Teach me, Dad

I came naked from my mother’s womb and I shall have nothing when I die. The Lord gave me everything, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job 1:21

Job is one of my favorite Bible characters. In my book, he is a superstar! There’ll never be another Joe Montana. There’ll never be another Michael Jordan. And there will never be another Job!

Here is a guy who had everything; wealth, influence, an incredible family! He was at the top of his game. Then he lost it all. His computer crashed. The hard-drive wasn’t backed up. His life savings was in Enron. I’m looking for words to describe a worse-case-scenario. Let’s just say, Job was finished.

Now, it’s one thing to find yourself penniless when you’ve never known wealth. But here’s a guy who was one day on Forbes list of wealthiest people and the next, he’s pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk, sleeping on a park bench.

So what was his attitude?

Job stopped, took a deep breath, stepped back a pace or two, looked at the big picture, and said, “What’s the big deal? It wasn’t mine to start with. It’s all God’s. He can do with it as he sees fit.”

What an amazing attitude!

Philippians speaks of Jesus much the same way. Read it for yourself. He was in the form of God but did not grasp or demand to keep his rights as God but made himself into a servant and submitted to death on the cross. But then, God elevated Him to a place of highest honor.

Later, we will find that God also greatly rewards Job. But right now, Job can’t see it coming. He can’t read the back of the book to see how the story will play out. Still his faith remains unwavering.

Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. (Job 13:15)

I’ll never come close to being a Job. Maybe you will. But his story gives me inspiration. Something to shoot for.

Nope, there’ll never be another Babe Ruth. And there will never be another Job. But we can try!

Okay, it’s true. I have a bit of male chauvinism in my blood. Not much. It doesn’t come up often. But I have to be honest, I have issues when it comes to female football analysts.

There’s one on ESPN, I forget her name, but when I see her breaking down the X’s and O’s, telling why the slot back should have zigged instead of zagged, I’m thinking to myself, “What do you know about football, lady? You never strapped on the pads. You never been hit by a 240 pound linebacker. You wouldn’t want to break a nail. Besides, they won’t let you carry a bag that matches your shoes!”

There, I got that off my chest! Feel better already.  

Actually, she knows the game a hundred times better than most guys do but her knowledge is academic. She didn’t learn it by experience.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against book-learning. But there’s something to be said about learning through experience. Next time I travel to the Mainland, I hope the pilot didn’t get his license by reading a book. “How to Fly Jumbo Jets for Dummies.” I’m hoping he has logged a few thousand hours in the cockpit.

That’s what I like about Jesus. Though He is the Son of God, He knows what we face from day to day from personal experience.

“For since He Himself has been through suffering and temptation, He knows what it is like when we suffer and are tempted, and He is wonderfully able to help us.” Hebrews 2:18

He came to earth, strapped on the pads, took the hits. He felt the pain. He knows the feeling of loneliness, rejection, betrayal. Whatever it is you’re facing, He can relate.

Now He stands ready to help. To provide a way of escape. 

“He is faithful, and He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure, but will provide for us a way of escape.” I Corinthians 10:13

Next time you’re facing that 240 pound linebacker, look to Jesus for help. He will make a way.

Was it last Christmas or the year before? My kids were home from the Mainland and we spent an evening looking at old family photos.

“Here’s one of me in my twenties, before you kids were born. Notice the nice full head of dark brown hair. Now, here I am in my thirties, three children later - the hair is salt and pepper. And this one is in my forties when you were teenagers. It’s almost all salt!”

At that, one of my kids piped up, “Look, Dad, here you are in your fifties. It looks like the old salt shaker is nearly empty!”

It’s true. The new hairs on my brush each day remind me I’m not getting any younger.

After thirty-something years in Christian radio, I took an early retirement due to post-polio syndrome, a malady that sometimes strikes polio victims thirty to forty years after the initial encounter.

I had polio as a youngster. Got along fairly well growing up. I could do most of what the other kids did. Maybe not quite as fast.

But in recent years, this post-polio thing has set in and it’s sort of knocked me on my wallet. I’ve had to cut back on a lot of activities.

But God is good and He has awakened a new interest in my life – writing. In a way it is similar to broadcasting. It’s still communications. Just using a word processor instead of a microphone. 

The best discipline I have developed is to spend time daily in devotions and then journal the thoughts and insights God gives me. Started doing it about three years ago. Wish it was thirty.

I have stacks of journals everywhere – they are invaluable to me. If my house caught fire in the middle of the night, I would shove my wife and kids and my journals out the bedroom window, and not necessarily in that order.

Recently I have begun praying about taking some of those musings and scribblings and publishing a devotional book. When I wrote them, I thought they were only for myself but if they can help someone else who is struggling, as I have, then maybe that’s what it’s all about.

