Daniel, my small son, is full of unreasonable fears.
One day several months ago, I was cooking in the kitchen when he suddenly began shrieking in fear. I ran to him immediately, but could see nothing wrong with him. He was standing in front of our living room window, trembling violently. I looked out the window and saw nothing. Perhaps it was a bird, suddenly swooping toward the glass? Maybe he heard a dog barking? Or maybe a strange cat made a visit and left abruptly when he screamed? I will never know the truth. But his fears were real to him. He clutched me and for hours I could not put him down. He clung and trembled and refused to go near that window. For weeks he studiously avoided that area of the house. I assured him of my presence; I assured him that nothing could hurt him. It made no difference to his inner turmoil. It was an unreasonable fear, but it was very real to him. In Matthew 8, we read about a group of men who also experienced fear. Jesus was transferring his group of disciples from one side of the sea to another when a fierce storm hit. The gusty gales shook the boat. The waves splashed into the vessel, almost filling it. The men shook with fear. These were men used to seas. They were familiar with storms and boats. At least a few of them were fishermen who--we know from other stories--sometimes spent the whole night fishing these waters. But this storm was extraordinary in its ferocity. So they went to Jesus (who was asleep), and begged him to wake up and do something because they were about to perish. What followed is what should surprise us: Jesus rebuked them for their "little" faith. (Actually, out of the three parallel passages that tell this story, this is the most complimentary one with regard to their faith.) When I read that, I puzzle over it. Isn't it faith that sent those men running to the only person on earth that could do something about the storm? If that isn't faith, then what is? Unlike the situation with my son Daniel, these men's fears were real. From a human perspective, they had reasonable fears. Death was imminent. And in their little faith, they ran to Christ. Yes, there is a faith that sends us fearfully to our God for help. But there is another, greater kind of faith. There is a faith that casts out fears, that throws caution to the wind, that causes us to throw our heads back in an awe-struck wonder at God's amazing power. On another night, in another boat, during another storm, Jesus used this phrase again. He was speaking to Peter, who had faith enough to walk on water, but who took his eyes off his Lord long enough to look around him at the boisterous wind. He started to sink and cried out to the one person who could do something about his circumstances. This hearty man, this brave fisherman, this rock who remains the only human being to ever walk on water, was rebuked for his little faith. Meditating on this should send us to our knees in shame. How big is my faith? And what does great faith look like? Well, unfortunately the Bible doesn't spell it out for us. But I can imagine. There is a violent storm at sea. The disciples are in a boat. The wind catches and twists the boat wildly, like an amusement park ride. The waves pound right over that frail vessel, sloshing around on the deck, filling it knee-deep. And there stands Peter, the hearty fisherman, grasping at a rope. He is used to bucking decks. He plants his feet wide and throws back his head to watch in wonder as the lightning flashes in great, bright cracks along the black skies. No fear. Christ is in the boat WITH HIM. He sucks in his breath as another wave crashes over the side of the boat, soaking him to the skin. Thunder roars. Peter throws back his head and roars with laughter. What a ride! Now THAT is great faith. Great faith is enjoying the ride because Christ, the master and creator of those seas and those storms, is in the boat with you. Great faith is getting out of the boat to walk across those mountainous waves. Great faith is fixing your eyes on Christ so diligently and so hard that all that fear fades. I'm a white-knuckle flier. My first plane ride, many years ago, was a nightmare of fears and insecurities. And 9-11 certainly didn't help any. Yet, for some reason, God has chosen to put me into a ministry where airline rides are imminent and regular. And He put me in an island country where ministry requires us regularly to fly. Recently we were preparing to fly to another island to speak at a singles' retreat. One of our friends checked the weather and predicted that there would be storms on the day of our flight. Mmm-hmm! That is all it would take normally to ratchet up my fear factor. But just that morning God had buttressed me in my devotions with this very story. He is sovereign over my Bible reading schedule. He knew what I needed to meditate on that day. In the end, we didn't have a storm, but on our return trip we had a bit of unusual turbulence. Nothing terrible, but definitely enough to send my heart beat racing. But do you know what I did? I reminded myself that Christ was in the boat with me and I could just sit back and enjoy the ride. I fixed my eyes on Him and the fears faded. I fell asleep, in fact, just like He did in the boat. The danger didn't change, but my perspective did. And that made all the difference in the world. That is amazing. Here is the take-away truth: All fears are unreasonable when Christ is in the boat with you. Sit back and enjoy the ride. --Laura L. Berrey
