Lately I have been scatterbrained, and not long ago, I misplaced my cell phone. To be honest, that is a common occurrence for me. I tore our house apart, fervently looking for my phone. Nothing else really mattered in those moments, nothing other than finding my phone. I even looked in places I had already looked, as if the phone would magically appear. Finally, I found my phone exactly where I laid it down. Imagine that!

To help, I now have a Bluetooth tracking device on my key ring that rings my cell phone when I cannot find it. And I can also use my cell phone to find my keys.

Have you ever lost or misplaced something and then spend minutes, hours, maybe even days, looking for it, pouring every ounce of energy into finding it? Or am I the only one who regularly misplaces things?

Now let me ask you, how fervently do you pursue God? Do you regularly and actively pursue Him like your life depended upon it? Or do you just casually seek after Him, and if you happen to bump into Him great, if not, well, you will look some more tomorrow.

Sometimes, no matter how much time and energy we put into finding something (or someone), we never find it. On the other hand, God promises us if we seek Him with all our heart that we will encounter Him. We read these words in Deuteronomy 4:29 – “But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” This relentless pursuit is a common theme throughout scripture. Here are just two examples found in the Old Testament – Psalm 63:1, Proverbs 8:17.

And another beautiful picture of what it looks like to pursue God with all your heart and soul is found in Psalm 42, verses 1 and 2. You might be familiar with these verses – “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?”

The Hebrew word used here for “pant” implies a fervency of desire. The deer is absolutely in need of a drink, nothing is more important at that moment. If you have ever been near a deer, you know how quickly they flee when you approach them. William McClure Thomson was an American missionary working in Ottoman Syria in the 1800s. In his book, “The Land and the Book,” Thomson describes this fervent desire for water; “I have seen large flocks of these panting harts gather round the water-brooks in the great deserts of central Syria, so subdued by thirst that you could approach quite near them before they fled.” (A hart is a male red deer, the species of deer that would be native to Syria.)

Researchers have found that deer have an internal compass that is sensitive to magnetic fields, and they run in a north-south orientation when threatened. This north-south movement is thought to help deer avoid colliding with one another and enhance their ability to reassemble once the threat is over.   

Whether your soul is dry and parched from exhaustion and constant running or if you are just in need of a cool refreshing drink of water, today I encourage you to seek God with all your heart, and not only will you find Him, but you will also drink from His well of living water, water that will quench your thirst today, tomorrow, and every day after that. Jesus discussed this idea of living water with a woman he encountered at a well. Read that story, found in John’s Gospel, by clicking here.

So, I ask you, how thirsty are you? Is your soul panting for God? Are you gathered around the water-brook so subdued (overcome) by your thirst that nothing distracts you from drinking?

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Life is not always easily explained. There are times we find ourselves in situations and circumstances that make perfect sense to us. There are also times when it feels like the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes the reason for where we find ourselves is evident in that moment. Other times, in the moment, that reason eludes us, and we scratch our heads wondering, “Why?” Time is also often revelatory, and the reason might not be made evident until miles down the road, as we look in the rearview mirror – “Oh yes, now I understand.”

We also find ourselves in situations and circumstances in which God has us there for a very specific purpose. Sometimes, at least in my life, from my limited perspective, those moments just make no sense. While we can only see to the horizon, God sees past the horizon. He sees all the way around the planet. God knows the whole story. His plans and timing are always perfect.

In the Bible we see the story of Esther and Mordecai. In the Old Testament book of Esther, we read that King Xerxes had a falling out with Queen Vashti. The king then handpicks Esther to become the new queen of Persia (2:17). And in an ongoing feud, Esther’s adoptive father, Mordecai (2:7), refuses to bow down to Haman, who is a high official of the king. Haman becomes angry and plots to destroy all the Jews in the kingdom (3:1-6). Mordecai hears of this plot and reports it to Esther, but she does not want to tell the king of Haman’s plan because nobody, not even the queen, was allowed to approach the king without his invitation to do so (4:1-13).

Mordecai persuades Esther to help, and we read these words in 4:14 – “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”  

Esther agrees to talk to the king (4:15-17). She begs for protection of her Jewish people from Haman’s wicked plan. The king believes her story (7:1-6) and he eventually impales Haman on a pole that was intended to kill Mordecai (7:7-10). Fast forward to the end of the story and we see that Esther’s faith and courage saves her people.

So, I ask – Are you trusting that whatever situation that you find yourself in, it is because God has allowed it “for such a time as this?”

