Archive for November, 2021
Holy Hilarity
“Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, to be content.”
(Philippians 4:11)
Keep in mind Paul was in a filthy Roman prison when he penned that.
With our nation in transition there seems to be a pall of gloom hanging over us. It brings to mind a “Peanuts” cartoon in which Lucy asks Charlie Brown, “Did you ever know anyone who was really happy…” Before she can finish the question, Snoopy comes dancing into the next frame. As only Snoopy can, he dances his merry way across the frames while Lucy and Charlie watch in amazement. In the last frame Lucy finishes her question, “Did you ever know anyone who was really happy… and was still in their right mind?”
It is hard to find a happy person. When they encounter you may they have found one.
One of Paul’s favorite words is the Greek word hilarotes, from which we get the word hilarity. It literally means “laughter from the heart.”
He means bone-deep, blood-rich, exuberant laughter which comes up out of the depths of a person’s soul, joy which flows from the center of our being, happiness coming from the depth of our hearts.
Holy hilarity is born out of deep, inner peace; peace which passes all understanding; peace which comes from knowing that we are really loved and accepted by God.
It comes from having a biblical perspective of life. It begins by realizing as Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (“John 16:33) Notice in the text tribulation is sandwiched between peace and good cheer. Face it, life is hard, but “we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance…” (Romans 5: 3)
Like Paul we must realize,“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35)
We must be “rejoicing in hope, patience in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer…” (Romans 12:12)
In these texts perseverance and patients are essential traits amid tribulation. Lets pray for peace and good times and prepare for difficulty. Consider yourself in prep school getting ready for a tribulation examination. In your right mind find the good in life and enjoy it while exercising holy hilarity.
Take the council offered in a modern translation of Proverbs 15:13, “A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.”
Elevate Your Attitude Of Gratitude
Thanksgiving is a great holiday. It celebrates no birth, no battle, and no anniversary of one of our national heros. It is essentially the celebration of the condition of the heart. It is a pilgrimage into one’s inner self looking for an attitude of gratitude.
It can and should morph from a holiday to a lifestyle. Most folks have about the same amount of good and bad things happen to them. We tend to think no one has it as bad as we. In reality optimists and pessimists are subject to the same pressures of life. I have known some good looking, intellectual, wealthy pessimists. Conversely, I have known some optimists who were living below the poverty line in poor health. They know what the expression “a sacrifice of thanksgiving” is all about.
Let this holiday season motivate you to a new and elevated attitude of gratitude. Doesn’t it make you feel good to be thanked for something? Well, it does others also. If you want to make others feel good, express thanks to them even for little things. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude.
Who would find it meaningful to receive a call or note from you expressing thanks for something? It may be current or a long overdue expression.
While you are expressing thanks, don’t forget to thank the God of all blessings. After all, He was the one our Pilgrim predecessors had in mind at the first celebration.
Often I read something and think I wish I had written that. Just because someone else writes something is no reason for not repeating it if proper credit is given. My wife clipped and shared such a piece from “Family Circle,” November 11, 1999. It is too good not to share.
I AM THANKFUL FOR ….
… the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
… the taxes I pay because it means that I’m employed.
… the complaining I hear about our government because it means I have freedom of speech.
… the clothes that fit a bit tight because that means I have had enough to eat.
… my shadow that watches me work because it means the sun is shining.
… the parking space at the far end of the parking lot because it means I have the ability to walk.
… my heating bill because it means I have been warm.
… the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.
… the piles of laundry because it means my loved ones are nearby.
… the weariness and aching muscles at the end of a day because it means I have been active.
… the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning
and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
… the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.”
“Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” (Psalm 106:1)
Come Ye Thankful People, Come
Thanksgiving is a purely American holiday. However, the present generation of Americans often show little gratitude to God. By reflecting on conditions of the first Thanksgiving, it is obvious they didn’t give thanks because things were so good. They did it simply because of the condition of their hearts. Dispositionally they were thankful people. People are not thankful because they give thanks. They give thanks because they are thankful. Likewise, it is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy.
Thanksgiving is a critical season from the perspective of the faith community. It tests us. Many things in our society stimulate discontent, not thanksgiving. The advertising world stimulates discontent among us. A broad based philosophy among us is: “More is better, but more is never enough.”
Never let the things you want make you unmindful of the things you have.
Most things that give us a burst of “happiness” are relatively unimportant. Like the Pilgrims, thanksgiving results for a sense that God loves us and is willing to take care of us. They could give thanks because they had a deep confidence God was with them. This verse by John Greenleaf Whitter confirms this:
I do not know where His islands lift
Their fonded palms in air;
I only know I cannot drift
Beyond His loving care.”
Verses like the following gave them a sense that God had His hand under them and was capable of caring for them. “He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things.” (Romans 8:32)
Unthankful people tend to be negative and critical. Their ingratitude blocks the view of bountiful blessings. Most new days find us surrounded by an unfolding field of blessing. Enjoy the view and inhale the fragrance. Count your many blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what God has done. Sing it. A word of thanks or a song of praise can unlock even the prison of depression. It is therapeutic.
