What does God Say about the Health Vs. Freedoms Dilemma?

God’s been working on my heart the past few days. I’ve been pretty busy around the property, working on the garden and taking care of my seedlings and helping my daughter get her chickens set up in their new home. I’ve been doing a little spring cleaning and the usual baking and cooking. And all the while telling myself that this work excuses me from other work. Other consideration and study and… what I most want to avoid – saying something. Speaking the truth, even if my motivation is love.

It’s the work of dealing with the conflict and the unrest that simmers around me. My least favorite thing in all of life is conflict. I’m not talking about conflict in my home, but in our relationships that have been reduced to a less-than-ideal sharing of opinions and convictions via various social media platforms.

But what’s the answer? What do we say in the middle of all the arguments about protecting health versus preserving freedoms? What do we say to the economic uncertainty and the possible breakdown of even our food systems? What are the answers to these extremely difficult questions? Shouldn’t we argue and strive over them? Aren’t they important enough? Won't presenting our valid opinions change other people's minds and be the answer to everything going wrong?

This week our pastor had us consider the life and teaching of John Bunyan, who had a sad life, to say the least. Nothing ever went Bunyan’s way, yet he made the most of his days anyway, writing when he can do nothing else. Some of that writing went down in church history, helping thousands upon thousands be strengthened in their faith through the story of Pilgrim’s Progress, even retold again and again to this day. 

So what? Why does it matter what Bunyan went through? Why should that apply to us? We are FREE. We have the right to speak up and protect our freedoms. No one can take that away from us because we are Americans. Right? Either that, or we are secure. Our health and safety is of supreme, even divine importance. Nothing is more important than protecting the safety net of medical science we’ve established in our modern world. What does that have to do with Bunyan’s world of death and disease? It was different. The two worlds can't be compared.

I’d like you to consider for a moment that maybe we don’t live in such a different world than Bunyan did. And I’d like you to consider whether our being happy, being free, having everything we could want or need available in any store or delivered the next day to our doorstep, having medical services ready any time and place to solve any health problem we could have, and plenty of tests to have even if we're feeling fine, having seventeen different activities each week to engage in and distract us from anything we don't want to think about, if all of that is really what’s best for the people who make up the body of Christ here on earth? When did we start believing that this world is heaven? That we deserve what is being held for us in the perfection of eternity – now?

Friends, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is not our home. And what won’t be an issue in eternity is not our right to claim here. It’s not time yet. Here, Jesus promised us we would face hardship and persecution. He PROMISED it. In this world, we are in a spiritual battle against evil, and sometimes it's going to seem like evil is winning. But Jesus also said why it was okay, over and over again in the gospels. It's okay to suffer because in the end, JESUS WILL WIN. It’s okay to suffer because we’re closer to him when we face these things, things like viruses that don't follow any rules or things like governments that use hardship to strip away freedoms. Standing with Christ and obeying his instructions are how we fight and win spiritual battles. And when we stand with Christ, we change. We move into the head-space of Christ as we become hardier, as we don’t get everything the way we want it to be, as we learn to appreciate the way it is now versus the way it will be in eternity. And God wants us to complete this hardening process, to mature to look just like Jesus. TOGETHER. We can only really accomplish his purpose together. 

Dear fellow believers, it is a blessing to suffer! It is a privilege! It is good for us to face opposition to our faith. To trust him for our daily needs. To give the number of our days and the quality of them to his wise plan. God has a purpose in the joy and in the pain, and he won’t let either

go to waste. Don’t be afraid of this world disappointing you. It’s going to. Be more afraid of not fulfilling the purpose God’s given you to do while you’re here.

More on that! Our pastor also gave us specific verses to study to find our path through this trial. He started in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. Look it up. Read it in a couple versions. Ask yourself what “arguments” and “lofty opinions” are coming up against the knowledge of God in our society this very day? (Don’t stick to one side, either.) What have you already heard people saying that you know doesn’t stand up to the truth of Scripture? What have you said or believed that might need amending? Which of your “captive thoughts” do you know Christ is going to reject as not of God?

