"Houston, we've had a problem..."

How many people can hear those words said aloud when we the read "Houston, we have a problem."?  I know that I do.  I can still see Tom Hanks' face as he says those words playing the role of James Lowell in the movie "Apollo 13."  People a little more mature than I am might even remember Jack Swigert saying similar words (repeated by Lowell) on the real flight of Apollo 13.  So, why am I thinking about these today?  The movie happened in 1995 and the real Apollo 13 happened in 1970.  What I have been thinking about is that these words are true for all of us. 

All of us at some point in our lives have just thrown up our hands and say those special words, "I have a problem." Yes, we all have, every single one of us.  What we wish though is to be able to call some sort of helpline and get things sorted out.  At least I have.  However, that is something that I have come to see as something I don't want.

Now you must be thinking to yourself, "Why? Why wouldn't he want a way out of trouble?"  The truth is that I do want a way out.  But I have found that God has allowed me into trouble for two reasons.  One -- so that I learn to reach out and ask Him and those around me for help.  Two -- for His glory, so that I can show his glory and majesty to those around me and so He can teach me how to lean in on Him. 

The first reason has been a big part of my spiritual growth recently.  I used to be the kind of person who would always (and I mean ALWAYS) believed that I could take anything on and handle it myself.  I viewed myself as a jack-of-all-trades, as a renaissance man, and as a person that if I didn't know it now, I would in like 30 seconds.  Truth is that I feared to reach out to another person and admit that I could NOT do something.  So I never did.  And that's part of why I made choices that led me down a dark path.  Yet God did not create us to live lives alone, without other people.  In fact, the definition of love includes being able to do something for someone else and being loved means that you let others do things for you.  But after hitting the bottom of isolating myself I soon found out how important it is to live with other people--in ALL the areas of my life.

The second reason has been a more difficult thing for me to handle and accept.  I totally get the idea of asking God for help so that I can get out of a difficult situation.  But what if the answer God gives me is, "Wait."?  I have received that answer far too often for my comfort.  What if the answer means that I will have to lose something--or someone?  What if the answer is that by my pain and suffering means someone else finds healing in God?  The truth I have seen is that we will always encounter trouble.  We need it to grow.  We encounter it because of our bad choices.  It is inflicted upon us by people who harbor hate in their hearts.  Sometimes I have found trouble entering into my life because I have been doing great in my faith in Jesus.

'The only temptation that has come to you is that which everyone has. But you can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it.' 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NCV)

 This piece of scripture tells me that temptation and suffering is common to us all.  The exact way it troubles us may differ.  It also assures me that God provides a way out of it for all of us.

'We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.” That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him, as the Scripture says, “Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.”'  Romans 10:10-13 (NCV)

I have found that the word "saved" can mean several different things.  It can mean having everything as I want it.  But it can also mean being saved from danger in ways I couldn't have ever imagined.  In fact, it always seems to come up more like the latter.  How I get saved also changes from time to time.  But the one thing that I have found through this is the fact that God's overwhelming power, enwrapping love, and all-knowing mind cares for me (and you!) and desires that in all things I seek Him, talk to Him, and be with Him.  So even if I am in a "Houston, I have a problem" situation I know that He will get me through and that my value is based on that rather than on what I can or can't do.

Ruined *sick!* Vacations!?!? 😰

Have you ever planned a vacation and then had it spoiled by someone getting sick?  I know that I have!  In fact this last Winter Break we had some free time that we were hoping to use productively around town.  However...my wife and I both got pretty sick.  Like five minutes up, and then back to bed for a couple hours more.  Yikes!

There was the "at least we got sick on vacation and didn't have to call in sick" line that we mentioned every now and then to each other.  But what am I supposed to do when I have other plans but then find myself in a place where I cannot participate?  Ideally, do what I can do and do my best to make myself better.  If I can help others I will do that, but I need to ultimately be better to serve better.

Have I ever experienced something similar to this in my personal faith?  ABSOLUTELY!  There have been many times throughout my life where I didn't get it and I chose to do things that were contrary to God's will for my life.  Some of those were either because I didn't realize what I was doing, or I wasn't in a relationship with Jesus Christ.  But there have been more times of spiritual sickness that I have experienced because of things I have chosen to do--since becoming a Christian.