Don’t want to wait too long though. I’m not getting any younger.

They say God has the hairs of our head numbered.

So do I!

For it was through reading the scripture that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favor by trying and failing to obey the laws. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ. Galatians 2:19

I think it is ingrained in us from the time we were kids to try to please others by doing good deeds. We tried to please our parents by obeying them, doing our chores, keeping our room clean. If we did, life was good. If not, well, let’s just say, parents have ways of showing their displeasure.

Same with teachers. Good behavior meant privileges. Bad behavior meant time-outs. Whacks on the back of the hand with a ruler. Yep, they actually did that back in my day. In fact, my fourth grade teacher once made all the boys line up and bend over against the chalkboard, then she took a tennis shoe and gave us a whack on the okole (look that one up in your Hawaiian dictionary – oh-koh’-lay. Hint – it’s not the back of your hand!).

So it is only natural that we try to please God with our good works. Maybe we’ll get extra privileges. Definitely don’t want Him whacking our okole with a tenny runner!

Well, nothing against good works. He appreciates our acts of kindness. But they will never get us into heaven. We cannot buy our salvation. It is only through faith in Christ that we have eternal life.

More and more, I am convinced that my time in the Word each day, jotting down the thoughts he shares with me, is the best discipline I have ever developed. Paul is saying that as we read the scripture, we come to understand the things that are important to God. The things that enable us to gain his acceptance.

It’s not about works. Not about good deeds. It’s all about faith in his Son, Jesus Christ.

But when all was going well, your people turned to sin again…. yet whenever your people returned to you for help, once more you listened from heaven, and in your wonderful mercy, delivered them. Nehemiah. 9:28

In those few lines, you pretty much have the history of the Children of Israel. God would bless them with peace and prosperity. But then they would forget about Him and fall into sin. So God would allow them to come under enemy attack. 

Someone stands up and says, “Maybe it’s because of the idols we’ve been worshipping.” Another guy says, “What idols? I don’t see any idols. Unless you’re talking about that golden calf everyone is dancing around.”

So they humble themselves, seek forgiveness, lose the idols. And once again, God comes to their rescue. Peace reigns. Prosperity is restored. A chicken in every pot. Two cars in every garage. Everything is hunky-dory. Too hunky-dory, because they fall right back into sin.

And the cycle repeats. Second verse, same as the first. 

Well, it’s easy to find fault with the Israelites but in a way, we’re not much different. The job’s good. The wife’s happy. The kids ain’t misbehavin’. And we become spiritually complacent. We’re not on our knees in prayer because, what’s there to pray about? Everything is good. And without knowing it, we begin to slip from God.

So in His wisdom, He sends a little pain. A little mini-crisis. Or a major one. Now, we’re crying out to God. “Help! Where are you?”

When He doesn’t answer, we do some introspection. Look inside. See if there’s anything going on that might be displeasing.

After discovering thirty or forty things we repent, ask forgiveness, lose the golden cow. And true to His promise, He comes to our rescue. Sound familiar?

Today’s verse says, “When all was going well, your people turned to sin again.”

Sometimes, I wonder if we need a little pain. A few trials and tribulations. To keep us on our knees. To remind us of our constant need for him.

Hmmm?

Had a visit from my cousin, Bob Curtis, not long ago. Hadn’t seen him since High School days, almost forty years ago.

“Bobby, you’re looking great!” I said, fingers crossed behind my back.

“Del, you haven’t changed a bit since the last time I saw you,” he said, lying through his teeth.

I’m thinking to myself, I sure hope I didn’t look like this when I was seventeen. Of course, that would explain why it was so hard to get a date for the prom.

Bob has battled cancer off and on the past few years. Seems to be doing well now, but like he said, you never know with cancer. You just never know. All you can do is take one day at a time.

Funny thing, I was reading James just a couple days ago. He says,

“Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” James 4:14

As we in Hawaii say, “Here today. Gone to Maui.”

I told my cousin we’re all terminal. None of us are getting out of here alive. Not unless the trumpet sounds.

But I’m not so worried about what will happen tomorrow. I’m more concerned about how I’m living today. Being the best husband I can be. Setting the right example for my children to follow. Living my life in a manner pleasing to God.

These are among the priorities in my life. I hope you have taken time to define priorities for yours.

Yep. Like Cousin Bob says, it’s one day at a time.

Aren’t you glad we don’t have to take ‘em two at a time?!

Living in Hawaii, we get calls at three in the morning from telemarketers trying to sell time shares in Florida. They have no clue we’re six hours behind. One actually thought Hawaii was in the Caribbean. 

