Follow the Recipe…

Lying in bed last night, I was mulling over several conversations I’d had throughout the day, playing some things over in my head. I don’t recommend this behavior, by the way. It usually causes more problems than it solves. But, anyway, I was thinking about a conversation I had with the sweetest young lady, who is also a dear friend, who wants to learn how to cook. And that thought led to thinking of my own journey of learning how to cook, and learning to love cooking. I realized that I had to learn to follow the recipe. Now, when I cook, sometimes I follow the recipe to a tee. Sometimes, I just make it up as I go, and sometimes I take a recipe and add my own twist to it. But, when I first began cooking, following the recipe was essential to preparing an edible dish. And, I think, there is some truth in there that is applicable to our spiritual walk as well.

For example, if someone wanted to make homemade macaroni and cheese (and had never made it before) so they got a recipe from someone that made really good macaroni and cheese, some would assume that the dish would turn out good, but there are a few things that result depends on. First of all, the person giving the recipe has to give a complete recipe. If they leave out steps or ingredients, or give wrong amounts, it likely won’t matter if the person follows the recipe. Second, the person has to follow the recipe. If the cook decides they are not going to look at the recipe as they make the dish, what guarantee is there that the ingredients and end result will be anything close to the original?

In our walk with God, He has given us the recipe to a full, abundant life in Him. He has given us everything we need in His Word to accomplish His will for us. It is complete and accurate.  But, we still have to follow “the recipe”. And, we can’t pick and choose the parts we want to follow. If I want to make macaroni and cheese, but don’t use any macaroni, I will not end up with macaroni and cheese. Or, if it says to bake in a pan for 30 minutes, but I decide I’d rather broil it in a muffin pan for an hour, well… I hope I have smoke detectors installed. But, the same applies to our walk with God. Just because I may not like part of His plan, or because it may be more difficult than I’d like, doesn’t mean I can ignore it and still expect to come out at the end with the result I want.

I am praying that the Lord would reveal to me the areas in which I don’t follow His Word. I pray that He would begin to convict me in areas I have not submitted to Him. And, more than anything, I pray that He would use me and help me to show His love to even just one person, every week, every day, and every moment. Because when I, or anyone else, look back on my life, I want the end result to have been that I loved as He loves and that I lived to shine His light to as many people as crossed my path. And, I have a very long way to go before I even come close, but I am confident that if I continue to follow His “recipe”, I’ll have a delightful end result.

For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [[d]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).

2 Peter 1:3

On Whose Authority?

 Authority has been on my mind a lot lately, in several different areas of my life. I’m not completely sure why. Perhaps it is because I want to be “under” someone. It makes me feel safe, protected. That desire to be protected helps keep authority on the forefront of my mind, because I want to be sure that I am in the proper place, that I have followed the Lord’s guidance as to the earthly authority that I need. However, the harsh reality of it – whether you’re like me or not – is that we are all under some kind of authority. We can choose some of them ourselves, like which pastor you place yourself under, but some authority we do not choose. Like, for instance, the laws are a type of authority and, while yes, we do vote on some of them, they just “are”. And if you break them, typically, there is some type of consequence.

So, my question to myself over the last couple of weeks regarding certain decisions has been “On whose authority…?” It just occurred to me one day while contemplating what to do in a certain situation – have I even stopped to determine whose authority I am acting under? Yes, I’ve prayed about the situation, but that doesn’t always mean that I will be patient enough to hear the answer, and sometimes, I just hear what I want to hear. But, as a Christian, I want to be under God’s authority, ultimately. And I want the things I do to respect that authority and give honor to Him. But do I do that, practically, in my every day comings and goings? What does it really mean to give God the authority in my life?

As I began reading some about authority and what all it entails, two examples came to mind. I am pretty simple-minded when it comes to understanding things, and practical examples really help me wrap my head around things.  So, let’s look at two behaviors that I think are extremely common in our world today, and that I can relate to – speeding and divorce. I chose these two because I think they portray the two different sides of the perspective while being common enough that most people can relate.

Speeding – anyone who has driven around the Columbia area, particularly on the interstate, will know that speeding is common. Whether you are a fast driver or not, it is there. A lot. And, a lot of Christians speed like there is no such thing as a speed limit. If I choose to speed, am I acting under the authority of God?

