First, he says that the ungodly are like people standing on slippery ground.  They are standing now, but they are going down (v. 18).  It’s like watching me riding a skateboard up a ramp wearing sandals.  You are not surprised when I fall because you never bought into the delusion that I was on good footing.

Second, Asaph likens life of the wicked to a dream or fantasy (v. 20).  Dreams seem like real life.  They are powerful and can leave us shaken.  But dreams are not the real thing.  They are fleeting fantasies in our sleep.  Real life continues.  I have a recurring dream of winning an Oscar for Best Actor in a Motion Picture…but I always wake up and real life continues without that ugly statue of Oscar!  Such is the prosperity of the unbeliever; it is but a dream.  It seems so much like real life.  In seems so permanent; but it is a flash it is gone, and they wake up to the reality that this world is not the main event.

Again, it reminds us of Paul’s words—are eyes are to be fixed on the unseen and not the seen.  Entering God’s presence helps us to do just that.  These metaphors point us toward what God is doing as He expresses His redemptive love for His children. Tripp again:  “What is God working on?  Is He working hard to provide us with the biggest pile of this world’s stuff and this world’s happy experiences?  If so, He has miserably failed.  Even worse, He has used His creative and redemptive power to give us only that which is doomed to pass away.  Would this be the work of a good God?  Would a good God motivate us to hope in things that are by their very nature temporary?  Would He want us to stand on a slippery slope?  Would he want our lives to be the passing fantasies of our sleep?  Would He be good if He did anything less than to confront our powerful delusion of the permanence of this world?

Isn’t that what suffering, loss, and trials do for us?  They don’t change the rules but they confront us with what has been true all along: 

• They explode the myth that this is all there is and that the goal of life is to get as much as you can.
• They confront us with the fact that the most blessed of human relationships, situations and experiences pass away, sometimes quite quickly.
• They help us to realize how deeply we have believed the lie, how much hope we have placed in the permanence of the created thing and now tightly we hold onto the things of this world.
• Most importantly, suffering through trials help us to realize who God is and the meaning of the gospel of Christ.

The Gospel reminds us that God is with us in Jesus Christ. Because we belong to God by faith in Jesus, his presence and power is with us as we face suffering.

Friends, because God loves us we can honestly confess and diligently examine our hearts even when we struggle to believe our Sovereign God.  God invites us to see what really rules our heart (loneliness, bitterness) so that we can grow in our confident trust in Him.

Remember we don’t know how long the psalmist struggled and came to the point of delighting in the presence of God.

In fact, at one point the best thing he could do was to keep his thoughts to himself (v. 15), but now his lips are open.  In the light of his examination of his heart, we return to his first exclamation with new understanding:  “Truly God is good . . . to those who are pure in heart.”  As he honestly confessed and diligently examined his faith struggle, he came to find confident rest in God.

Into the Deep Robert Rogers: his wife and 4 children die in flash flood driving in Kansas, wave of water washed over car like a tsunami. Broke windows and tossed out, some kids still strapped in van.  “Even when facing death, he had a peace.  God is here and he is with me in these deep waters.”  As he made it out of the water, went to the police and then wanted 3 hours to see his children say “Daddy, Daddy.” He waited and waited in the hospital but they never came.  He kept saying, “I trust You, I don’t feel like it.”  Then, the chaplain came told him that his 3 children in van had died.  He identified their lifeless, wet bodies. 8 yr. daughter they found on a barbwire fence dead. Remembered the tea parties, pancakes. Then they found his wife 3 days later.  He questioned the Lord, “why are you doing this.”  Turned to the Psalms for comfort even when his soul was weak. (3 yr. of grieve counseling). As he drove into God’s Word, he experienced the sufficient grace of God.  The Sunday after bearing his 4 children and his wife, he went to church (usually plays piano), he had to worship God. He was determined to fight for his faith in the midst of the struggle with God.

Paul Tripp:  “Isn’t it wonderful to know that no matter how difficult and confusing life may be, there is rest to be found?  The rest is found, not in knowing the future or in logical syllogisms, and not in research or experience.  No, rest is a gift of grace.  It is the result of being accepted into the family of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Rest is found in knowing that the One who rules it all is your Father.  Rest knows that the King loves you with an everlasting love and he rules over all things for your sake.  This kind of rest will stay with you when circumstances are wonderful and when they are terrible, because your rest isn’t circumstantial, it is personal. Now that’s real rest!”

