Trusting God

Psalm 139:17 – How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!

Psalm 139 is David’s declaration that God knows everything about him. He begins by acknowledging that God has searched him and known him. He continues on to say, "God you know when I sit down and when I get up". In verse 4 he says "I can’t even say anything that he doesn’t know because He knows every word in my mouth". (My paraphrase) In short, David was declaring that he could trust in his God.

Yesterday I had need to remind myself that I can trust God. My wife and I had one of those unexpected curve balls of life thrown our way. You know the kind: the ones that catch you so unprepared you don’t know what to do. After nearly four years of struggling with her health, my wife had a knee replacement in October. The second surgery was scheduled for June 3, less than a month away. It has been like the light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday the doctor’s nurse called to say he was leaving the area and that we would have to find another surgeon.

We were upset, to say the least.  I was angry, frustrated, and truthfully, a little afraid. What if we can’t find another surgeon willing to see her? How long will she have to wait for another surgery? These are the things that go through a person’s mind at a time like this.

On the way home from work I tried to “encourage myself in the Lord” like David did. It didn’t seem to be working. I knew God was with me but I felt like my faith was a million miles away. Thankfully last night was church night. And do you know what Pastor preached about? Worshipping God! That’s right, worshipping God.

Now I know we have all heard it before. “If we will worship God in the midst of a trial, he will come through for us.” I have preached it numerous times. But last night I had to practice it. I think you know what happened. The more I began to worship, the smaller my problem seemed and the bigger my God seemed. You see it really isn’t a big problem compared to the God that we serve.

It could be a big problem if my trust was in the surgeon. It would be a big problem if my trust was in my own ability to solve it. But our trust has been in God from the very beginning. He knew this was going to happen and he allowed it to happen. He could have stopped it. But he chose to let it happen. He must know something I don’t know.

You see, in those times when we don’t know what to do, we have to trust God’s heart. If I truly believe he loves me and is looking out for my good (I know He is) I can trust him with perfect peace. It may be that we needed a different doctor. It may be that God knew which nurses needed to be in the hospital on a certain day for Gail to get the best care. It may simply be that God knew we needed a lesson in trust. I don’t know but I don’t have to know. He knows and that is enough for me.

God Bless,

Sullivan Jones

The Attitude of a Servant

II Timothy 2:24 - And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach patient.

My wife and I have a monogramed towel that was given to us upon our ordination into the ministry. It contains our names, the date of the service, and the word Ordination. It is a beautiful towel and will hopefully be a treasure to remind us of that special night for many years to come. However, it is not just a beautiful keepsake. The bishop performing our service told us that the towel had been chosen to remind us of one thing: we are servants.

The word servant is not a word we like to use in our society. It goes against the grain to think of truly having to serve someone else. In fact, the United States was founded upon the principle that all men are created equal. Though it took many years for that privilege to be extended to everyone, today all of us have civil rights. For this I am truly thankful.

The Apostle Paul started several of his New Testament letters by introducing himself as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ or a servant of God. Few of us today would be comfortable being called a servant to anyone. Yet all of us truly are called to be servants of God. And as his servants, we are called on to serve our fellow man as well. Like any service, it is not always pleasant. What servant likes to wash his masters feet? Yet there is a joy found in service that can be found nowhere else. The knowledge that we have made life better for someone else is worth more than all the money in the world.

I think the reason we don't like to think of ourselves as servants is because the word service is often taken as a synonym for weakness. This is not true. To be a servant does not mean one has to allow himself to be walked on. Jesus Christ was our perfect example and we see him showing great strength.Once he even braided a whip and drove the money changers from the temple. This does not speak to me of weakness or someone who could be easily manipulated.

I like to think of the spirit of a servant like this: it is when we have yielded the strength that we know we have to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We are meek when he says to be meek and we are fierce when he says to be fierce. Sure there are times to stand up for our rights. There are times we must be bold and protect ourselves and fight for what is ours.

But a fighting spirit must not be our way of life. We should do everything possible to life a peaceful life. Paul's motto was "if it be possible, live at peace with all men." Some people just make it impossible to live at peace with the. But they are the exception. As a servant of Jesus Christ I must be fully yielded to him. If he calls me to fight, I will fight. But nine times out of ten he will call me to serve. I must be willing to serve with the same passion I would fight with.

Jesus told a parable about a servant that came in from working in the field and served his master's dinner before eating himself. He then said that the servant shouldn't be thanked but had done what was right because he was a servant. Lord, help me to remember that I am your servant. You bought me with the price of your blood on Calvary. I belong to you. When you call me to a task, it is my duty to obey. Help me to obey with a heart of love and not with a spirit of ingratitude. I truly want to be your servant. If this means I must serve my fellow man, so be it.

God Bless,

Sullivan Jones

I Want to Change the World

One of my favorite authors is Judith Bentley. Mrs. Bentley is an educator and a pastor's wife. She and her husband Robert, also in the educational field, spent ten years in the former Soviet Union (now the Commonwealth of Independent States) as Christian schoolteachers. She has written several books about this wonderful time in their lives. I have read them all several times and rotated between laughing, crying and not knowing what to think. Most of all, I feel and identify with her love for children.

In her book Red September Mrs. Bentley  tells about her challenges learning to pronounce and memorize the names of her school children when she taught in an international school. This school was made up of  children not only from Russia but around the world. Her first morning she was confronted with names like Nashra Rahman, Toyin Ajewole, Nomazula Gateseni, and so forth. Despite this she remembered why she had become a teacher to begin with; however naïve it may have seemed, she wanted to change the world. Her trouble with culture shock and other minor inconveniences never diminished her love for the children.

For the past two years I have been working with public Head Start. I have come to love the people I work with and the children I serve. But there are also daily challenges. How do I relate to children that come from a different culture than I do? How do I help their parents overcome challenges I know nothing of? How do I overcome my own prejudices that at one time I would have denied I had? When I feel overwhelmed I just remind myself, I still want to change the world. Yes it may seem naïve. But I'm convinced  naïve is not always a bad thing.

I too love the children I work with. And I have the same desire Mrs. Bentley had. I love the education field because I know that teachers do change lives. However naïve it may seem, I too want to change the world.  I remind myself of this when  I'm confronted with names like Nyairreo, Jorvit and Joharri. Or when I don't know if Nery is a boy or a girl's name.

Lord, help me to see beyond Tivarius, Jamarious, and Tylajha. Help me to see a child that needs your love. I believe that by God's grace we can change the world, one small child at a time.

For the Children of the World,

Sullivan Jones