Soul Food

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog. Being a student has consumed much of my time. Learning new things is exciting and a continuous process through life. But, the older you get the harder it is to hold a thought. How many times have you caught yourself asking," What was I going to say?" Poof! The thought went out the brain as fast as it came.

This past semester I had a big assignment, which at the outset seemed to be insurmountable. I had to write a student workbook and teacher's counseling manual on a particular problem that biblical counselors face in counseling. As I wrote each lesson it became clear to me that there is a common thread that weaves and intertwines itself through life's problems and difficulties. It occurred to me that the answer to the problems and difficulties we face in life can be distilled down to two questions: Who is God? and Who is Jesus?

You might think silly girl of course those questions can be answered, but they don't help me answer the questions to my problems. The answers to the questions go far beyond the surface of "God is our big daddy upstairs and Jesus is my friend," but penetrate and probe deep into our hearts. Do I really know who God is? Do I really understand the purpose of God sending His Son? What do I believe about all of this and does it inform my life?  During this season of Lent what am I contemplating about the most - what I am giving up for Lent or the wonder of the cross?

Ed Welch wrote a book with an interesting title, When People are Big and God is Small. I have yet to read the book, but the title rolls around in my mind quite often. As I was writing each page of the workbook I couldn't help but think, "That's it!" We get buried in our problems because we can't see the face of God in the midst of them. We have made God small and ourselves big. We are getting things backwards and as a result we sink deeper and deeper.

God has revealed Himself to us in His Word. He is a talking God and a relational God. He relentlessly pursues His children like the "Hound of Heaven,"(Francis Thompson) and we run the other way. We are like sheep who have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Two of the most profound words in the Bible are, "But God." The storyline of the Bible hinges on those two words and what follows:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:4-10)

Dear Reader, during this Lenten season of contemplation I want to encourage you to ponder the severe mercy of the cross more than thinking about the daily sacrifice of what has been given up for Lent. Ask yourself those two questions. Explore how deeply they penetrate your heart and inform your life. The answers to the problems we face in life are not found in any other place than in His Word! Is God big or is He small?  For your listening enjoyment as you contemplate Who is God? and Who is Jesus?

www.philipmusic.com/OTeachMyHeart.html

As you explore these questions read the books of John and Ephesians in your Bible. I would also encourage you to read Trusting God by Jerry Bridges and The Attributes of God by A.W. Pink. You may discover that God is getting bigger and you are getting smaller.