Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth. – Psalm 86:11a ESV

Recently, we experienced a major storm, one filled with lightning and thunder, and significant rainfall. The storm started while my wife and I were at a church meeting and continued for several hours. As we opened the doors to leave, we knew we would get very wet on our short walk home.

My wife was aware of some obstacles she noticed on the way to the meeting and reminded me to be careful. The problem… in addition to the heavy rain it was extremely dark. As we made the brisk walk to our porch, we both thought we knew the safest way home, but it was not the same way. This made for some humorous moments as we walked hand-in-hand trying to take each other in different directions. Soaking wet, and laughing, we made it back realizing neither of us knew for sure what we were doing.

While that night will remain a happy memory, it is true that not every path is so safe, nor is every journey lighthearted. There are places we must go and choices we must make that are far more significant where, if we are honest, we still feel like we are walking in darkness. We think we know where we are going, but it may be more accurate to say we hope we know.

In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” The disciples, in a moment of honesty reply, “How can we know the way?” Jesus, recognizing their human confusion offers the greatest solace, “I am the way.”

The psalmist understood the disciples dilemma. Walking the right path, the way of God’s truth is not always easy, but we are not alone in our journey. There is help from the One who knows, and is, the way. When we remain in Christ, and allow him to teach us his way, our path is secure. There is no darkness too deep, nor storm too strong, to cause us to lose our way. The journey may not be easy, but following Jesus, we will not be lost.

We can try to find our own way, and we can let others pull us in different directions they believe are correct, but we may end up more lost than we were when we began, getting soaked by the powerful rains of the storm. We may end up running into unexpected obstacles, injuring ourselves or others. Yet, when we humble ourselves enough to admit that we do not know the way, we are then in a position to seek God’s direction; to pray, “Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth.”

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Once, while traveling in a boat, Jesus taught his disciples to beware of the yeast of the religious leaders. Jesus wanted them to be cautious of what they allowed to grow within their spirits, their thoughts, and their actions. It was a simple lesson, but one that quickly became much more significant, for the disciples heard a different focus in Jesus’ words. Instead of being concerned with the spiritual issue at hand, they began to discuss with one one another their belief that Jesus was concerned that they only brought one loaf of bread with them.

The situation is only amplified by the fact that the disciples watched earlier, as Jesus took a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish and used them to feed thousands of people. He did this in two separate occasions, yet the disciples were still arguing over bread in the boat, believing Jesus was concerned about what they would eat. They were unable to lift their vision to see the larger truths of Jesus’ spiritual message, and God’s provision through Jesus himself. These precious followers of the Savior struggled to see the miraculous gift that was right in front of them.

Hearing their conversation, Jesus interrupts them to address the situation. The Gospel of Mark tells the conversation this way: Jesus said, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:17-21)

I wonder how much frustration Jesus felt at this point. I am sure Jesus’ compassion far exceeds mine, but I know how disheartening it can be when the people you love and minister with seem to keep missing the point. A few instances come to mind:

After preaching a strong sermon on why gossip is so destructive and should not be a part of Christian conversation, I walked into the entryway to find several people who only moments ago were shouting, “Amen!” deep in a personal gossip festival.

I frequently preach on the power of words, encouraging people to watch the negativity of their tongue. Many times, these services conclude with conversations where people pour out the litany of everything wrong in their lives and the world.

A personal favorite is the ubiquitous, “It’s too bad the people who needed to hear that weren’t here to hear it, pastor.” Of course, this is usually spoke by people who really needed to hear it themselves.

There is a long list of similar situations, but these are not the concerns that truly affect and concern me. What really challenges me is that I do the same thing, and I do it repeatedly. Lessons of faith and trust learned in experiences with Jesus along my journey, seem quickly forgotten in the face of a new problem, or difficult season.

When I look back over all of the compassion and provision God demonstrated in my life, it is hard not to believe that I am cared for in my current circumstances, and that God is not planning provision for my future. The problem is, frequently, I don’t look back. I become so focused on the issue I am facing at the moment that I forget to remember what I learned along the way. So, when faced with a financial concern, I tend to focus on my immediate need and neglect all of the times God miraculously met my need in the past. When faced with a difficult message to craft, I fail to remember the inspiration I previously received. You get the picture.

