Little Chats With God

The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and patience is better than pride.  Ecclesiastes 7:8Ecclesiastes 7:8
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning. The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Lord, it seems a lot of us have unfinished projects lying around. We start something new with great enthusiasm. But then we find that it isn’t really as interesting or enjoyable as we had hoped it would be. Or it’s just plain too hard. Or we get so busy with other things (including a few new projects) that we just don’t have time to finish what we started. So the original project is left languishing in some cupboard, only to eventually find its way to the rubbish tip, or perhaps be recycled into yet another new project.

Lord, I’m so glad that You are not like us. How would we be if You had made half the world, then got bored and given up? What if, Jesus, You had got half way through the crucifixion then decided that it was just too hard and simply pulled out the nails from Your hands and feet and stepped down from the Cross? It sure would have showed the people Who You were, but it would have been a dead loss (no pun intended) for our salvation. What if, when it came to reaching me with the Gospel, You had tried once or twice then got too caught up with other things?

When we start something, it is easy for us to get all excited about how great it is going to be, and what a wonderful difference it will make in our lives and the lives of others. Perhaps we should be putting that energy into actually getting the job done. Then, when we finish, we would be able to look back with the pride and satisfaction of a job well done.

Help me, Lord, to reflect the patience and persistence of Your character. Help me to stay with the things I start until I finish them.

“If a man loudly blesses his neighbour early in the morning, it will be taken as a curse.” Proverbs 27:14Proverbs 27:14
English: World English Bible - WEB
14 He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning, It will be taken as a curse by him.

Blokes really are dumb sometimes, Lord. My friend’s husband recently woke her up at 3 o’clock in the morning to wish her happy 36th wedding anniversary. He was lucky to live to see the sunrise of his 37th year!

Why is it, Lord, that so often when we try to do something nice for someone, what we end up doing is something that would be nice for us rather than something that would be nice for them? Like the bloke who buys his wife power tools for birthday presents, or the woman who thinks that a really great night out for hubby would be to take her to see a chic flick?

Then there’s the “A type” personality who drags his friend through a 4-week holiday of non-stop action and adventure, when all his “C type” friend wants is to spend the whole 4 weeks quietly napping under a palm tree.

Of course, I have such incredible good taste that it would be impossible for anyone of equally good taste not to enjoy the things that I enjoy. But sadly, Lord, it seems You made us all different, and that there are lots of people out there who don’t share my good taste. For that matter, I guess there are lots of people out there who would even question the “goodness” of my taste (though I can’t for the life of me understand why, and of course they are wrong!)

Seriously, though, Lord, are we really so caught up in ourselves that we are not really interested in giving other people the things - or the experiences - that would be pleasing, interesting or exciting to them? Are we so self-centred that life always has to be about “us”, even when we are pretending that it is about the other person?

More to the point, am I?

Lord, help me to look through other people’s eyes, to see their needs but also their likes and tastes and desires. And when I come to give, whether it be material things, time, or experiences, help me to give to where they’re at, not to where I am.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2Galatians 6:2
English: World English Bible - WEB
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Lord, I remember that “flower power” song of the 60s, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” For all the things that were wrong in that era, I guess we got a few things right. It seems the sentiment of that song was a reflection of Your Word in this verse.

It’s so easy for us to get caught up in our own lives, Lord. Whether it’s the day-to-day nitty-gritty stuff, or the major dramas, we get focused on ourselves and those who are closest to us, so much so that we can lose sight of the needs of others around us. And it seems that the further those needs are away from us, the more invisible they become. I read once that it takes one violent death in the immediate neighborhood to make the news, but thousands on the other side of the world.

What’s worse, when we do become aware of the needs of others, often we see that awareness as an unwelcome intrusion. Either we are too busy carrying our own burdens to be even remotely concerned about carrying someone else’s, or we are comfortable in our own little cocoon where, for the moment at least, everything is sweet, and we don’t want any negatives to upset our applecart.

Yet, Lord, it seems to me that whether we like it or not, we are affected by the things that affect other people. The fact that there is poverty in the world makes us all poorer. The fact that there is injustice makes us all less free. The fact that there is crime and terrorism makes us all less secure. It is only the degree to which we are affected that is different.

That being so, it seems only reasonable that we should seek to make positive change in our world. The burden we carry for another today is the burden we will not need to carry for ourselves tomorrow.

Help me, Lord, to look beyond my own immediate interests, and where possible to help carry the burdens of others.

“My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry…”  James 1:19James 1:19
English: World English Bible - WEB
19 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;

Lord, when I read this verse again this morning it reminded me of the principle I was taught so long ago: God gave man two ears and one mouth because He intended them to be used in that proportion.