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Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the animals out. So the dog wanders in and sits and scratches himself for awhile in the back of the room. The cat from next door slithers its way under the chairs, rubbing unexpectedly against your leg. A mouse got stranded under the communion table cloth and wants out. Every other alliterated point, he pokes his wiggly nose out to check on things and swiftly withdraws again. Maybe he smells the cat. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep your children in. You watch your children like a hawk when they play near the railing. You are four floors up and the railing bars are wide. Things happen. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the noise out. And the church is on a main road. The preacher has to compete with the traffic four floors below. You know heat rises (boy, does it ever!), but you didn't realize noise rises too. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the rain out. So everyone has to move away from the side (or the back) of the church when it rains. In the middle of the sermon. They just pick up their chairs and move. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the heat out. So whatever temperature it is outside, it also is inside. And it is HOT outside. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To keep the air conditioning in. That's okay. There isn't any air conditioning anyway. Just fans. Lots of fans. The preacher has to compete with the traffic, and also with the fans. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate the different Sunday School classes. So you hang curtains from the rafters. The curtains billow in the breeze and flap against you while you listen to your Sunday School teacher. The curtains don't keep out the noises, only the sights. So the Sunday School teacher learns to compete with traffic noises, fan noises, and the noise of fifty children in four different age groups singing four different songs. Imagine your church has no walls. . . For a nursery. No softly padded floor. No crib, no toys, no swings. Just your arms. And the railing with the wide holes, of course! When your baby is tired or hungry, the Sunday School teacher has to compete with the traffic, the fans, the children singing on the other side of the curtain, and the baby crying in your arms. Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate you from all the people outside. All that you do or say or sing is clearly seen and heard by those around you. Even if they weren't intending to attend church that morning, they were there. . . just outside your non-existent walls. Praise God! Imagine your church has no walls. . . To separate you from the great big huge needy hurting population outside. So you reach out your arms and invite them in. The poor ones, the rich ones, the tiny ones, the sick and hurting ones. The ones aching with sin. All the ones who need Christ so badly. For some of you this is so normal that you wonder why I would even mention it. . . . But there are others of you who can't wrap your minds around this. You sit in your padded pews with the air conditioning (or heat) keeping the sanctuary at a delightful predetermined temperature. Your babies are safely and happily playing in a fun, soft playroom. Your preacher wears a funny metal piece on the side of his face so that you can hear him even when he moves away from the pulpit. Your piano is protected from floods, heat, humidity, and mice, and thus churns out music fit for the heavenlies. You don't even know it is raining until you leave the building. There is nothing wrong with that! That is a marvelous blessing! Do you appreciate it fully? Walls can be wonderful, protecting things. In many parts of the world, walls are a necessity. But sometimes walls also keep the people out. The very people you are trying to reach. They drive past your walls and wonder what you are doing in there. People, aching with sin, needing a Savior. You have the answer. But you have to invite them in to hear it. You have to go to them with the truth that will set them free. Jesus preached on the mountainsides. He knew rain, heat, and cold. He reached people. His kingdom was not of this world, and He wasn't concerned about building walls. He was concerned about people. Sometimes we are too content with our walls. God has equipped you to fight your worst enemy. Don't join his side. Our enemy is sneaky.
