Where is your refuge?

My morning routine [usually] looks very similar on a day-to-day basis, even on the weekends. Part of that routine involves some time in the Word. One particular resource I use during this time is the InTouch Ministries Daily Devotions, which I receive in magazine form. Last Monday's subject was Encouragement in Every Season, and the associated Scripture was Psalm 62:5-8. The devotional from Dr. Stanley focused on how God is faithful, He will do exactly what He says, He is more than adequate to meet our every need, He is always with us...you know, some fairly standard truths. One particular quote I found helpful, right at the very end of the devotional, was this:

“Difficulties may cause us to question God’s dependability. But if we’ll place our trust in our omniscient, omnipotent Father, we can begin each morning with a fresh sense of His faithfulness, which will carry us through the day."

I believe I have experienced enough life to know that to be true for myself. If I may, though, I want to speak to the passage of Scripture itself in the way that it came off to me when I read it. For reference, here it is:

⁵ My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
⁶ He only is my rock and my salvation,
My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.
⁷ On God my salvation and my glory rest;
The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.
⁸ Trust in Him at all times, O people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us.            Selah.        (Psalm 62:5-8 NASB)

David starts this Psalm in the first verse by making a statement: "My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation." I find it interesting how in verse 5, as we see above, that he seems to be reminding himself that yes, indeed, you need to wait for God: He is where your hope comes from. It's probably fair to say that we need to remind ourselves of this regularly. I know I do. It is all too easy to get caught up in the things of the world. It is too easy to feel hopeless today. Not to sound cliché, but all you have to do is turn on the news. Remembering that God is our hope, that He is our stronghold, that in Him, we cannot be shaken...remembering this is paramount to surviving, especially from a mental standpoint.

What really grabbed my attention, though, was verses 7 and 8. "My refuge is in God." What is a refuge? According to Merriam-Webster, it is... 

1. shelter or protection from danger or distress
2. a place that provides shelter or protection
3. something to which one has recourse in difficulty 

God is our Creator. He knows all things. He is everywhere at once. He is all-powerful. He is so many things, and He is also our shelter from danger. He is our protector. He is our source of help in times of difficulty. When trouble comes, we can run to Him. No matter what. He is always waiting for us with open arms. We see this time and again in Scripture. Even if we are responsible for our own trouble, He still will be there for us when we decide to come home to Him. Just read the parable of the prodigal son. God's love for us is unconditional: it doesn't matter what we've done or what we're facing. We can always find refuge in Him. But if you're anything like me, you tend to forget this, often times in moments when you need God the most. And then you choose to run to someone else, or something else. Only God can fully satisfy. Plus, finding genuine refuge in Him doesn't have the possibility of further negative outcomes. Depending on what you substitute for God, you can all too easily find yourself in a cycle of unnecessary misery.

God calls to us to pour out our hearts to Him. Only He knows us well enough to take our outpourings and cause us to see ourselves for who we really are, which is who He says we are. At the end of the day, what God thinks of you is all that matters. Why wouldn't we want to run to Him for refuge in times of hardship? He is omni-everything-good. So why do we choose to take refuge elsewhere? I cannot answer that question for everybody. Some days, I don't think I could even answer that for myself. I don't want to simplify it by saying "we're human," though that is, naturally, true. One of the most frustrating things in life has got to be knowing what you should do, but not doing it (or knowing what you should not do, but doing that anyway). We think that doing what feels good for a moment will be enough to numb the pain. But it never is. We need a God who heals us, a God who sees us exactly for who we are and knows exactly how to care for us. He can certainly work through other people to help us, but if we're not doing our part of actually seeking Him, we're going to miss out on His best for us. We may even go down a path we never intended to walk.

When you find yourself in times of trouble, seek refuge: seek God. I promise you that running to anything else will only leave you wanting.

What Love is This?

If you were not already aware, we are currently in the midst of Holy Week. Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday, two days from now is Good Friday, and it all concludes with Easter Sunday (or Resurrection Sunday, whichever one you prefer). At this time of year, we are reminded of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, made on the cross for us at Calvary. Because of Christ's death, we are given the opportunity to repent, believe that He is the Son of God who died for our sins on that cross, and confess Him as Savior and Lord. That gift of love grants us access to an eternity with God. Eternity! We could not achieve that any other way, and had it not been for the love that Christ put on display by offering Himself in our place, we would be hopeless.