Let us come recognizing, admitting, confessing, and forsaking all patterns of discontent, anger, and bitterness toward God that result from a view of life that forgets God’s eternal and redeeming love for us! Let us grow together in resting in His love he has for us in Jesus Christ and fixing our eyes there.

I AM SPARTAN! Really, I’m more than that! Right?

Many of you know that a few weeks ago I ran this crazy obstacle race called the Super Spartan.  At the beginning of the race, the announcer roused up over 4,000 participates (at different times throughout the day) and had us shout loudly “I am Spartan!”.  He most likely did this to get us pumped up and put in our minds that we can complete this race.  It worked!  Seeing all shapes and sizes, young and older with various degrees of athletic ability moving towards the goal of completing the race is inspirational.  We are Spartan, right!  I saw at least two injured men push through the pain and complete the race.  We are Spartan, right!  We helped others move through the impossible obstacles in the race while being helped myself to climb over an 8ft wall (I am only 5’5”, my gosh).  We are Spartan, right!  It is a powerful motivation to be reminded that we are more than we think to accomplish this challenging race.

So as I think about the power in telling myself that I am a Spartan, there is something more powerful in believing that I am a Christian.   As a fellow sinner, saint and sufferer life in this world can be extremely difficult and challenging—full of impossible obstacles.  The obstacles could be a serious illness, a broken marriage, parent-child issues, a challenging boss or employee, roommate differences, lost job, or just the mundane of daily life (deadlines, chores, homework, etc.).  Being a Christian matters as we face life challenges.

I don’t know about you but it is easy for me to forget who I really am and the power that lives in me and then enables me to live as a Christian.  The Apostle Paul in Romans 8 reminds us of who we are and of that power.  This is not an exposition but an encouragement as you face life challenges and difficulties. 

Because of the person and work (his perfect obedient life, sacrificial death, bodily resurrection, kingly rule, and daily intercession) of Jesus Christ, Remember this Christian:

• We are no longer condemned!  At the cross, Jesus took our condemnation.  We were condemned because of our sin, our rebellion against a holy God and yet the perfect God-Man Jesus Christ gladly took our verdict of condemnation when he died for us on the cross.  We now stand not guilty before a Holy God because of Jesus. (8:1)
• We are free to live like Jesus!  The Spirit of Christ now lives in us and we are free by the Spirit’s power to fight sin that wages war in our lives, to break the hold of heart idols, to show compassion to the hurting, to forgive your spouse, to give mercy to your child, to speak the truth in love to your friend, to encourage others in the faith, and to confront others in their sin.  We are free to love sacrificially those who have hurt or hate us. (8:2-8)
• We have Christ resurrected power residing in us! (8:9-11) Wow!  This is some power!  More than the power of being a Super Spartan, it is a supernatural power—the power that raised a dead person to life!  We live freely like Jesus because we have the resurrected power of Jesus in us!  Because we are Christians, we can face our difficulties and challenges with hope knowing that we have all we need to work through them—The Holy Spirit working Christ resurrected power in us.
• We are His adopted Children!  This is truly amazing.  We have the same access Jesus has to the Father.  We can honestly cry out to our Father, and he delights to here our cries.  He cares for what we are going through.  He helps us in our weakness and understands our groans and pains. (8:12-26)
• We are co-heir with Christ!  Everything that belongs to God belongs to us.  Can you fathom this?  The God who created all things, who sustains all things, who is holy and blameless delights to give us Himself and all that belongs to him.
• We are sufferers!  -  Friends, if a Christian, suffering is part of your story, part of my story!  If like me, I don’t like that part of being a Christian. But we need to deal with it!  Grasp it!  Embrace it!  Find Joy in it!  Thankful that Christ has ultimately suffered for us (taking the wrath of God on himself for us) and thus thoroughly understands any suffering we experience! (8:17)
• We are glorified! Really don’t know what to say but grateful.  Taking a sinner like me who finds delight in so many other things than Jesus and yet He still is and will glorify me is totally an act of radical grace. (8:17)
• We have a final destination! Nothing, absolutely nothing, will separate us from the love of God! Jesus, today and tomorrow and the next day, is actively working on our behalf to bring us home and he is faithful and will do it. This is a truly a guarantee like no other guarantee.  There is no small print to read!  Our eternal home is secure! (8:18-31)

Christian, whatever you are facing today, may the truth of Roman not just inspire you, but also truly empower you to live in the reality of who you are!  You are a Christian!  Really, these things are true about you and me!!