This kind of selective memory weakens our faith and inhibits our actions. It applies to disciples in the boat with Jesus, to me when I face challenging circumstances, and to all of us when we forget the places the power of God blessed us in the past. When we lose sight of where we’ve been and who goes with us, we lose the vision that propels us forward through our difficulties.

Jesus asked the disciples, “Do you not yet understand?” When I say it to myself, I usually ask, “Are you slow to see?” However the question is asked, it is a necessary challenge to our vision. When we look back and remember the power of God at work in our lives, we find the faith to look forward believing that God is, “able to exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we can ask or imagine,” through his power that is at work within us. It is in this knowledge that trust, vision, and hope are found. We may be slow to see, but once we do, we capture a vision that knows no boundaries!

I challenge you to join me in a quest to remember the powerful lessons we learned. We have been taught by God along the way. If we remember those valuable lessons, the future will be more exciting, more amazing than we we can imagine, and it will be filled will a host of new, more wonderful lessons to learn. May we all have eyes to see.

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When the Bible refers to “saints” it is clearly a reference to all Christian believers. There is no use of the word in scripture that suggests a specific person or group of people set apart within the faith community. The early church however, chose to use the word as a way of identifying those whose lives reflected the life of Christ and the best of Christian teaching. It was a way to lift up good examples of the faith so that people could know what Christian faithfulness looked like.

There is a lot of debate about how the church should embrace the theology of saints in our day, but the idea of looking for great examples of the faith is certainly a good one. As I continue to think about ways to better organize my life and make time for everything that matters, I am drawn to those people in my life whose lives demonstrate virtues, values and actions that I can replicate to make my life better.

I think of my grandfather who clearly understood that all of life was lived in connection to Jesus Christ and that even the most mundane acts could be expressions of faith. I think of a former parishioner who served as a missionary for many years and whose life reflected a profound ability to trust God even when circumstances seemed insurmountable and resources unavailable. I think of my wife who patiently offers her best in all of the details of life letting her family know they are loved by the attention to the multitude of “little things,” all the while, sharing the love and joy of her faith.

These and so many others including, my mother, family, teachers, colleagues, friends and countless other people in my life, are sources of inspiration for my Christian faith and examples for ways to face difficult challenges. They are “saints” for me, who point the way to successfully navigating the waters of life in the light of Jesus Christ. But, I am not the only one with such saints. All of us have people who, as gifts of God, bless our lives. They illustrate by practice, what God teaches us through the Word and the Spirit.

Who are your saints? What do they teach you about successful Christian living? How can their example strengthen you when you are week and direct you when you are lost? Take time to appreciate these gifts of God in your life and learn from them the lessons they have learned from God.

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I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard those words, and how many times I said them. There are times when all of us would rather not expend the metal effort to take in more information. Sometimes we feel too tired or maybe the material does not excite us, but whatever the reason, we don’t feel like learning any more.

Most of us can relate to feeling little or no motivation to study, but there is a deeper challenge when it comes to living our faith that threatens to leave us unprepared for the work of ministry and the challenges of life that we will experience. That challenge is not the lack of motivation, but the lack of desire. When we move beyond “I don’t feel like it” to “I don’t want to” the situation is much more serious, and when the subject is our faith journey the impact can be devastating. That may sound dramatic, but when it comes to living and sharing the Christian life, the results of our choices have eternal significance.

The Apostle Paul told his younger protege, Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved.” (2 Timothy 2:15) There is a real need for Christians to invest time and themselves in the work of study for the sake of their faith journey and their impact with the Gospel. It is true,that many modern translations of this verse replace the word “study” with “discipline yourself” but a necessary part of that discipline is renewing the mind and spirit through study.

Too many times as a pastor, I hear people say, “Just tell me what to believe (or do).” The implication is that they would rather blindly follow someone else’s direction than do the hard work themselves, yet that is exactly what they need. More than a simple answer or a personal direction from the pastor, the real knowledge lies in allowing the Spirit to use their studious efforts mingled with divine revelation. Pastoral insight may be a part of that process, but there is so much more. I once has a door hanger that read, “I trust in the Lord, but I still have to study.” The quote is cute, but full of truth for all of us.

