A Slippery Slope

As I write this, the county I live in has been experiencing the most difficult winter weather we've had in years.  It has been - as they say - a 'real Iowa winter.'  Barely a week goes by where we haven't had some type of ice, sleet, or snow.  Not to mention a few days where apparently (according to the news media) we were colder here than at the North Pole.  As you could imagine, this also means that travel has become increasingly difficult - and I don't mean just driving.  Walking across parking lots and driveways is now treacherous.  My wife and I have both fallen flat on our backs earlier this month while attempting to leave our home, and we both have the bruises to show for it! 

In fact, there are quite a few of us walking around this town with scratches and bruises.  If I adapt this to a spiritual setting, one could ask the question: "why are we all walking around with bruises so often?"  Shouldn't our spiritual walk constitute standing on solid ground, with sure footing?  After all, isn't the Bible here to help the faithful and keep us from falling?

Good questions all around I think.  So why are so many settling for the slippery slope?  Have we become comfortable with our bruises?

If we look at the Gospel of Matthew, there is a section of Scripture where Jesus tells us about the wise and foolish builder.  Chapter 7:24-27 says, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

And crash we surely will, if we don't listen to Jesus.  So many of us are walking around with bruises in this world.  So many of us trying to travel on uncertain ground.

I remember playing the game Jenga with my children when they were younger.  We will still pull it out every once in a while.  You may remember that this game basically consists of wooden blocks that each player stacks on top of each other, such that you end up building a tall edifice several inches high; hoping all the while that it doesn't topple over.  As the tower gets higher and higher, each time a player removes a block from the bottom in order to place it on the top ... things become more anxious.  

Sometimes (quite often actually) someone who wasn't playing the game at all, would simply walk by our table causing a slight bounce in the floor, and the whole thing would come crashing down.  Not stable whatsoever!  The kids would erupt with energetic screams of course, and then the finger pointing would begin as they tried to claim victory over one another.

But why do we fight so hard to keep the tower standing?  What exactly is at stake?  Or more importantly ... what does a house built on rock look like?

To answer what a strong house looks like, I believe we can tackle the set of Scriptures directly ahead of Matthew 7:24.  They discuss concepts like forgiveness, honoring the Golden Rule, and trying not to judge others.  Even the casual Bible reader will note that these things are quite difficult, however.  In fact, if it were up to us alone, I have a feeling there wouldn't be a single Jenga tower left standing anywhere in the world.  

It would appear that once again, we need God's help.  When it comes to repentance, if we attempt to go the distance on our own steam, it often ends up in failure.  The rains come and the wind blows - the house slips down, into a pile on the sand.  Someone need only walk next to the block tower with a bounce in their step, and it comes crashing down.  Fortunately for us, however, God appears to be an expert architect.  

The Wesleyan tradition has in it something known as prevenient grace.  Simply put, this is the idea that God knows we need His help before we do.  I cannot tell you how grateful I am for this notion. If we apply our analogy from above once more, I think it means that we have a higher power in our lives who is gracious and patient enough to sit down with us and help build our little wooden tower ... piece by piece, and step by step.  

Occasionally we will fall (i.e.: the tower will collapse).  Never mind.  Pick yourself back up and keep going.  Repentance from sin may seem like an outdated concept, but it is just as necessary today as it was two thousand years ago when Jesus walked the earth.  We need God's help, and often we need it before we realize it.  Keep going and keep fighting the good fight.  And above all, allow God's grace to carry you, especially if you didn't necessarily build your house with the correct blueprints.

How does your house look now?  Is it on sand or rock?  If we are lucky, we will allow God to teach us to live Biblical lives, to build strong houses and high towers.  Our bruises will eventually heal, especially if we depend on Him to keep us from slipping.  But if we do slip, please don't blame Him.  Look instead at the foundation of your house.  The rain is falling, and the wind is blowing; but God's house it is nice and warm inside.  Care for a game of Jenga anyone?




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A Heartfelt Hope

God’s love is a source of hope for all of us. Is it important to have hope in your life? When we are younger, we select certain things to hang our desires on. As a simple working definition, I am loosely referring here to “hope.” For example, when I used to mention going to church years ago to my 5-year-old, I am almost certain that he paired it up with good donuts and a particular set of toys in the kid’s room. On Fridays, my then 9-year-old daughter would look forward to going to her grandparents’house to see her cousins and to spend the night. She would hold this in the back of her mind all week, and by the time Thursday got here, she was all but chomping at the bit with anticipation. For them, this can represent one sort of entry level aspect of hope. 

But what about grown-ups? As we pass from the age of innocence and into a world often more difficult and less forgiving, we still place our aspirations somewhere. Daily living is usually hard enough, and then from time to time we also experience true suffering. If you haven’t experiencedthis loss or suffering yet, then go into your house, lock the door, and consider yourself lucky! 


During our lulls when things aren’t so bad and we are going through day-to-day life, maybe some of us place our hope in material things like money, entertainment—or if we are a bit wiser—people and relationships. But what happens when things don’t go so well, and we find ourselves driving down the road less traveled, in a speeding car that we don’t want to be in? 


I think that if our hope is misplaced during the quiet lulls, then it is that much harder to find God during the storms, when we really need Him. Why is this? Because often the fulfillment of hope comes from the partnership with God that occurs during the average everyday living, not only during the difficult times. God wants our attention all the time, not just when we are hurting. 


When we pin our dreams and desires to material or natural things only, and these items finally do disappear (whether it be through loss or some other means), we can become lost. But if Jesus is our light all the time, then when the dark of night comes - we have illumination instead of confusion. Notice I didn’t say happiness. Happiness is situationally dependent. If you total your new car, you aren’t going to be happy—no matter if you know God or not. But you can still have Joy. Joy is different. Your hope is now placed correctly in the Creator. Good times or bad, God is still God. Joy means that you can lose something big, but still be content. Joy is the seed that God plants and waters in your soul. Without it, you are dependent upon good fortune to be satisfied. And as we all know, good fortune is fleeting. 


I’m not sure what people do without God in their lives. I don’t say this in a boastful or naive way. I spent much of my own life refusing to look into the deeper truths of the Gospel, and when I finally didaccept a relationship with Jesus, it was a night and day difference. Jesus makes certain promises to us in the Bible. We are told that we are loved no matter what. We are told that our worth is not dependent upon how we look or how we perform for other people. But most of all, the thing that struck me when I began to allow the things that God has to say into my heart, was that I realized I am no longer alone. I don’t have to get through life by myself, on the strength of my own performance, and without any guidance from above. 


What a relief to know that I do not stand or fall on my own account only, but that someone is in my corner all the time. This I think is another facet of hope. This is what anyone can possess. It’s something that no person or event can ever take away from you. I’m not going back to that other life before Jesus; I won’t even consider it. 


Matthew chapter 12 tells us about Christ that “in his name nations will put their hope.” Is this just lip service? I don’t think so. It is my great joy to celebrate God in both the good times (when I am driving around with a full tank of gas and a happy family), as well as the bad times (when sickness or difficulty make their home with me). Is your own hope well placed? Is what you look to for comfort on a good day enough to sustain you on a bad one?


Wherever our heart is pointed, determines where we place our hope for the future. My wish is that your heart points up toward God the Father – in both good times and bad.




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