That kind of love is simply unfathomable, or it is, at least, to me. It is truly an extravagant love. Now, the stereotypical Easter story is definitely enough to bring you to your knees or even to a place of weeping. This year, more specifically this morning, I found myself on the edge of tears not with the story of the cross, but with the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus, found in John 11:1-46.

I was simply blown away by the pure love and compassion that Jesus displayed throughout this whole ordeal. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha, and in verse 5 it is made clear to us that Jesus loved each of them. Through an informant, Jesus learns that Lazarus is sick. Being God, Jesus knows the outcome of this as soon as he hears this news (well, actually even before that, but that is beside the point). He tells His disciples immediately that the sickness will not end in death, but rather it will result in the glorification of God. Jesus then purposely waits two more days, and then moves out with his disciples after telling them that Lazarus has "fallen asleep." The man was, in fact, dead, but as far as God was concerned, this was only temporary (hence the choice to describe the situation as having fallen asleep.).

Jesus eventually arrives in Bethany and is greeted by Martha, who was probably either crying or had been crying. Who can blame her? What she says first makes sense: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died" (verse 21). What she says next is truly astounding: "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You" (verse 22). In the following verses, Christ tells Martha that Lazarus will rise again and that He (Jesus) is the resurrection and the life, and that any who believe in Him will live even if they die. Martha tells Jesus she believes this, and then sends for Mary.

Mary enters the scene visibly weeping, and tells Jesus that had He been there, her brother would not have died. In verse 33, we are told, due to her weeping and those who came to support her who were also weeping, that Jesus was "deeply moved in spirit and was troubled." This is, for the first time in my various times of reading this passage, where I started to really have trouble holding it together. Jesus asks where they have laid Lazarus, to which He is told "Lord, come and see." This is then followed by the shortest verse in the Bible: "Jesus wept" (verse 35). As simple as this verse is, these two words are packed with an incredible amount of love and emotion. In times previous, I read over this without so much as a blink. This morning, I stopped in my literary tracks. "See how He loved Him" was what was said immediately following this moment. I think what really gets me about this is that before arriving at the scene, Jesus knew Lazarus was dead. Nothing changed. He knew everything about the situation. Yet in the presence of His people...in the presence of those who were hurting...Christ hurt with them. 

The love that Jesus displayed in this moment is, in my mind, arguably one of the best moments outside of the cross that illustrates just how much God loves His people. He loves us enough to hurt with us...to weep with us. He was deeply moved then, and I believe without a doubt that He still becomes deeply moved when He sees some of the directions that our lives take. Yet through it all, He boundlessly loves us. This limitless love was truly on display in the sacrifice He made for us on the cross, but at the moment I find it difficult to simply comprehend the love He displayed in John 11:33-35. I just cannot get past "Jesus wept." This extremely real love makes Jesus that much more relatable to us as humans.

What love is this? What kind of love does God have for us that He would be moved enough to weep when He knew that He would ultimately raise Lazarus from the dead and all would be well? It is by far an undeserved and indescribable love. It is the same love with which Christ went to the cross to bear each and every one of our sins. Christ died to make a way for us to eternally know God because He loved us too much to leave us with no way out of eternal separation from Him.

The love of Jesus in the story of Lazarus is simply too beautiful to breeze past. Take a moment to absorb that story. I challenge you, in the midst of the Holy Week story, to not let passages like this one pass you by. It is in moments like those where we can sometimes most tangibly feel the love of God. The moments when we hurt, when we fear, when we feel alone, when we feel hopeless... Jesus loves us too much to let us go through this life without a loving friend. He can be our Lord and Savior, but sometimes the mere fact that He can also be our loving friend to be there when we need Him most can be enough to satiate our souls.

Take a moment to ponder these thoughts, and while you do, perhaps listen to What Love is This by Kari Jobe in the background. Meditate on and drink in the love of Christ that surpasses all understanding.

Time

I was driving home from work a day or two ago and this thought occurred to me: it's the middle of July!! Holy wow, when did that happen?!? Honestly, it feels like the last time I checked, it was the middle of May. Talk about a wake-up call.

As I reflect on that thought, a few more percolate within me. Time goes relatively fast, and our time on this earth is relatively short, all things considered. So if you put two and two together, you will probably find that life, more or less, happens in the blink of an eye in the grand scheme of things. Knowing that, how are we spending our time? Are we working so much that we neglect our family and friends? Are we going home after a day of work and sucking in a few hours too many of television? Are we actually trying to develop relationships with the people who mean the most to us? Are we refusing to start/continue something that could be beneficial in some way because we always seem to be lacking (or think we are lacking) enough time?