I have taught it many times over the years, but when I read this I found myself wondering, as I do with so many things, whether I actually do it. Do I really pay twice as much attention to what others are saying as I do to speaking myself? Even when I’m not speaking, am I really listening, or am I simply being quite while I prepare what I am going to say next? You know the answers to those questions, Lord, and I know that they are not what I would really like them to be.

Then there is something else here, Lord - something that I had never really noticed till this morning. You put becoming angry in the same basket with the whole listening and speaking thing. Interesting. Are You trying to tell us that often our unnecessary anger is a result of speaking too quickly and not listening enough? Of not really hearing what the other person is saying because we are so focused on what we are trying to get across?

If that’s the case, then could a lot of anger be resolved by us laying aside our own agenda for a while and listening - really listening - to what the other person has to say. Not just hearing their words, but hearing their heart. Could it be that if we stop to really hear them, then we may find that they are not so different from us after all, or at least that we can understand their position?

Come to think of it, that sort of listening could not only resolve a lot of the anger between individuals. On a national basis, it could also stop a lot of wars.

Lord, next time my mouth is flapping around when I should be listening to the other person, stop me. Next time I am ignoring what someone else is saying because I am too busy preparing my next monologue, stop me. You gave me two ears and one mouth: teach me to use them in that proportion.

 ”What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean’, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’.” Matthew 15:11Matthew 15:11
English: World English Bible - WEB
11 That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”

The food police are at it again, Lord. Last night on the telly they were on about how we should not eat leftovers, they could be full of germs, blah, blah, blah! Honestly, I’ve been eating leftovers for more than fifty years, and they’ve never harmed me yet.

I often think of the poor old bloke I saw on a similar show years ago. That time the food police were on about chopping boards. Apparently, we should not use wooden ones because of the dreaded germs. This old fellow had one that he had made when he was a stripling, and had been using all these years. He was obviously quite proud of it. Now, because the food police said so, he was about to throw it in the bin. I wanted to grab him, shake him and say, “Excuse me, you’ve been using the thing for fifty or sixty years! If it hasn’t made you sick yet, there’s a pretty good chance it’s not going to!”

The food police really get up my nose, Lord. Really, all they want is to make us buy extra stuff. I do find it somewhat amusing, though, to know that they were round in Your day, too. Of course, back then they didn’t have the “scientific” backing that they do now. (Science, like statistics, can be made to say just about anything you want!) Instead, in Your day they called on that good old reliable standby, tradition.

I really would have liked to be a fly on the wall as You put them in their place so effectively!

Then, as You so often did, you immediately turned it around from the superficial to the essential. It’s not what goes into the mouth, but what comes out that counts, You said. At worst, the things we put into our mouths can harm us personally. The things that come out of our mouths can harm those around us, and bring discredit to You and Your Kingdom. As well as that, what comes out of our mouths shows what is inside of us.

Lord, deal with my heart, the source of everything that comes out of my mouth. Let what comes out of my mouth always be what will honour You, and encourage those around me.

“… and He asked them, ‘Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?’ ‘Ceasar’s,’ they replied. Then He said to them, ‘Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s, and to God what is God’s’.”  Matthew 22:20-21Matthew 22:20-21
English: World English Bible - WEB
20 He asked them, “Whose is this image and inscription?” ²¹ They said to him, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

I love the way You handled this, Lord. These guys thought they really had You, yet You so quickly turned their scheme upside down. The coin bore Ceasar’s image, so of course it was rightfully his.

Somehow, though, I think they missed the fine print, Lord. It seems to me that You were saying something far more important than suggesting that they would be best to pay their tax.

I think You were trying to remind them of the image they bore. Your Word says that we were made in Your image and likeness. If the fact that a coin bears the likeness of a man means that man has a right to that coin, then surely the fact that we bear Your image means that You have a right to us.

I guess it’s easy to miss, Lord. I have trouble getting my head around it, too. Sometimes I see myself as so much unlike You that it is hard to remember that I was made in Your image. You’ve sure got some major repair works to do here, Lord - Your image is pretty much obscured at times.

But then, You never said that the coin was in mint condition. Maybe it was a bit buckled, slightly chewed around the edges. Maybe the image was worn down, barely visible. It wouldn’t have made any difference. The coin was made bearing Ceasar’s image, therefore Ceasar had a right to it.

Likewise, no matter how much Your image in me has become defaced, You have a right to me: to everything I am, everything I have, everything I can ever be or dream of being. Even better, as I yield everything I am to You, You begin to polish, restore and renew Your image in me. Thank You, Lord.