As I consider these verses, I think of a few ways we can fight spiritual battles, right from our homes:

1.       Prayer, Fasting, and other spiritual disciplines

2.       Meeting needs

3.       Teaching truth

4.       Loving God and others

5.       Being willing to suffer for Christ’s sake

If we are busy with these objectives, we won’t have time to be afraid, be incensed, or judge everyone else. We won’t be obsessed with our own interests. We’ll have replaced our natural inclinations for God’s exciting purposes for our days.

Some more verses from my pastor on the subject of how to spend our time amid the crisis:

·        Hebrews 10:24-25: Consider these things. Stir each other up to love and good works. Meet together even if no one else does. Encourage each other. Do these things MORE AND MORE as the times start to look like the “Day” Jesus warned us about.

·        1 Peter 4:10-11: Use your gift. Serve. Speak God’s words. Serve in God’s strength. Give God glory.

·        Ephesians 4:15-16: Speak the truth with love as your motivation. Remember we are all one body, responsible to each other for our growth. We each must DO OUR WORK.

·        Matthew 28:18-20: Go, make disciples, baptize them, teach them to obey Christ. Keep in mind that Jesus will be here with us to the very end of this age. (This should keep us in check from our natural tendencies toward fear or pride.)

So let’s get to work! Let the world argue and worry about where everything is headed. We already know the end of the story! Let’s take this day by day and do the next right thing, letting Christ capture every thought in us before it grows into destructive weeds of fear or pride. Let’s be about his business.

When comes the Spring

A Light exists in Spring

Not present on the Year

At any other period –

When March is scarcely here.

-Emily Dickinson

As of yet, there is hardly a whisper of spring here. Some days are cold, rainy and dreary, some are very cold and frosty, some are merely dreary. Dreary seems to be the word that comes to mind the most when looking out the window in the morning, hoping to see signs of life emerging in the forever gray winter.

My baby plants wait patiently in their little nursery on my kitchen counter, nestled between homeschool books and art projects. They don't worry that spring will never come. They aren't sighing at the weather day after day, wishing that the first warm breeze of spring would blow through and wake up nature once again to life and vitality.

Would that I could be more like those little plants, trusting in the warmth of their grow light and the moisture from the spray bottle and their little paper cups that keep them safe. Spring will come, they insist. One day soon, there will be no more need for a heat mat that keeps the temperature at 75 degrees. 

You are looking at the first plants that have emerged that will become part of my garden this year. I have flowers and herbs and vegetables and fruit, all with a particular purpose for the garden I hope to grow. Some will be food. Some will attract valuable insects. Some will repel pests. Some will feed the chickens my daughter is hoping to get next month. Some will make teas and herbs I hope will be helpful to a few of the specific ailments my family tends to experience.

This is only my second year growing completely from seed. I learned last year that I do not need to attempt to plant the whole bag of seeds. They will grow. With the haul I purchased this year, I hope to have no need for more for several years. Beyond that, I hope to be able to save seeds and become a self-sufficient gardener.

In the meantime, I have two places I purchase seeds from. Baker seeds (rareseeds.com) prides themselves on providing heirloom seeds that continue on the legacy of our ancestors with seeds that have not been meddled with by science. They are the plant as they have always been. Baker sends out a free magazine with all their seeds early in the year, and it's fun to look through. They have things I've never even heard of before! I get seeds from Baker that I can't get through my local heirloom seed provider. I like getting the more common seeds locally. I think plants do better when they grown in their native climate.

So for now, my plants are beginning to grow, and I continue to watch the weather and dream about spring. Much work comes, though now I can't even bear to go outside for the cold. Someday. Someday spring will be here, and a garden that has only been a dream will come to life.

Reminds me of other truths. Someday, they will come true as well. God means to keep all his good promises to his people. We can trust that one day will we look back from our future lives and see all he did, and barely remember the dreary, cold years that produced no fruit and provided no nourishing warmth. One day it will all be a memory.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

I guess this is one of those "open letters." This one goes out to my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ. You know who you are.

I'm glad we're in this together. I'm a believer in our Christian community. I see the way we're letting go of things that were holding us back. I hear the way we're talking to one another and having each other's back in hard times. I see how loyalty, courage and worship are becoming more of a way of life for us. We're being honest with one another. We're opening up. We're growing. I just have one caution. Just one word of advice.

We don't have to argue about everything.

