YouTube - Facing the giants movie ep.5

YouTube - Facing the giants movie ep.5

Today on Thanksgiving I was watching television. I turned to TBN. They were playing the movie, "Facing the Giants." As I turned on the show it was at the part where Coach Taylor was the most discouraged with his football team. Then this prayer warrior guy (Mr. Bridges) comes into his office and reads this scripture.

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8

He then tells him that God is not through with him and he is to blossom or grow where he has been planted.

This is a very interesting verse that was quoted.

When I was called to my current location of ministry I was called to "walk through doors." I was never called to the church ministry, I was called to walk through doors.

Oh God, Bless My Mess

Question: Does God lead us into situations that end up being a mess? Or that end up leaving us hurt and disadvantaged for a time? Would God do that to His children? I think so. Why? Perhaps there are no simple or even clear answers. Maybe we need to go on a biblical quest to see what insights we can find.

Abram left Ur in faith. He left everything he had known. Genesis 12:1 reads, The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. This "leave" and "go" would be a slow 900 mile journey with great potential danger and much hardship. Abram arrives. He has done what God asked. God confirms his obedience upon his arrival to the Promise Land. "The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspringa I will give this land.” (Genesis 12:7) Great! There is no better feeling than setting out on a risk taking quest to obey God and then having His confirmation on what you have done.

Abram, now, begins to settle and verse 10 tells us, "Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe." (Genesis 12:10) Abram has experienced several tests: He was called to leave his hometown (11:31-32); his wife was barren (11:30); and the land that God promised to him is occupied (12:6). Now there is a severe famine! If you were Abram, what might you say? “I came all the way out here for this! I thought Canaan was to be a land of blessings! God, I deserve better than this. I’ve tried to serve you and live for you and this is the thanks I get for my efforts? Thanks a lot!” Of course, we do not know what Abram said. But you'd have to imagine those kind of thoughts ran through his head or were spoken from his lips.

The result is that Abram runs down to live in Egypt, because that is where the food is. Did he do the right thing in leaving the land God called him? Some would say yes. Some would say Abram simply followed the necessary direction which his circumstances required. After all, Jacob's sons went to Egypt when there was a famine in Canaan and this was in the will of God. So did many others in that part of the world. This is simply what people did.


Others would say he did not. Why? There is no report that Abram consulted God. Nor is there a report that God spoke to him to go down to Egypt. Further, there are passages which tell the Israelites that they were not to depend on the strength of the Egyptians. (Isaiah 31:1) Add to this the the consequences of Abraham's actions. He lied to Pharaoh to save his own skin. (vv.12-13) He picks up Hagar the Egyptian, through whom he has Ishmael, which ultimately will lead to the conflicts between the Jews and the Arabs.


It seems good points can be made on both sides of the debate. But if Abram was disobedient, what is very odd is that God protects and blesses Abram. Look at how Genesis records the events that follow...

He [Pharaoh] treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai. So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. (Genesis 12:16-13:2)

What is very odd is that if Abram was disobedient in going to Egypt then his disobedience brought prosperity, but his obedience in going to Canaan brought famine.

I don't know what all to think about this story. I may not have the most accurately interpretative read. But here are some lessons I derive...

1) God may allow us or even bring us into choices which will be very challenging or disadvantageous. This sould be in the very center of His will.

2) We may not handle these situations or testings in the most faithful way even though we may be people of great faith, as Abram was.

3) When we do not handle these situations in the most faithful way, God shows himself to be faithful. As Paul simply states,"...if we are faithless, he will remain faithful..." (2 Timothy 2:13)

4) When God shows Himself to be faithful when we are not, we grow in faith and in love and in obedience to God. These situations where we feel forced to go down to Egypt, in fact, are often desgned to increase our faith.

This story is recorded about this man of faith to show that faith grows through what we do not understand. Like Job we see God in a brighter and bigger light when we go through the tunnel of our doubt, confusion, and failure.

It's Patience Stupid!