Our faith is surely more than academic, but it still requires our study. No sermon or teaching will replace time spent reading the Word of God, engaging the reflections of the community of faith over several millennia, and gaining the insights of the knowledge and wisdom of others. John Wesley, the founder of the Wesleyan denominations (including my own, the United Methodist Church) exemplified a model that engaged Scripture, tradition, experience and reason. We need to incorporate all four, and we need to do the work, not wait for someone else to do it for us.

We want to offer God our very best and that includes the mind and intelligence we were blessed with. Our study need not be laborious, but it must not be avoided.

In the coming days, I will be sharing some suggestions to help encourage and empower your study. For now, however, it is enough to encourage us all to take Paul’s advice and study so that we can show ourselves to be those approved.

Be blessed in this day and in your study. May God’s divine revelation multiply your efforts.

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The wrong understanding of knowledge can lead to negative consequences. It is this type of knowledge that “puffs up” giving us a false view of ourselves and the world. Most of us have heard the phrase, “a little information is a dangerous thing,” and it is true. A little information can lead us to believe we have more understanding and more ability than we actually do. We begin to think too highly of ourselves and pride edges out the much needed common sense that asks for help before our need for it becomes desperate.

The same attitude many of us faced when we graduated, believing we knew everything and there was nothing we could not handle on our own, can still emerge from within us. We can be so impressed with the facts we know, the degrees we earned, and the life-experience we possess, that we fail to see our weak points. This intellectual blindness can lead us in the wrong directions and leave us wounded by our own choices.

In the book of Proverbs, we find an oft quoted treasure that has real-life impact. Early in the first chapter, the writer says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (1:7) Real knowledge originates from a right understanding of our place in relationship to God. The word “fear” is not about being frightened by God, but rather, respecting God. Filled with awe and wonder, we look to God to define what real knowledge looks like.

Putting God first in the pursuit of knowledge helps us avoid the pitfall of pride. It keeps us grounded in reality. We are not swayed by popularity or popular opinion. We are not impressed by what we know, nor do we expect others to be. Instead, we rejoice in God and the wisdom the Holy Spirit imparts. Then, the information we accumulate, the training we experience and the life journey we take can blossom into the fullness of truth within our lives. Instead of being prideful in our accomplishments, we offer them as gifts to God, to be informed by God and transformed into tools of ministry in our lives.

We should seek wisdom, knowledge and understanding. We should be life-learners who continually grow in these ways, but we should grow by being firmly rooted in God. James wrote, “If anyone lacks wisdom, he should ask God.” (1:5) if we want to truly develop our knowledge, we should start by asking God and then, rooted in him and led by the Spirit, we can truly mature our understanding.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. May our eyes be opened and our spirits awakened to the awe and wonder of God so that we may become truly knowledgeable and wise for our sake and the sake of the world.

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Numerous times as a father I heard these words as I attempted to teach one of my children how to do something. Their struggle for independence and desire to demonstrate what they knew would cause them to jump ahead of my instructions while informing me that they had it covered. Sometimes, they did. Often, they did not, and neither did I when took the same approach at their age. It is an important piece of knowledge we must acquire by learning from our mistakes. Even as adults, it is still difficult to acknowledge that we do not know everything and accept that we need help.

David, Israel’s well-known king, made his share of bad decisions including sleeping with the wife of one of his soldiers, and when he found that she was pregnant and his sin could not be hidden, made arrangements for her husband to be moved to the center of the battle to die. He suffered greatly for his choices, but learned from them as well. In Psalm 25:9, he writes, “He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”

David learned the valuable lesson of humility. He discovered through that virtue God would teach him the right thing to do and show him God’s way to live. By recognizing his need for direction and his dependence upon God, he put himself in a position to be more than he thought possible, even when he thought too highly of himself.

It is a lesson for all of us. When we can honestly accept that we are not God, that we do not know all things and that we cannot always discern the right way, we develop a teachable spirit that God can use to lead us into blessing. As long as we think we have it covered, that we need nobody and no direction we set ourselves up for failure and frustration. When we embrace humility, we open ourselves to good directions, wise decisions and godly blessings.

David learned the hard way the deep pain that comes from pride and arrogance. Many of us have learned that painful lesson as well, but we can also allow these tough experiences to teach us humility and prepare us for a better future. There is never a bad time to start embracing humility. It is never too late. It is a decision we renew again and again, but we do so knowing that God gives grace to the humble, guiding them and teaching them the path that leads to life.

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