Divorce – I think it is probably safe to say that everyone knows someone who has been divorced. And, dare I say, most people know at least one person that has been married more than one time. Obviously, it is a pretty common occurrence, regardless of what you believe the statistics are. If I choose to get divorced, or marry again after a divorce, am I acting under the authority of the Lord? This one can get a little tricky because there are so many different aspects to divorce. So, for the sake of this argument, I will ONLY be referring to situations where both parties are getting divorced because they have “irreconcilable differences”. There is no abuse, no adultery or anything of that sort and it is a mutual decision (as in, one person did not just walk away). And, according to our laws, they can get divorced, with no other reasons necessary.

The Word of God makes it clear as to how the Lord feels about divorce (Malachi 2, Matthew 5, and Matthew 19). There are also several scriptures instructing us to not divorce even if one person is a believer and one is not (1 Corinthians 7:12-16). However, in our culture today (American culture, that is) divorce is “common”. Our laws permit divorce, and once that divorce is final, one is free to remarry whomever and whenever that person so desires. However, is that biblical? According to Matthew 5 and 19, I do not see how that argument can be made. So, my question is, when we, as Christians, divorce and remarry (sometimes multiple times) because the world’s law says we can, because it matches our desire, unto whose authority are we submitting?

Speed limits are posted on every road, at least as far as I know. It is against the law to drive faster than that posted limit, not to mention, it can be dangerous. If you get pulled over for speeding, the most common consequence is a speeding ticket. However, if you don’t get pulled over, and don’t get into an accident, I guess there isn’t much of a consequence. So, if I, as a Christian, choose to drive above the posted speed limit, unto whose authority am I submitting?

My perspective is that, in both situations, I would be only submitting to my flesh. In both situations, I am not submitting to the Lord’s authority. With the divorce situation, I think the verses pertaining to divorce explain why I say that. With speeding, I think this relates, from Romans 13:

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience (verses 1-5).

Perhaps you believe I have made two entirely different situations far too black and white. And, perhaps, I have. However, I truly believe the principles apply regardless of how black and white or gray they are. As God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians, we claim to submit our lives to the authority of God. But, do we, do I, do that? Practically? In my everyday life, my daily comings and goings and routine, do I live my life under God’s authority, and ultimately for His glory? Do I weigh my decisions based on the authority He has in my life, or are they made according to my own whims and desires?

My prayer for my own life is that my life would glorify God. I don’t believe that can ever happen if I do not submit to His authority. My prayer today is that I would make more of a conscious effort to discover what the Lord would have to say, not of what the world would approve. My plan to see this begin to happen: dive into His Word with a fresh love and hunger.  Without the foundation of His Word, what other way would I have to determine His desires, character, nature or instruction?

Trusting?

“Oh, I trust God with _____.” Do you have one of those areas? One of those, “I don’t really struggle trusting the Lord with that” areas? Or, maybe you’re like me and like to “jazz” it up a little… “I do struggle, but the Lord has shown His faithfulness so often that the struggle isn’t what it used to be”. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Well, I certainly have one of those areas… or maybe I should say “had”. I hadn’t even really given much thought to it all until I got a text from a dear friend yesterday. “You have been heavy on my heart. Are you okay?” My immediate reaction – “Yep. I’m okay.” But, afterwards, I really got to thinking about it. Did the Lord put me on her heart? Well, probably so. Because once I stopped and looked around I realized just how tense and out-of-sorts I was feeling that day. Why? Because I was worried about a situation that, truly, the Lord has taken care of repeatedly. He really has proven Himself faithful in this area of my life. But, how quickly I fell right back into stress and frustration because I couldn’t work it out on my own – right then!

I was reminded shortly after that of the verse in the Old Testament that says the Lord will fight for us. In Exodus it says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (14:14). I haven’t been doing a very good job of being still in this situation. I’ve done everything I could to fix it myself, find a solution immediately, and discount every bit of wisdom that was given to me. Not to mention that, in one way, I got myself into it by not being patient.

And, actually, as I sit here writing this, I’m reminded of the message we heard on Sunday. It was titled “Wisdom’s Seven”. A wise decision is: pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. And, if I had just followed that list in the first place, I wouldn’t be struggling today. I still don’t have the answer. I still have to deal with the problem. But, I do believe that the Lord is still fighting for me. And I do believe that a resolution will come soon. There are some other benefits too…

The blessing of it all is that

1.    I have learned another lesson about the goodness and grace of God. He wants the best for us, and while I do believe I made the right decision overall, I should trust His timing more.

2.    I have another reminder that His grace is new every morning, and not dependent upon my perfection. Thankfully, because I’m not. And, yet, He loves me anyway… even me!

Thanks for taking the time to share in my “moment”. And I pray that if you are struggling to trust the Lord that He would work with us both of becoming more and more trusting of Him, and more and more like Him…