February 2009 Devotionals
February 23, 2009
Untangling Kite Strings
A conversation with Walter Handford
When I was a little boy growing up in Seattle, invariably I tangled up my kite string. I’d bring the jumbled heap to my mother. “Mama, cut this knot out.”
But Mother relished untangling tangled things (both bits of string and people relationships!). “No,” she’d say, “if we’re patient, we can save the whole string.” Holding her mouth just so–Libby says I hold my mouth exactly the same way when I’m working on a problem–she would gently pull each strand through the loops until finally the kite string was in one tight, usable ball again.
Joseph Joubert was a successful Dutch statesman in South Africa. He said,
“Never cut what you can untie.”
Our tendency is, in a difficult situation, to slash and cut. But often a relationship can be saved and strengthened if we’ll give the time and patience to sort out the actual problems and settle them one by one.
The Bible says, in Romans 5:5-7: “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”
What was Christ’s attitude toward those who wronged Him? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” So we, too, can live in harmony with each other if we have the loving attitude Jesus has toward us.
February 16, 2009
The “Golden Rule”
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Jesus said,
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. Matthew 7:12
Interestingly, other world religions have a similar injunction, but they put it negatively, “Don’t do to others what you would not want them to do to you.” That’s a great difference. It is much more difficult to take the initiative in doing good for someone. Not hurting someone lest they hurt you is passive; you can do that without any effort. But Jesus wants us to create a climate of helping others, where we take the initiative in honoring others, whether friends or strangers.
One of the employees I work with at Interim displayed this so sweetly just before Christmas. She’d just gotten her bonus, and was wanting to use it well. She was in the grocery store when she heard a little boy ask his mother, “Please buy this for me.” The mother shook her head. “No, honey. We can’t afford it.” A couple of grocery aisles later, she heard the same woman say to her husband, “We really need this,” and he replied, “We just can’t afford it. In fact, we can’t afford any of the stuff on this list.”
This friend walked over, introduced herself, and said, “Please go ahead and put all that ‘stuff’ you need in your grocery cart. I’m going to buy it for you.”
They were stunned, reluctant to let her spend all that money for people she didn’t even know. But she insisted. The little family went home with every single thing they’d needed, and overwhelmed with her kindness.
And she went home, thanking the Lord that she had been able to honor Him by honoring strangers. And I’ll hazard a guess that someday, somewhere, someone will do that same kind of sacrificial giving to her, because God always honors those who honor Him.
“I was hungry,” Jesus said, “and you fed me.” When? “When you did it to the least of these my brothers.(Matt. 25:40).
February 9, 2009
Let’s Pray for Each Other
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
My darling sister was dying of cancer. Grace was a winsome, vibrant Christian, and she’d been struggling valiantly with breast cancer for two years. We knew we were soon going to lose her. I flew out to Texas to be with her for a few days.
She said, “Libby, the pain is so bad, I can’t even pray.”
“Then I’ll pray for you,” I promised. “You just rest.”
And in those weeks until she died, I did pray for her, but in a much more intentional, thoughtful way. I prayed for the things I knew were most on her heart, and not so much for my own grief and loss.
But I am humbled, as I think about it, because there are so many in our church fellowship who, for whatever reason, can’t find the strength or grace to pray for themselves. Why shouldn’t I take that burden for them? Some people struggle with addictions so strong they can’t even pray about it. Some are so depressed with anxiety and burdens, they can’t find words to express their need. Why couldn’t I, who have been so blessed by God, take their burden upon myself, and pray for them?
Jesus told us to do that. James 5:14-15 says, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” How comforting it would be if the people we worship with knew that they could ask us to pray for them, and we would faithfully do so!
The next verse, James 5:16, goes even further: “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.” How sweet it would be to have a friend with whom you could confide your fears and anxieties, and know that they could be trusted with your confession, and would pray earnestly for you!
But with that command to pray for each other God makes a wonderful promise: “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” God is a faithful God. When He tells us to pray, He says so because He intends to answer our prayer. But we need to be “fervent,” and not give up. That’s what Hebrews 11:6 says: “He that cometh to God [in faith] must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” “Fervent”: earnest. “Diligently”: assiduously, often.
Do you have a friend for whom God wants you to intercede? The fervent prayer of a righteous woman, God promises, is effective and it blesses both the one who prays and the one prayed for.
February 2, 2009
What’s That in Your Hand?
A Conversation with Elizabeth Rice Handford
Walt and I enjoyed an intriguing story in this week’s Bible reading. The book of Exodus tells how God had a job for Moses to do, an immense, history-changing job for him to accomplish. But Moses kept objecting—“I’m not smart enough”; “Nobody will listen to me”; “I’m tongue-tied”; “You know I can’t do it.”
Then God said, “Moses, what do you have in your hand?”
“A stick.”
“That’s what I’m going to use to deliver your nation from bondage.”
“A stick?”
“Yes, a stick.”
It reminded me of an incident years ago. Walt and I were driving back home from New York in our Volkswagon Microbus. It was after midnight, and we were on I-85 at the Gaffney exit when the engine started sputtering. “It’s the distributor,” Walt decided. We sputtered into town, hoping we might find a service station open, knowing it was really too late for any thing to be open. Sure enough, every thing was closed!
The engine died. Walt went to the back, opened the engine compartment, took off the distributor cap. Sure enough, one of the breaker points had burned off. (This was in the ’60's, before the sophistication of computers and micro-tolerances in engines, I remind you.) He surveyed his resources, decided a paper clip I offered him might work, Jerry-rigged it, and we limped on home.
It may be, in some areas of your life, that you are feeling like Moses. You see the great challenge ahead, and you know how important it is. But you may feel inadequate to meet it. But God asks, “What do you have in your hand?” What you find in your hand is what He is going to do to help you accomplish the task He has laid on you. This is true whether your challenge is child-rearing, inter-personal relationships, finances, or skills required by your job. You can do what God wants you to do today because He takes the responsibility for equipping you when He assigns the job. And you won’t have to settle for paperclips to take care of it!
Today you can accomplish what God wants you to do. He will give you the wisdom, the skills, and the joy you need to do it. So today, let’s claim His help in doing what we find in our hands to do.