Sleep is a personal thing with me. I love my pillow. My futon is my favorite friend. So anything that gets me up at night better be important.  

Having said that, today I found a verse in my Bible I highlighted years ago:

Rise in the night and cry to your God. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord; lift up your hands to Him; plead for your children… Lamentations 2:19

I discovered that verse while going through some deep waters with one of my children. I had underlined, rise in the night, and plead for your children. Dated it September 9, 1999.

This passage speaks to me of someone who is desperate for an answer. Desperate to the point of sacrificing personal comfort in order to be heard by God.

“Rise in the night…plead for your children…”

The sin that grips our children and their generation is strong. Unrelenting! It attaches itself like a nut rusted to a bolt. They become inseparable.

Prayer, serious, sleep depriving prayer, is the only thing that will break the grip. It is the penetrating oil that will dissolve the corrosion and loosen the threads and cause it to become functional once again.

I actually went to Sears and bought a chair back in 1999. A big, overstuffed chair for the living room. And I would get up at night, sit in the chair and pray. The kids started calling it, “Dad’s praying chair.”

God heard the prayers of that heavy-hearted dad and proved Himself faithful once again. Not that everything is perfect. But when I think of the way it was then and the way it is today, I can only thank Him for His mercy and grace!

What is it that makes you toss and turn at night? Is there something going on in your world that keeps you awake? If so, let me suggest you get yourself a praying chair.

The Lord says, ” I will make my people strong with power from me! They will go wherever they wish, and wherever they go, they will be under my personal care.” Zachariah 10:12

I love promises like this. They give me so much encouragement! So much hope! Makes me feel invincible.

Sure, there are those who will tell you this passage was directed specifically toward the Children of Israel. It was not meant for today. That’s what the seminaries teach in their Biblical Hermeneutics courses. I know. I took the class. Slept all the way through.

Let’s say the promise was for back then, not for today. Still, it shows the heart of God. His heart is to make His children strong, powerful, to give freedom. His heart is to keep His children under His personal care. And His heart has not changed.

History has changed. Circumstances have changed. But His heart remains the same!

So, how does this promise apply to our lives today? When it says, they will go wherever they wish, and wherever they go, they will be under my personal care, I take that to mean we have been given a great amount of freedom to pursue our passions.

I may be pushing sixty but I still have things I would like to do. I hear Him saying, “Go for it, Del! I’ll be with you. It’s not too late to pursue your dreams!”

And as I do, He will make me strong, give me power, keep me in His personal care. That was His heart back then and it is still His heart today!

What are your dreams? What is your passion? Go for it, my friend. Go for it! He will be with you every step of the way.

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

Got in the car today and saw something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Sand on the carpet. My youngest daughter, Becca, is home from college!

When the kids were growing up, I would complain. Every time they’d go to the beach, they would leave sand all over the floor of the car, on the upholstery, in the trunk. And guess who would end up vacuuming it. Yep! You got it.

Needless to say, the gas tank was always empty. They’d drive the car ’til it was running on fumes then they’d give me the keys just long enough to fill ’er up again.

Well, the house has been empty the past few months. The car has stayed clean. The tank is full. But it sure has been lonely around here.

But Becca had a five day break and she found a cheap ticket so she took money from her own savings and flew home. And now, there’s sand on the carpet, the tank is empty… but who’s complaining? It’s great to have her back!

Children are a gift from the Lord. And every gift He gives is good!

Got a new toy the other day – a Digital Video Recorder, or DVR. Lets me record up to two programs while watching a third, all at the same time. And while I’m watching, I can have screen-in-screen so I can see two programs at the same time. This stuff is like NASA!

I figure, if I plan it just right, I may be able to watch all sixteen NFL games in one setting.

My wife doesn’t understand why I like watching football. What’s not to like? Eleven men the size of Rhinos, taking out their aggression on eleven Hippopotami, in one mass pile of choreographed mayhem. It’s a thing of beauty!

My obsession with football may have something to do with our modern culture. Back in cave man days, if someone messed with your stuff you let him have it across the head with your club. Down through history, men settled their differences in manly ways, with fisticuffs, or you meet in the street at high noon, take ten paces, turn and fire. Things men like to do.

Now days, if someone messes with your stuff, you hire an attorney, file a temporary restraining order and initiate a lawsuit. Somebody tell me, how much fun is that?

So we live out our aggression vicariously, sitting in front of the tube, yelling and screaming, booing and high-fiving for three hours, watching a football game. And if you really want to have some fun, you invite a friend over to watch it with you.

So, tell me Del, where are you going with this? What is the spiritual lesson?

To be honest, I’m really not sure. I just wanted to tell you about my new DVR. 

Go Seahawks!