Monday Meditation

Our pastor continued his "Battling Unbelief" sermon series yesterday, talking for a second week about bitterness. When attitudes such as anger, bitterness, anxiety, pride, shame, or impatience cripple a believer, a key to healing lies in taking a biblical pill. The often hard-to-swallow medicine allows Scripture to illuminate an area where we battle unbelief. Every belief we hold dear jumps off the inert page of ideas or facts in our head and lives in the appetites of our hearts. Either we fasten these appetites to Christ in a quest for satisfaction or  turn from Christ to seek satisfaction in someone or something else.
For example, when pride subdues us, we exemplify a deep form of unbelief. We really turn from God and seek satisfaction in self. Maslow's pyramid calls us to self-determination and a self-exaltation that dates back to Eden.  James 4:6-8 teaches that the opposite of pride involves submitting to God. The fight for humility does not mean beating up on self in a series of self-deprecating verbal or physical blows. We engage in a battle with the wisdom of the full scope of Scripture. Romans 12:3 gives us a balanced weapon for the battle. " For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: 'Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you'." Sober judgment involves the measure of faith God has given.
Anxiety often rides in tandem to pride. Pride does not want to admit anxiety: stress perhaps, but not anxiety. But I Peter 5:7 teaches me this: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." We can now begin to cherish the privilege of fellowship with God, the One who asks us to cast stress, cares, anxities, all on Him. Beginning to avail myself of the When we have a relationship with Christ, by grace, we can admit the need for help. Pride will not, cannot do this. In this battle with unbelief, we begin to see that real faith loves for God to be God. Jeremiah 13:15-16 reminds us: "Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the LORD has spoken. Give glory to the LORD your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills."
We can take heart whether the current struggle involves our pride, anxiety, covetousness or any other fallout from our broken world. Seeing the battle as one of unbelief sends us back to the captain of our souls, the one who can arm us because He is the prefecter of our faith.

Snow's Serenity

Snow falls insulate the world, creating a quiet we do not experience at other times. This picture, taken from our front porch around 7 AM Sunday, captures the pristine beauty of the sun coming over our woods. Since the thermometer registered 16 degrees, Dave took the picture. The photo, however, cannot convey the haunting sounds of the wind chimes as the breeze keeps them in almost constant motion. Something about snow slows me down, causes me to listen more carefully. That's probably good since the sermon series currently deals with a biblical look at many psychological tags used in our culture. The series, entitled "Battling Unbelief," has, thus far, looked at the scriptural side of anxiety, pride and shame. Although these are valid emotions, Americans are often too quick to proclaim an "it's-not-my-fault" position without seeking a biblical lens. When did we let psychology access the soul without any consultation with the Great Physician?

Far too long Christians have defined belief as merely a cerebral agreement with facts. Our pastor says that belief is "mainly an appetite in the heart which fastens on Jesus for satisfaction." If we don't fasten on Jesus, we manufacture idols that quickly own us. Our unbelief occurs when we turn away from Jesus to find satisfaction somewhere else or in someone else. In the case of anxiety, I may be my own worst enemy. Have I gotten myself in over my head financially, emotionally, or with commitments outside my home or at the office? Then the cause of my anxiety lies within  my grasp to change. Ah, but to lower my anxiety, I may have to admit my shortcomings. That snowballs headlong into my pride. When I can't perform all the things I promised to do, I experience a sense of shame. Can you see why this sermon series has my attention? The root I have to examine is not a psychological one, but rather, an examination that tests the depth of my appetite for God. I often find the fight for humility is the fight of faith. The apostle Paul reminds me to "fight the good fight," so I will continue to use these snowy. blustery days to meditate on battling unbelief: anxiety, pride, and shame.