Every now and then, I am reminded in one way or another that time is precious. And, personally, it seems that with every passing day time is flying by faster and faster (so yes, I can begin to relate to the folks who are more advanced in years, compared to myself, who always say that time progresses more quickly as you get older). The beginning of this week has served as my latest reminder. So now I pose the question: how am I spending my time? Am I wasting it away on the temporal, or am I developing myself constructively and loving those around me? Am I actively pursuing a loving relationship with my Lord and Saviour? Am I spending valuable time with my family? Am I developing healthy relationships with the friends I care for the most? Am I being a good neighbor to all those with whom I come in contact? Am I preparing myself professionally for the impending phase of life after college (which, for me, starts next May)? The list of questions could go on and on...

How do you spend your time? The things we give our time to say a lot about us. Perhaps we all just need to take a step back for a minute and re-evaluate ourselves and how we apportion our time. I am more than sure that every one of us has at least some room for improvement.

American Noise

My apologies for making those of you who read my blog (thanks, by the way!) wait almost an entire month for another post.  I hate to make excuses, but with the second half of April turning into crunch time for my classes, I needed to set some priorities.  But, now that I'm practically done with finals (I only have one left), I can begin to write again.  And it's definitely good to be back.

About a month ago, Skillet released another single, entitled American Noise, from its upcoming album, Rise, set to be released on June 25th. I had purchased Sick Of It, the first single from the album that was released the week before American Noise, in a heartbeat. When I saw (to my surprise) that a second single was released, I could not help myself: I bought it without question. Skillet is such a great band; definitely check them out if you have never heard any of their music. And, of course, I was not disappointed with both of these singles.

Compared to the driving rock of Sick Of It, American Noise has more of a ballad-esque type of feel (well, kind of... feel free to disagree or perhaps offer a better description). However, Skillet has done some songs like this before (e.g. Yours to Hold, Lucy, etc.) and has always done them well in my humble opinion. After listening to the song for the first time (in which I generally am listening for overall musicality), I caught just enough of the words to say, "hey, wait a second, I need to listen to that again." After listening to it that second time, I discovered that which caused me to immediately play it again: the message of the song more than adequately describes our lives as Americans.

There is so much noise that goes on in and around our lives. Sometimes, it overpowers that which matters most. I am sure that if you are reading this, the “normal” everyday hustle and bustle of life is more than enough to distract us from more important things. Whether we find ourselves in busy hallways or on gridlocked highways, talking to clients on the phone all day, fighting a disease, writing multiple papers with little time to spare, trying to stay on top of the bills, or buying into the many advertisements around us that say we need this or that, we are constantly surrounded by noise that can keep us from spending extremely valuable time with those we love. Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but let’s face it: our American culture is full of a myriad of distractions that can cause us to forget what really matters and become lost in an ocean of all kinds of noise.

In the busyness of everyday life, it is absolutely necessary to sometimes just take a step back and breathe.  Rather than just living in the noise and attempting to barely survive, we need to refuse to be caught up in the craziness.  In the midst of all the noise, there is a desperate need for love.  We need to be the people that lift up our voices, radiate love, and cut through the American noise.  We cannot afford to simply exist in the cacophonous hurricane of life.  It's time to step out of the confusion and make a difference.  Just think: what can you do to show love to those around you in the chaos of everyday life?  It does not have to be radical.  It can be as simple as having a conversation with someone and genuinely listening to them.  Just be there for someone.  Do not let the American noise shut you up; there is more to this life than simply living hidden in the shadow of everyday life.

In Times of Hardship

Let's face it: this life is not a cakewalk. Some days are easier than others, of course, but there are always the inevitably tougher periods of time that have the potential to drain all traces of life out of you. Sometimes we are faced with extremely busy schedules where it seems as if we will never finish the never-ending task list on time. Other times we find ourselves in the midst of drastic life changes that have seemingly spawned from nowhere. Then there are the times when we experience tragedy and heartbreak and struggle miserably to try to put the pieces back together. The last of these three things can be especially difficult if they happen to come to mind in later years around the time of the original incident; experiencing even a little bit of the original sorrow is never enjoyable.