He is sly. He is slimy and despicable. Some people don't realize this. They have joined his side. Instead of being on guard against him, they have cozied up and become friends. They watch his movies and laugh at his jokes. They surf his internet sites. They dance to his music. What they don't know is killing them. Spiritually. And the whole armor of God just sits there in their closet. Unused. Why put on armor to protect yourself against a friend? They don't understand the nature of this enemy's warfare. But Paul did. That is why the first thing Paul tells us about our enemy is the nature of his warfare: his warfare is one that employs deception, cunning or scheming. In other words, he is not going to fight fair. He will not fight like a gentleman. He will lie, deceive, trick, and use any manner of slimy schemes in order to unseat us from winning the war to walk worthy. Satan has a whole arsenal of unscrupulous tactics:
God has equipped you to fight your enemy. Don't join his side! Armor up and go out to fight against him! Soldiers of Christ, arise, and put your armor on, Strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son; Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power: Who in the strength of Jesus trusts is more than conqueror. --Charles Wesley When I get a little money, I buy books. If any is left, I buy food and clothes. -Erasmus I'm a self-acknowledged bibliophile.
When I was young, I studied the art of "practicing the flute" while reading a book. At night, if the book was exciting and it was past my sister's bedtime, I read by the glow of the nightlight. Sometimes I read by moonlight. Eventually I learned that I could prop my alarm clock right up against my book and read by the meager light of the red digits. If only they'd had Kindles with lights back then. . . Yes, I wear glasses now. That's the price I pay for thousands of books. My parents used to say that they could shut me in a closet with a stack of books and I would come out educated. Stuck in a closet? With books?!? That sounded like heaven on earth to me. Then I got married and started having children. All of a sudden, time became a premium. I tried to read while cooking (not a stellar idea). Soon I learned that nap time and bed time for kids was prime reading time for mom. I devoured books on "my" topics: books which taught me how to be a better wife, a better mom, a better daughter of the King. Those are the ones I want to share with other people. I was recently asked what my list of top ten books would look like. What kind of books, I wondered. Theology? Biography? Non-fiction? I got the same glazed-eyes feeling that a musician gets when you ask him what his ten favorite songs are. I probably have at least ten favorite books on the topic of time management alone. Another ten on homemaking. And yet ten more on marriage. But that gets too complicated. So here are my top ten life-changing books that are ***DISCLAIMER*** non-fiction, non-biographical, non-theological in nature. (Those other types would each get their own list.) 1. A Woman After God's Own Heart. By Elizabeth George A heart-to-heart talk about the basics of womanhood by an excellent author. For the first five or six years of my marriage, I read it annually. 2. Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman. By Anne Ortlund My mom gave this to me to read when I was a teenager. I loved it then, and I still love it now. I can't tell you the numbers of times I have read this book, but it probably tops twenty or more. I love to laugh, and I love to learn. This author delivers on both counts! If I could persuade you to read just one of these, it would be this one. 3. Changed into His Image. By Jim Berg I'm cheating on this one a little. It belongs more in the "theological" category. But it is practical enough that I will list it here. Our whole reason for change is to be more like Christ, so a list of life-changing books (for me) has to include this one. 4. Confessions of an Organized Housewife. By Deniece Schofield Wow! Chock-full of tips for organizing your home. What was most impacting about this book was not the specific suggestions, but the revelation of how an organized mind thinks. 5. Babywise. By Gary Ezzo and Robert Bucknam Flexible parent-oriented baby scheduling? Learn it here. I understand the concept of nursing on demand. Go ahead, if you want to. I myself prefer a happy mix. But if you are new to babies and want peace of mind in your parenting, read this book. 6. The Complete Tightwad Gazette. By Amy Dacyczyn Again, it is not any one tip (sometimes they are hilariously horrendous!) for saving money. The value of this book is the revelation of the way a frugal mind thinks. Take the ideas and apply them your way. One memorable article is "The Anatomy of a Muffin." Worth reading! 7. Sink Reflections. By Marla Cilley I don't advocate her form of spirituality, but I do love the way she cleans house. This is THE BEST housekeeping manual for the un-organized homemaker. Find her also online at FlyLady.net. In fact, you don't need to buy the book. Just browse her website. 