Even if heavily laden, thank God for giving you the strength to keep going.
There is always, always, always something for which to be thankful. The prophet Habakkuk wrote:
Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls
Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.”(Habakkuk 3:17-18)
May this season remind you of this.
A Thankful Heart
“Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift….” II Corinthians 9:15
There is always something for which to be thankful. That is the primary one.
Be thankful even for your struggles because they often cause you to stumble across your strength. Thanksgiving is not only a delightful holiday, but an admirable lifestyle. Make it the norm in your everyday life.
Often God does a special thing for us amid the normal blessings as a lasting reminder that we are always objects of His love. String those special things like pearls as a reminder of blessings to reflect on in challenging times.
We might follow the example of Robinson Crusoe. He was wrecked and on a lonely island, cut off from society, no clothes, no defense, and no one with whom to talk. We are often reminded he made a list. However, he actually made a list consisting of two columns headed good and evil. On the good side were such things as being cut off, but not drowning like the others; banished, but not starving; no clothes, but a warm climate; no defense, but no need for it; no companion, but all the necessities. He realized some things are a blessing and others a lesson.
Showing thankfulness is one of the simplest, but significant things we can do. It elevates all other attitudes. It can transform the most common of days.
Thanksgiving is the gardener that makes our spirit blossom.
We can show our gratitude to God by expressing our gratitude to others. Find in them, though it may be difficult, that which makes them praiseworthy and express it. If you freely express thanks to your friends, you will soon find you have more of them. Express thankfulness even if it is the smallest kind, it is better than the grandest intention unexpressed. A word of thanks can heal a wound that only compassion can heal.
As an exercise of thanks go outside at night and look up at the stars and let your mind wander into a galaxy of gratitude. You will find your mindset like that of the psalmist who wrote, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.” (Psalm 65:8)
In the book of Habakkuk is found this expression of a thankful heart in a lean time that is worth emulating, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
Oh, give thanks.
Tired? Don’t Quit
Judges 7 and 8
The captivating story of Gideon in his battle with the Midianites has stirred the imagination of many. He had a formidable army when God revealed the protocol He wanted him to use revealing the character of so few men. The process involved his force of 32,000 being greatly reduced. In fact, he went into battle against the Midianite army with four times the number in their army as in his army with a remnant of only 300 troops. The Midianite were said to “covered the valley like a swarm of locusts.” Their camels, formidable beasts in battle, “were so numerous they could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.”
The story begins when God first encountered Gideon who was cowering in a winepress. God referred to him as a “mighty man of valor,” prophetically forecasting the role he was being called on to fulfill.
There is another aspect of the story equally as amazing. It is recorded in the Bible book of Judges 8:4 that they went into battle “exhausted but still in pursuit” of their foe. Being exhausted is one thing, being still in“pursuit” of their enemy is exciting. Valor is virtuous, but exhaustion is debilitating.
As an aside, it should be noted that God’s instruction to do this was not a wanton act of aggression. Their opponent was a godless society ripe for divine judgment. Gideon’s force was the means of imposing discipline.
They did what God said to do believing He would do what He said He would.
God said, “I will be with you.” He did, and gave them victory. He did it so it was obvious that to the Lord goes the glory. This made Him all the more endeared to them, knowing that was to their benefit.
To achieve the victory the Jordan River had to be crossed. Even a bigger challenge was crossing the intimidating river of doubt. When you are fatigued and prone to give up and quit pursuing God’s will, remember Gideon, one of God’s most faithful servants, who carried out God’s will even though weary.
Even wilder still the battle plan devised by God must have seemed foolish. Gideon was to divide his troops into three groups giving an even greater appearance of weakness. Their designated weapons must have seemed to reach the point of absurdity. Each man was given a trumpet and a jar with a torch in each jar. Gideon then set the example by telling them to do as he did. It was exactly what God wanted. God must have looked down on the battlefield and thought, “Gotcha Gideon, right where I want you.”
These three small companies of men surrounded the camp and in the dark simultaneously blew their trumpets, smashed their jars and watched as the Midianites, in confusion and overwhelmed by terror, started killing each other in the dark. The lights in the darkness gave the appearance of a great force. The Israelites pursued their enemy, destroying them. Five words emboldened Gideon, they were, “I will be with you.” If you are engaged in spiritual tasks as instructed by God, take heart, the battle is the Lord’s.
Their obedience resulted in them living at peace for 40 years. (Judges 8:28) The reward was worth the risk. What risk?
When God encountered Gideon at that winepress He could see in Him what He was offering him an opportunity to become, what no one else could see, not even Gideon. What potential does God see in you He is trying to develop?
There is an ageless adage: “When you were born, you cried, and the world rejoiced. Live your life in such a manner that when you die, the world cries, and you rejoice.” You have but one life. The question is, “How will you live it?”