Through experiencing all of these things myself at one time or another, or by experiencing them with someone else, I have learned two very important lessons. The first is that no matter what happens, God will never forsake us and is always ready to receive us in a loving embrace to take away the pain, the fear, the worry... Christ dying for us proved the ultimate, unconditional love He has for us, and He desires for us to lean on Him and to take His yoke upon us. Christ offers us rest, comfort, peace, and everlasting love in all situations we experience. By placing our full trust in the Savior of the world, we can know that everything will turn out okay, even if current circumstances seem to suggest otherwise.

The second lesson I learned is that in addition to trusting in God, it is highly beneficial to have friends and family that you can turn to at any time for help and encouragement, no matter the experience. Suffering hardship alone is possibly the most difficult way to live through that tough time. Having a fellow human being that you can turn to can be a huge source of comfort. Being a shoulder to cry on or simply being a voice to talk things out can go a long way. Even answering your phone just for the sake of answering it so that the person on the other end can feel some kind of comfort in their distress through the mere sound of your voice can be more than enough in that moment. We were created to live relationally: we need to have each other's backs no matter what the situation. One simple expression of love, compassion, and care at a particular moment during a rough experience can make all the difference in a person's life.

There are many times in this life when we will feel weak and weighed down by the burdens that we face. It is important to remember, however, that Christ has you covered at all times. I really like the way the bridge of Elevation Worship's Give Me Faith puts it:

I may be weak, but Your Spirit's strong in me
My flesh may fail, but my God You never will

No matter what we are facing, we can always count on God to pull us through. It is also incredibly helpful to have trustworthy friends who are willing to encourage you, suffer along aside of you, and pick you up when you fall. The power of love can go a long way. Do not choose to suffer alone: rest in the love of Christ and be thankful for the friends and family in your life who will not abandon you when you need their company the most.

The Power of Pride

So, I'm not sure if this is going to become a habit or not, but it seems as if my post ideas are stemming from situations that I find myself in on Monday nights. This is an interesting development indeed, but I suppose I will take what I have and make something out of it.

I was driving out to my young adults group last night, and about ten minutes into the trip I found myself behind a truck for a brief moment which had the following bumper sticker affixed to it:

The Power of Pride. This sticker is clearly conveying a sense of pride in our great nation and the power of having such pride. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this, it does bring up a rather interesting matter. No, I am not about to bash the USA or tell you that being proud of your country is a terrible thing (truth be told, I feel quite blessed to live in the USA and do my best not to take what I have as a result of living here for granted). What I would like to bring to the table is geared more towards the essence of pride in and of itself. Actually, I probably will not mention the USA much, if at all, for the remainder of this post; the bumper sticker just happened to trigger a posting obligation within me.

Pride is something that affects us all. In fact, it would be fair to say that pride itself is the root of many of the wrongs that we commit in this life. C.S. Lewis writes on the very matter in his essay, The Great Sin, which can be found within his work called Mere Christianity. I would strongly encourage you to read this essay; it should only take you five to ten minutes and I personally guarantee that it will be well worth your time.

Pride, as Lewis puts it, "is essentially competitive. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man." The source of much conflict in this world, past and present, can easily be traced back to pride and the unhealthy desire to simply be better at something for the sake of being better. Take a moment to reflect on your own life right now: are you pursuing something just so that you can place yourself higher on the chart when compared to your peers?

Now I should mention (as Lewis also does) that pride in the sense of finding pleasure in being praised or being "proud of" someone is not the evil Pride.  Taking delight in being recognized for something is not a bad thing until you begin to place yourself upon a pedestal and begin to have thoughts along the lines of "What a great person I must be to have done _____." Being proud of someone is, perhaps, better expressed as having admiration or regard for someone because of something they have done. As long as one does not go so far as to sinfully idolize the person of admiration, the problem of Pride will not be an issue.

Ultimately, we must be wary of Pride in our lives and how we let it affect us. It can create animosity between people as well as between people and God. As I said a moment ago, think about your life and how you may be letting Pride take the wheel. Perhaps you think you are not prideful: I beg to differ. As Lewis so adequately puts it, "If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." I know I struggle with Pride in my own life. How we choose to act on such feelings and impulses will make the difference. By first recognizing that we are prideful will bring us quite closer to achieving some level of humility. I would argue that life is much better lived in loving community with others, so why try to always be fighting to be on top of everyone else? Obviously there is nothing wrong with wanting to achieve different things in this life, but a motive check would not hurt.