8. The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management. By Hyrum W. Smith This book was a game-changer for me. After reading it, I bought myself a Franklin Planner. And used it. And became a much more efficient person. (I also talked my husband and my mother into getting planners. That is how excited I was about it.) 9. Living Well on One Income. By Cynthia Yates Did I say I love to laugh? You can read this book as comedy or you can read it for your own personal financial makeover. 10. What is a Family? By Edith Schaeffer A family is a door with hinges and a lock. But that is not all. This book looks at the family through many different lenses. This is a great pick for a new mom settling her own philosophy of family. Although it is dated, there is still much to learn. Well, there it is. My list of top ten life-changing books. Your list will be different. Are any of these favorites of yours? Do you have some fabulous reads to add? Let me know in the comments below! It goes without saying that the Bible has impacted me far more than any other book ever will. I read it daily and it changes me constantly. Read what I think about the Bible here. Your morning is the most important part of your day. How do you spend it? 5:00 am. Coffee is brewing. Notebook and pen are on the table. I open my Bible and read. Usually it is 5:00 am. Sometimes, if I am up in the middle of the night with a child, it is 5:30. If there is much to do and the day is unusually busy and I have company and have to start cooking breakfast early? 4:00 am. But I try not to skip. I rarely skip. This is the most important part of my day. How can I LIVE if I am not reading the words of life? Search the Scriptures, for in them . . . ye have eternal life. So, even though there are baskets of folded laundry waiting for my attention and emails sitting unopened in my inbox, I read my Bible. Even though I could get a great head start on cleaning or could begin dinner prep or catch some extra sleep. . . I read my Bible. I can't live successfully without it. And yet, people try. An informal survey of a Sunday school class showed that out of all the women in that class, only one or two had ever read their entire Bible. A pastor friend of ours says that a general survey of his church showed similar dismal results. (Yes, I read my entire Bible. I need every word. It is ALL pertinent to my life. Even Zechariah.) Are people too busy? The busier they are, the more wisdom they need! Are people too undisciplined? Funny thing: they are very disciplined about checking Facebook. Is it too hard to get up in the morning? Maybe some people need to go to bed earlier. This whole thing is very uncomplicated, actually. So here is what I do each day: I talk to Him. I usually start out at 5:00 by talking to the Lord. I'm still a little groggy and blurry-eyed, until that caffeine kicks in. So I bury my head in my arms and talk away. I share my day. I ask forgiveness for my failures the day before--they are so many, and so shameful. I express to Him my inadequacies for the tasks before me. I ask for His words to fill me, change me, prepare me for my day. And then. . . I listen to Him. I open that Word and listen to His voice. No, it is not audible; it is legible. Those words. . .they are His breath. He breathed them out for me. He knows what I will face today. And He knows what I will read today. And somehow He matches my trials to His promises, my weaknesses to His strengths, my needs to His provisions. He is sovereign over my reading time. How amazing is that? And while I am reading, I write what I learn. I am using a "What do I know about God" notebook this year that has been life-changing. In the first half of my notebook I record verses that teach me about the many facets of God's character. In the second half I record what I learn about what this God Who Breathes Words And Fashions People wants those people to do or to live like. In the first half of my notebook, each page says, "My God is . . . " I fill in the attribute of God and then write out verses below it. In the second half, each page says, "My God wants me to. . . " Again, I fill it out and each day record verses for those things. I started in January and already my notebook is bulging. I desperately want to know my God. At the end of my time with God, I close my notebook and Bible and lay down my pen. I rinse out my coffee cup. Now it is time. . . To start the day off right. Living for Him. Life is not all about me. It is all about Him. It is hard to get that part of living right when I don't take the time to learn about Him. And how do we know HOW to live, if we don't know the Words of Life? So tomorrow. . . Wake up! Talk to Him. Listen to Him. Live for Him. Your life will be different. It will be glorious. 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Tim and LauraTimothy and Laura Berrey are missionaries with Gospel Fellowship Association. They share a passion for missions which has taken them to several countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They currently minister in the Philippines. Want articles like this delivered to your inbox?
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