Daddy, Are You Embarrassed?

“Daddy, are you embarrassed that you don’t have a job?” asked my daughter.  Wow!   How do I respond to such an insightful question?  Of course, I do have a job, I counsel, but right now it is part time.  Also, she knows that I want a senior pastoral position.

So am I embarrassed?  I’m not so embarrassed as humbled and disappointed.  I’m 48 years old and believe that I should be at the peak of my career by fulfilling my dreams of leading a gospel centered and multi-ethnic church.  But that dream is not being fulfilled!  To be honest, I experience anger with God.  I wrestle with doubts and what it really means to trust the sovereignty of God.  I’m at a crazy place where I counsel people on finding hope in the gospel and yet I at times feel very hopeless as it relates to my future.

What keeps me grounded?  What keeps me sane?  What keeps me going?  It is Jesus and what He did for me (and you) in his life and on the cross!  I’m reminded of John 4.  Here, Jesus initiates a life-changing conversation with a Samaritan woman.  That’s crazy in itself during that time—a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman.  She was from the inferior sex, the inferior race and an inferior religion, according to the ancient cultural elite.  Yet, Jesus delights to break through those cultural norms and talk with this broken woman and offer her Himself.

I love what the late James Montgomery Boice comments, “Here Jesus who was not wearied merely by the heat.  He could have stayed in the cooler area of the Jordan.  Here was a Jesus who was wearied in his search for sinners and who had become thirsty seeking those to whom he was to offer the water of life.”

Jesus seeks us even when we don’t seek him.  He deeply cares about our lives and knows that who He is and what He has to offer is truly what we need.  It so easy for me, and I bet you, to base God’s love for you on how your life is going (if circumstances are good, he loves me if circumstances are tough, you doubt it).  But God shows His love for us at the cross.  If you doubt His love, look at the cross and not your circumstances (e.g., my dreams not being fulfilled, or whatever for you)!

Paul Miller, in his book Love Walked Among Us, insightfully describes the thought of the Samaritan woman, “Come meet a man who moved into my world!” she invites.  Come meet a man who saw right though me and yet accepted me!  Come and meet a man who loved me just as I am!  Come meet a man who showed me how empty I was!  Could this be the person, promised from God, who would save us from ourselves?”

Come meet a man who moved into your world.  Come meet a man who saw right through you and me and yet accepted us!  Come and meet a man who loved you and me just as we are!  Come meet a man who showed you and me how empty and broken we are!  Could this be the person, promised from God, who would save us from ourselves and our sins?” 

YES, He IS.  Come, drink, and find your soul satisfied in Him!  When life doesn’t make sense and you are looking for something to quench your thirst, may you know that Jesus provides the only water that can quench it!  When the job search becomes very humiliating and at time extremely disappointing, what really helps is the amazing truth that because of the cross Jesus was humiliated for me.  He willingly and sacrificially gave his life so that now God delights in me and enjoys to provide me his living and eternal water that truly satisfies my souls.

He is the Messiah—Savoir of our souls!  Here these words from the OT that promises our souls to be satisfied by Jesus.

·        Isa. 12:3:  “With joy you will draw water from wells of salvation.”

·        Ps. 42:1:  “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God”

·        In Isaiah 44 God makes a promise, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land.” (Isa. 44:3)

·        In Isaiah 55 God declares, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!” (Isa. 55:1)

·        Several times in the writings of other ancient prophets of God, Ezekiel and Zechariah, there is picture of a river of life flowing out from God’s presence in Jerusalem.

Here these words n the NT!

• John 4:13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
• In Revelation (the last book in the Bible), there is a reference to these themes in the promises for the end times, “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Rev. 7:17).

Praying that you and I experience the living water of Jesus!