I could create a long laundry list of things that I had done, ways that I found to sin.  But the point for me is that when I stop having good, solid relationships with other people in addition to my relationship with Jesus is the time when I am most apt to choose self-enjoyment, to choose sin in order to make myself feel "better."

During these times I have regretted my choices and then prayed to God, "Please forgive my sins and help me change, amen."  But I had not confessed these mistakes to another human being.

"Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen." James 5:16 (NCV)

It is in having these other relationships with that we truly get to express what God has already given to us: love.  I can be forgiven, but if I have not loved others, then I have never shared what Christ has done for me. When I get into a place where I feel sick and am hurting spiritually then I need to find people to share with.  Open and honestly.  My only caution for myself when doing this is to make sure I am sharing deeply only with trusted people.  I know I can share past pain with others, without really worrying about their trustworthiness.  But when I am struggling, sick, emotionally unsure, then I need guys around me that I trust and can share with.  How am I doing with that?  I have a couple friends that I can share with, but I need more to be truly open and honest on a regular basis.

God be with us and help us make good friends.

Too much honesty?

How honest do we have to be, really?

Last night in the car my wife and I were talking about how easy it would be to permanently ruin a person's reputation these days.  How many news stories have we heard recently where a woman accuses a man (correctly or not) of sexually assaulting her?  Even if he proves himself clear, he'll never rid himself of that accusation.  Yikes!  As a father of a son, I worry about possible future ramifications for him.  What if some girl tries to accuse him wrongfully?  He'll always have that taint about him. However, as a father of daughters, I would want to be able to crush anyone that mistreated one of them in the wrong way.   Such a knife's edge we have to tread these days!

It wouldn't be an issue if we could just trust what people have to say these days.  If we lived in a culture where no one lied then that wouldn't be something to worry about.  But I guess it would be fair to say the same about the other things we struggle with.  I know that I personally have lied before.  I cannot say, "I will never lie again" either.

How do we lie?  We can outright lie.  We can tell "white lies." We can shift people's attention away from the truth.  We say everything except that one part that would be a lie and stop there.  We can share nothing at all.  We can make excuses for what we did.  We can be downright crooked in everything that we say, or even just a little false once in a while.  But either way, I know that I am still a lier. 

Does it really matter if we lie to people?  They don't really have an eternal impact on my life, do they?  But they do.  I have become really convinced in the last couple of years with how important relationships with others is.  How I treat the world around me affects what my kids will have to deal with when they are adults.  How I treat the people I interact with affects how they feel about me and my effect on my family, my friends, and the world.  How I treat myself forms what I even think is truth and where I am really at in life.  (I know that I can lie even to myself!)  I can pray to God and lie there, but regardless of what my mouth says He knows the truth even better than I do.

So what do I do?  I know that I have lied in my past.  I know that even today I don't have a 100% accurate picture of where I really am at.  I know that I will lie in the future.  But the Bible speaks against lying.  It's even one of the Ten Commandments!

Luckily, I have continued to read through the Bible, not just ending there.  Paul writes to the Romans the following:

“21So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:21-25a, NIV)

Jesus Christ has done what the rest of us are not able to do: He lived a sinless life and then died on the cross so that I would have my sins paid for with His sacrifice.  He then rose from the dead so that I could instead have a relationship with him and live an abundant life!  So regardless of what I have done in my life, regardless of what I fail to do today, and regardless of how I sin in the future, I know that His love and grace cover me!  His love then moves me to seek to be honest in my life, but I don't have to worry about failing.

Let me use a circus example.  Honesty often feels like doing the high wire in a circus show.  I can fall off of the high wire stretched above and I know that God will save me.  He asks me to climb back up and try again, but he is the safety net that keeps me from death.  He is the trainer that offers words of encouragement and correction.  He is the roaring group of spectators that encourages me and celebrates when I succeed and moans when I fail.

The answer to lying?  God very much does not want me to lie.  He desires my honesty in all things at all times.  But he has also recognized that we are very self-centered most of the time.  He has taken care of the consequences as we build our relationship with Him.  I try to not lie in any amount.  But I still do.  God knows because he knows everything--and because in my spiritual life I confess to him (and a mentor) what I do.  I find it so much better to not be perfect but to be real.  Be real too.