James Carville used to say, "It's the economy stupid." No. It's patience. A lesson we need to learn through our nation's economic crisis is patience. "Love is patient." (1 Corinthians 13:4) A fruit of the Spirit is "patience." (Galatians 5:22) Some of the worst financial decisions we make are due to a lack patience. We either allow ourselves to be pressured to make purchasing decisions we shouldn't by sale's people who lack patience. We lack the patience to wait to buy an item until we can afford it. We make bad investments because we are lured by the hope of quick wealth. We lack the patience to trust God's timing for His progress to be made in our lives. We lack patience. Proverbs 13:11 states, "Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle, but those who gather little by little will increase it." (NRSV) Because of this we have developed a credit economy which has been unsustainable. Like Abraham we take Sarah's handmaid and try to fulfill God's promise in our own strength and wisdom. "Let's just get on with it and make God's plan happen," we say to ourselves. The results make life more difficult to live with.

I know that in my life I need to increase in patience. Patience is a product of love. Lord, please increase my patience.

Me and My Big Mouth

James tells us, "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue..." (James 1:19)

I have learned this past week that I should more carefully guard my words so that I speak only what God wants to communicate through me. I have a lot of ideas about a lot of things. But in the end these ideas are useless unless they are matured and led by God.

Too many times I have the problem where I will speak by the leading of God and then as I get on a roll I keep speaking things over and above what God has called me to share. These things I share may be true but become info overload for the hearer or are ideas which are irrelevant for the place where the person is at in his/her spiritual growth.

This ties in with my previous blog on Carrie Prejan. Too often I get caught up in the drama of events, and I add to the drama by saying things which are not most helpful or clearly understood. My words need to align with my faith so that they will focus on the purposes of God, not the confusion or drama of the situation.


Another one of my temptations is to overlead. I can tend to want to over direct events in the church or in other areas where I have a vested interest. I do this by over arguing or over defending my case. My tendency to overlead demonstrates an area where I am not cooperating with the Holy Spirit as I should be. I simply need to trust the work of Holy Spirit to ultimately guide people and events as He is most capable of doing and has been doing before the beginning of time.

I need to let my words be fewer knowing that God can multiply them for his eternal purposes.

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. (Proverbs 10:19)

Carrie Prejean, Miss California in the Miss USA pageant 2009, took a very courageous stand when asked by homosexual gossip blogger Perez Hilton about her stand on gay marriage. The question specifically posed to her was whether other states should follow Vermont in passing laws approving gay marriage. Her response was that she was for traditional or "opposite" marriage.

This was the not the politically correct thing to say. It may have cost her the Miss USA crown. What it certainly did was cause her to be the recipient of a firestorm of controversy that has been unrelenting and brutal. Out of this Carrie Prejan has emerged as an icon of the cultural and religious right, and a pariah of the cultural left. Now she has a book about her journey titled, "Still Standing."

Christianity Today interviewed her about his upcoming book. In the book she often speaks of the important influence of her pastor, Miles McPherson. In the interview with Christianity Today, she gives this reflection concerning some of the most important guidance she received.

Christianity Today: What's the best advice he gave you about handling the stress?
Prejean: He basically told me every day, "Carrie, don't pay attention to the drama. Don't get into the drama. God has a plan for you, he chose you for this. This is your time to figure out what God has in store for you, and you will figure it out."

Wow! "Don't get into the drama...This is your time to figure out what God has in store."

This advise has personal relevance for me. Quite often I can get caught up in the drama of life, ministry, and events. The challenge for me is to figure out what God has in store. This is truly liberating and exciting. It frees you from captivity to the chaos of events and elevates your focus to take higher ground and attain greater purposes for which God has in store.

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Cor 10:13)

This words "way out," according to David Jeremiah, convey the idea of a narrow passage of escape out of a treacherous canyon. The circumstances and situations that life throw at us can be treacherous and extremely confusing. But in finding God's purposes we can discover the way of escape. This requires taking on a narrow and forthright focus. But the journey is incredible because God is working in it!