Triggers

The other day my daughter and her two friends lured me out of the house and into the garage to soak me with their water guns.  Throughout all their attempts to get me out of the house, deep down I knew that they were up to something, and was not surprised once I was in an open space that they pulled the trigger and succeeded in their goal-to soak me.  We all had a good laugh and it made the day of at least three 13 yrs. old girls.


The pulling of the trigger is an image that I believe helps us in dealing with what goes on within our hearts.  Jesus says: Do you not see that zwhatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled?1 18 But awhat comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come bevil thoughts, cmurder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, dslander. 20 eThese are what defile a person. But fto eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matt. 15:17-20 ESV) Basically, Jesus is saying this: "What we are believing in our hearts about God and ourselves will affect then how we live among others when faced with the many challenges in our lives."


So what does this have to do with "pulling the trigger"?  Take my example from my blog, "Transitions are hard."  This current transition has revealed again the over desire to feel wanted by others.  One of my triggers is when I receive the rejection email from the church.  What will I do with that rejection?  Will I let if affect me to the point of taking it out on my family by withdrawing from them or speaking to them in an unloving way.  How my "mouth" that Jesus talked about in the above verse plays itself out depends upon if I pull the trigger.  The trigger is stationary, it doesn't do anything until one pulls it. I didn't get soaked until the girls pulled the trigger. The trigger could be a disappointing conversation with a spouse,  your son or daughter not respecting you, being passed over for a promotion at work, a colleague confronts you on a mistake, not getting the A on the test you diligently studied for, a woman you really like rejects your offer for a date,  getting a parking or speeding ticket, receiving an unexpected tax bill---you get my drift.  The normal and not so normal stuff of life often are triggers.  


What we do with these triggers (if we pull them or not) often shows us what our hearts believe about God and ourselves.  What are your triggers?  What do the triggers show you about your heart (what is important to you, what brings you most life-Jesus or feeling wanted, respected, and valued by others, for example)?  And when you pull the trigger where do the bullets shoot (anger towards your family or God, harsh and flippant words, porn, depression and withdrawal, critical and judgmental towards others, jealously or envy towards others, resentment and lack of forgiveness, lack of trust towards others and God, ignoring the needs of and disregard for others, gossip and tearing down of others, etc.).  Pulling the trigger often affects those around us!  (Much like how the girls pulling the trigger of their water guns affected me:))


I leave these words with you from Jesus as you and I honestly seek Him in working through the triggers of life.  His Grace abounds and gives all the resources we need to live life!

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; [26] yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. [27] All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  [28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:25-30 ESV)

Transitions are HARD!

Most of us have experienced transitions. Some transitions can be fun and exciting but also hard and challenging. I guess in transitions one can experience fun, exciting, hard and challenging at the same time. My family is again experiencing another transition. It was self-imposed but nonetheless it is still hard. What I continue to learn about myself is this: It is so easy for me to get my identity (my life, my contentment) in "wanting to feel wanted". After sending my resume to churches, I anxiously await if they will decide if I have "what it takes" to be their pastor. Some respond promptly while others take forever, some say "no" rather quickly while others seek more information or an interview. I know that I wrestle with "wanting to be wanted" when I become discouraged, confused, frustrated, humiliated, sad, or even angry when these churches respond no. On the positive side, when a church begins to pursue me I become encouraged, happy, and excited. Of course, these are all "natural" responses during this time, but it is interesting to see how quickly my thoughts about myself and about God can change depending if I receive "good" or "bad" news. As I wait my next pastoral call, I serve as a biblical counselor. When a couple or individual share their struggle with me, I often ask them "Where is God as they work through their struggle?" "What do they believe about God?" "What do they believe about themselves?" "What do they believe about how God's view them and how does that help them engage their struggle?" So I need to ask those same questions to myself. This is what I know and desire to believe: God wants me. The cross of Christ shows me that God wants me. In fact, Jesus went to great lengths to demonstrate His desire to be in a relationship with me. As I reflect more and more on this gracious truth, it does give me hope as I experience the "no's" and "yes's" of my transition. How about you? Are you facing transition? How are you handling it? What do you need to believe about the gospel in the midst of your struggle so that you find your ultimate identity in Jesus Christ and not in your highs and lows of the transition? I leave you and me with this encouragement from the Apostle Paul for those who are facing transitions: What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39)