One of the receptionists walked up to us in the waiting area and said, “The Doctor you’re scheduled to see is running behind by at least 90 minutes (it actually ended up being four hours). If you want to go for lunch just come to the desk and get a pager.”

We checked the time. The Melrose Dining Room, where we like to eat in the hospital, wouldn’t open for another fifteen minutes. At 11 am I went to the desk and asked for a pager. Based on previous experience, when she handed it to me, I asked her to test it by sending me a page. They tried. Nothing happened.

The receptionist took another pager from the basket and tried that one. Nothing.

She asked one of her co-workers for help. Together they tried a third pager and, again, it didn’t work. One of them opened that pager and discovered it didn’t have any batteries! The first pager was then opened and it didn’t have any batteries either! We all laughed about the possibility of a “battery thief.”

After some healthy laughter we got a working pager and went to an early lunch.

Lois was really tired and there wasn’t much conversation at lunch so I had a lot of time to think about what just happened. As Christians we can make some obvious, well-worn connections: Without Christ we have no power; OR Stay charged up in the Word, but that was not the direction my mind took.

When this took place we had already been in the waiting area for over two hours since we have to arrive 45 minutes before we see the Dr so lab work can be completed. It was plain that Lois’s Dr wasn’t the only one running late. We had witnessed (heard) several people who let their frustration turn to anger and then took it out on the receptionists. Their tone of voice, volume, and body language was unmistakable.

I’m quite certain that when I approached the receptionist to get the pager she was bracing herself for yet another angry patient who was upset about waiting. When I was the first one to laugh about the battery situation, it quickly became contagious. The whole atmosphere of the reception area changed.

I thanked her for the pager and she smiled and said, “No, thank you for being so understanding.”

Now, I have to admit, I had a choice. I could have chosen to be just as upset as anyone else. It would’ve been easy to justify with, “if enough of us let our frustration be known, maybe someone will do something!” Every member of my family and many of my friends can attest to the reality that I am capable of letting my voice be heard and opinion known. Many a customer service rep has been on the receiving end of my frustration. (Something I’m not that proud of.)

As followers of Jesus, do we have a responsibility to be quiet and patient? To introduce laughter in tense moments? To show restraint and kindness? Even when we don’t feel like it? Or especially when we don’t feel like it?

I’m not suggesting that we use this as an excuse for letting people walk all over us or take advantage or overcharge or fail to honor warranties. However, I am suggesting that we ask God for truckloads of grace and discernment so that we know the proper time and place and even select the correct individual to voice our complaints to. Isn’t that part of being “salt and light” in this world?

I want my behavior in every situation to be of such a high caliber that those around me want to know more. Not in a way that’s patronizing or seems fake, but with genuine humility. Your character; my character reflects the one whom we claim to serve.

There are three words I hope define my relationship with Christ as lived out in my family, with friends, in interacting with those I serve, in all my life. Those words are: Obedient. Faithful. Humble.

Carl* had lots of questions. All week at camp he was asking questions of anyone who would listen. He talked to his counselor, me, our speaker; and they were sincere questions.

” What about pain? Dinosaurs? Wars? Aliens? Divorce? If God loves us, why does he let evil exist? How did we get evil and satan in the first place?”

A lot of the questions don’t have concise answers and many don’t have any answers at all! But the search; the quest makes reaching conclusions even more personal and rewarding. Carl wasn’t the only one with tough questions. They came from campers and staff alike.

We live in a broken world and the influence of secularism makes crossing the line of faith significant and life-altering. But isn’t that the way it should be?

Over and over again I found myself thinking and saying out loud: “Let God be God.”

Our finite minds can’t wrap around the thoughts and plans of an infinite God. Our warped understanding of love cannot grasp God’s perfect, unconditional love. Our sin-scarred emotions make taking faith-steps painful and difficult.

But when we let God be God He opens our eyes to see Him in new and wonderful ways; He softens our hard hearts to accept His forgiveness; He opens our ears to hear his words of grace; and He gives us the courage to unclench our fists and give Him control of our lives.

God worked the miracle of transformation in campers and staff and none of us who “let God be God” will be the same.

One of the personal transformations that I witnessed was in my wife, Lois. Everyday her strength seemed to increase and, although she rested often, she was able to attend the worship times and “hang out” at the office. Then, on Thursday evening, she spiked a fever. Friday morning I wondered what the day would be like. One of our staff noticed that Lois did not attend the staff prayer time in the morning and took a couple of other staff and campers and they went to our room and prayed for Lois.

Within an hour the fever broke and Lois felt much better! God is so good! Lois was even able to pack our personal luggage and load the car later that afternoon!

We are now recovering and working on follow-up and re-packing all the supplies for next year. Thanks for praying for and with us. We join with you in a new commitment to let God be God!

Heavenly Father, We ask You to fill us with Your Holy Spirit as we submit our bodies as living sacrifices. We commit ourselves to lives of obedience as we daily renew our minds in the living Word of God. Amen.