I've been watching the body, both in social media and in the press as well as in person. I see a trend that I'd love to speak up and say something about. I want to remind you all who we're trying to be like.

Jesus.

Jesus didn't argue with people. Jesus didn't give the standard, expected response. When his enemies tried to trap him with questions, he didn't respond either way they expected, which meant he always won his arguments.

It's a difficult time to be a Christian. I get that as much as anyone. The Bible is growing in unpopularity with societies and nominal Christians who care more about tolerance and political agendas than the Word of God. The darkness is strong. Sometimes it's hard to reflect the light. Sometimes we get put on the spot and we panic. But I'd love for us all to have a plan for when this happens.

These thoughts occurred to me today when I saw in my Facebook feed that everyone was talking about the Gaines. Chip and Joanna, who love fixing up houses and showing families how to see the gems in the most questionable places, who have never made it a secret that they are devoted followers of Christ, have come under fire simply for the teachings of their preacher, which happen to be the very teachings of our Creator and the author of our existence. Without saying a word, without veering for a moment from their quiet, simple testimony of faith, Satan is trying his best to upend their example in our culture.

It's a trend. Whenever believers are put on a pedestal and become a hot topic, Satan will inevitably send someone in to discredit them, and if there is nothing to discredit, he will put them on the spot and make them choose between the accepted ways of our society or the truths of God's Word. This isn't a new strategy for the king of this world. In the Roman Empire, Christians could be put on the spot to worship the Roman gods and deny Christ or lose their lives. It's really no different, except that believers haven't had to choose between their lives and their faith in this country.

I don't know how or if the Gaines will respond. But my hope is that they won't choose the expected. I hope they don't panic and go back on their faith as some have, and have weakened the illumination their spotlight could have accomplished in a dark world. I hope they won't become argumentative and divisive, standing up for their rights and calling all Christians to be militant in the face of persecution. I hope they'll follow fast after Christ and love.

Love fellow sinners. Meet them where they are in the saddest, hardest, loneliest places and be the friend that doesn't quit just because everyone's watching or society disapproves or the church turns up their nose.

In fact, I pray we'll all learn to love like Jesus. I pray we'll take to heart the warnings about not letting sinful attitudes, philosophies and actions invade our thinking and cause us to turn away from the truth, but I pray just as hard that we'll stay out of arguments that don't accomplish anything except to make us look just like everyone else who wants their own way. Let's be the lovers Christ was. Let's be the kind of Christians that walk to the cross in humility just because it's best for that soul who doesn't even know he or she is lost. Let's give a cup of cold water to an enemy who has fallen and doesn't have the strength to get back up. Let's be the friend to the one who is trying so hard to have it all together and make their beliefs work, and let's not trample on those who are already so lost.

We can believe what God said about sin. We can believe it with all our heart and still go out into this crazy world and find sinners to love into eternity. We don't have to show up on their doorstep, present a spiel and go on our way as the doors slam in our face. It doesn't have to be that way.

Does your neighbor know you are safe? Does your friend at work know they can trust you? Do your family members believe they can count on you when they are in need, even if their own decisions cause their heartaches? Can you sit by the bedside of a dying friend and hold their hand and give them grace even if they have sinned in ways that make you uncomfortable? Will you be willing to go out into the streets and give food and water to people who have lost their homes and who have no idea where to turn for the most basic needs of life?

Jesus did it for you. Jesus met you where you were. Jesus came to every one of us laying in our own filth and pulled us out at his own painful, terrible expense. It's our job to love like that. It's not our job to be indignant because unbelievers sin. We did the same things as unbelievers. SUCH WERE SOME OF US, as Paul reminded us in 1 Corinthians 6:11. None of us have any ability to resist what God has called sin without his intervention in our lives. Jesus is the answer. And we're the ones that know it. We're the ones who have experienced the tidal wave of his love and have been changed completely from the people we used to be.

I recently heard a quote that went something like this: Don't judge people for the point you jump into their story. Believe the best. Hope for their future. Show them by your example and the love of Christ working through you that there is a light at the end of their tunnel.

Spread peace. Be a refuge. Do the unexpected, and watch God use it for his kingdom. After all, isn't that why we're here?

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

James 3