I feel as if I should address the bumper sticker. To be honest, the sticker basically only served as a jump-start to the content about which I would be blogging and I really had no intentions of writing much about the sticker itself. However, I think it deserves a little bit of attention (which could very well adequately conclude my thoughts): being proud of one's country is not a bad thing in any way. The question is whether or not that admiration is leading towards rash, ill-conceived competitive action. If that is the case, beware of Pride. As the Proverb goes, "Pride comes before the fall" (my paraphrase). You are not the only human being on this earth: while it is okay to look out for yourself, your time would be better spent looking out for others above yourself. Living a life of neighborly love will always be more rewarding than only living for yourself and letting your Pride corruptively and selfishly dictate your every move.

Making a Difference

Allow me to preface what I am about to say by officially welcoming myself to the blogging world. Yay!! *Confetti* *Other Random Party Effects* This is definitely something new for me, unless, of course, you count micro-blogging via Twitter. By the way, follow me: @zkantner. Anyway...

As I was saying, blogging is basically a new concept for me, but I feel rather inclined to give it a go. Why, you may ask? Two reasons. The first is simply that I want to express some of my thoughts in writing, cacophonous as they may end up being. Writing is a primary form of communication, the quality of which seems to be running down the drain at an exponentially increasing rate among people my age and younger. I want to further develop my personal writing technique and hopefully stir up some healthy conversation at the same time. The second reason is more or less a child of the first: I think about/read about/hear about various different things every week, and I feel as if I just do not give some of a majority of those things a fighting chance outside of a short one to two minute conversation with a friend or two. Do I expect everyone and their mother to read and respond to what I have to say? Of course not, but there is nothing wrong with at least putting some thoughts out there for anyone who cares to take a look. So, here's to a new experience with endless possibilities!

Last night I attended a short chapel for the Collaboratory at school. This particular chapel is a weekly occurrence which takes place before the various Collab groups go their separate ways and work on various projects that have worldwide impact (such as projects with World Vision). This particular chapel featured Dr. Michael Zigarelli, a professor of leadership and strategy. I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of having him for a class yet, but I will at some point next year (and I am genuinely excited for when that opportunity finally arrives).

Dr. Zigarelli spoke to us of an event that happened back in 1999 when he used to work at Fairfield University in Connecticut. One day he noticed that when his young son went out to get the paper, he stood at the end of the driveway staring into the sky at some unknown yet captivating sight. Dr. Zigarelli figured he might as well have a look since his son, at this age, would only pay attention to Barney and related TV shows for the same span of time that he spent staring into the sky on this morning. It turns out that the boy was looking at three news helicopters hovering not to far out in the distance behind their house. Later that day, Dr. Zigarelli learned that these helicopters were hovering above a scene where, hours before in the dead of night, a single mother and her four sons were killed by an Amtrak train. The mother was running across the tracks to retrieve her youngest son when the horrific incident occurred.

After recalling the incident, Dr. Zigarelli went on to mention that this woman, Julia Toledo de Urgiles, happened to be a custodian at Fairfield University, the very same place where he worked. She happened to be struggling to pay for everything. She was only making minimum wage and was attempting to support four children as a single mother. Dr. Zigarelli and Julia never had contact with one another, but Julia represented a type of person that many of us tend to ignore or may even be ourselves. She was invisible. She was one of the people that many of us today simply overlook. There are just some people with whom we do not concern ourselves. It is a downright regrettable truth. We live our lives, interact with those we know, and try our best to stay out of everyone else's business. But when we step back and take a minute to examine the situation, there are many invisible people, like Julia and her children, who are very real people with very real lives and very real problems. And like the rest of us, they deserve the same love and respect that we give our friends.

In the words of Dr. Zigarelli, "In Jesus Christ, there are no invisible people." Everyone in this world longs to be loved, cared about, listened to. What if we actually took the time to give someone else a little bit of our time? What if we chose to dwell with those who, in our selfish and corrupted mindsets, appear to be below us when really they are people just like us? What if we gave that person across the coffee shop a chance to feel like a real human being? What if we actually loved people the way Jesus taught us to love? I think the world would be a very different and more likable place.

"Making a difference begins with one person at a time. Making a difference begins with one conversation at a time." These words from Dr. Zigarelli struck me at the core last night. If someone had taken the time to get to know Julia, maybe offer her some help, would her situation have been any different? We will never know, but I would go out on a limb to say that circumstances would most definitely have been different.  It is time we all reconsidered how we go about our daily lives.  For all we know, one conversation could make a world of difference in someone's life.  If we are so busy that we cannot find even a few minutes to engage in someone else's life to make them feel like they matter, then our priorities are way out of order.


Romans 12:9-13