*Carl is not his real name!

The faithfulness of God should never take us by surprise. His power and grace and mercy at work in our lives should not be unexpected and our response should always be grateful trust and humble obedience. Somehow, what we know should be isn’t always what is! Instead, it’s all too easy to be distracted; caught up in the busy activities of life, forgetting that God holds everything together, gives us the next breath and is the giver of every good and perfect gift.

Paul, in his concern for the believers at Colosse, addresses this ageless problem of getting distracted when he writes, “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” (Colossians 3:1-2 The Message)

The penetrating question is, am I serious about living a life marked by the resurrection of Christ? Existing is not an option. Maintaining is unacceptable. The very core of living in the resurrection means we cannot stay the same but must move forward.

Chasing that which Christ modeled as important is now the priority. That means our attention is drawn to single parents and their children – the 21^st century equivalent of widows and orphans. It means we learn how to love the people who look different than we do; who get food stamps and are on government programs for housing and medical care. Being like Jesus means we take up the causes of those who have experienced injustice; those who have lost hope that there is anything good in this world.

Even while we are working with “the least of these” we can’t afford to get dragged down in the muck with them and we certainly can’t allow ourselves to have a pity party about our own circumstances no matter how desperate they might be. As the writer of Hebrews teaches us, we have to “keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.”

We need to keep our attention focused on the action and Paul reminds us that the action – the really important stuff of life – is going on around Christ. And we, the church, are the body of Christ! This requires the best of our time, talents, and treasures! If we are serious about pursing a Christ-like life, about being where the action is and living life to the full, then we shouldn’t be surprised when it requires everything.

It’s so easy to forget that God through Christ is the object of living. So easy to be distracted by our hectic lives, packed schedules, email, facebook and twitter that we fail to live the resurrection life.  It’s also possible to schedule so many programs and events at church that we begin to isolate ourselves from the very people Christ commissioned us to reach.

Somehow, what we know should be isn’t always what is!

The adventure of the life of a Christ-follower, this faith journey, requires our constant attention, vigilance, and discipline, and although this isn’t easy, it’s our continuing responsibility to “look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ.”

Frank (not his real name but he read this and gave permission to tell the story) called to talk about the downward spiral in his life. Everything was coming unglued: his widowed father was just diagnosed with dementia and had to be put in a care center; the first Elder’s wife had called with a list of 5 people who were complaining that the pastor never came to call; she also reminded him that attendance has been down the past three weeks and he needed to “do something;” the trustees were pushing him to help with the remodeling project at church on Saturday (his only full day to work on his Sunday message because he’s bi-vocational); and the parents of a teen called to complain about another teen attending youth group whom they considered a “bad influence.” On top of all that, his migraines have returned and the medication he depended on for years isn’t working.

He said, “I didn’t sign up for this. Maybe this isn’t God’s will for my life. I’m not sure I have what it takes.”

We talked and shared some Scripture and prayed together.

Frank’s last question was, “Why is serving God so painful?”

Allow me to make four observations:

First of all, this is why I do what I do. I’ve experienced the draining emotions Frank described. Been there. Done that. And I remember wondering, “Who can I talk to?” Whatever it takes, share these burdens with someone who can keep confidences; who understands; who isn’t intent on fixing everything or having all the answers. Call, email, text, set an appointment to meet with me . . . Yes, I have someone I talk to in order to help me process and determine which burdens are real and which ones are false – from the enemy.

Second, we get way too hung up on “finding God’s will.” “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” is certainly true, but its interpretation is critical. Many of us suffer delusional ideas when it comes to God’s plan for our lives because our minds seem bent on happiness and security issues. Most of us immediately think of God’s direction for our individual lives in terms of education, career, marriage and family. We want to interpret God’s promise as a supernatural guarantee that offers personal peace, physical security, economic success and inner significance. And when that kind of spiritualized success does not materialize we are disappointed with God. It is often unclear whether or not there is a distinction between a worldly strategy for self-fulfillment and Jesus’ strategy for self-fulfillment. The “wonderful plan” seems to have little to do with taking up a cross and following Jesus and more to do with a false gospel of health and wealth. We forget that Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” (Mt 16:24-25).

Third, don’t trust your feelings. To base the will of God on human speculation, opinions and feelings, is to fall victim to the spirit of the times and the mood of the moment. But to establish God’s will on the solid ground of God’s revelation is to live on a firm foundation that weathers the storms of life and the volatility of feelings. The word of the Lord defines the long obedience in the same direction, apart from which we are constantly wandering down dead ends and dark alleys. When these discouraging times come, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor 10:4-5).

Fourth, in this life of following Christ we have to have durability; especially those of us in ministry. Chuck Swindoll wrote a great article on standing firm and staying faithful. Click here to read.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3)

(Thanks to Doug Webster for his input.)