I encourage you to read the entire book of Esther. It is a short book, only ten chapters. And did you know that Esther is one of only two books in the Bible that do not specifically mention God by name? However, the second, Song of Solomon, has one verse (8:6) that can be interpreted different ways, thus leading to some translations inserting LORD into the text, while others do not.  

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Who doesn’t love an underdog storiy? Those stories of David conquering Goliath. Those stories of the little scrawny kid who always gets picked last but keeps coming to play, eventually getting his or her chance. Those stories when someone says, “But, you see, I have the other slipper.”

In literature we have that story of Cinderella who, despite her wicked stepmother’s best efforts, gets to meet her Prince Charming. Who can forget the Miracle on Ice when a group of American collegiate and amateur hockey players beat the powerful Soviet Union national team 4-3 during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. How about two of the most watched sports movies of all time. Rudy, the true story of Rudy Ruettiger who despite many obstacles lives out his dream of playing football for Notre Dame. And Hoosiers, the fictional account of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team that wins the state championship, beating all the big powerhouse teams along the way.

One of the biggest upsets in college football history took place on September 1, 2007, when the little-guy Appalachian State Mountaineers upset the mighty Michigan Wolverines before 109,000 stunned fans in what is known as The Big House. And earlier this year, in college basketball’s March Madness, the #15 ranked St. Peter’s Peacocks advanced all the way to the Elite Eight, before losing to North Carolina.

Have you ever wondered where the word “underdog” came from? It is commonly thought to have originated from dog fighting, in which the winning dog ended up on top and the losing dog was on the ground, under the winner. So, there you have it, the origin of both top dog and underdog. We also get the idiom “pit against” from that same scenario; the dogs went against one another in a pit.

Just as there are underdogs in sports and literature, there are also people in our midst who face considerable odds; we might say the odds are stacked against them. How about that single mom who is working three jobs to support her kids. The inner-city boy who lives in poverty. The teenage girl who finds herself pregnant. The refugee who barely speaks English. Or that elderly neighbor who just seems to be always be alone. We all know someone who is an underdog. It could even be that today, the underdog looks back at you in the mirror every morning.  

The Bible makes it clear that we are to care for those who cannot always care for themselves; those people who always seem to be underdogs. In Deuteronomy 10:18 we read that “He (the LORD) defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” Still in the Old Testament, we see a similar theme, in Zechariah 7:10 – “Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.”

In Luke 4:18, Jesus himself tells us that part of His ministry is to proclaim good news to the poor, offer freedom to the prisoners, give sight to the blind, and set the oppressed free. (He is quoting directly from Isaiah 61.)

We have all been underdogs at one time or another in our lives. Look around and see where you can help those who have been marginalized by society. Each of us can actively participate in helping to turn underdogs into top dogs, sometimes against all odds!

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Now that it is mid-November, many of us are beginning to plan those annual holiday gatherings. I think more so than other times of the year, during the holiday season we want those gatherings to be extra special: warm and cozy, comfy and inviting, filled with wonderful and lasting memories.

Not only is there much time and effort put into the preparations, but once the guests arrive, we are constantly “doing,” wanting everything to be perfect, like a scene straight out of a Hallmark movie, and we never really get to sit and just “be” with the guests. It is only after everyone has left that we find out from our spouse that the neighbor’s kid got accepted into one of the military academies and the guy down the street, who recently moved in, has cancer. Hospitality toward of our guests is not a bad thing. Just sometimes it causes us to not be able to savor the enjoyment of spending time with those whom we care about. We often put so much time and effort into planning and executing our holiday gatherings that we sometimes end up being too exhausted to really enjoy the holiday season.

We often do the same thing with Jesus. We are so busy “doing” for Jesus that we fail to simply “be” with Jesus. There is a story in the Bible that you might be familiar with. It is found in Luke 10:38-42. Jesus stops by the house of his friends, sisters Mary and Martha. The text tells us that Martha was distracted by all the preparations that needed to be made while Mary simply sat on the couch and listened to Jesus. When Martha showed some displeasure with her sister for not helping with the work, Jesus gave an answer that very likely surprised her – “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken from her.” (vv.41-42)

What is Jesus saying? He was giving Mary and Martha, and is giving us today, a lesson on priorities. Neither sister was necessarily wrong in her response. Jesus is not teaching the value of a contemplative life compared to a life of action, but instead He is teaching that serving Him and those around us should not fill our lives to the extent that we fail to spend time with Him. We cannot let our “doing” get in the way of our “being.”

We must learn to give our Lord and His Word priority, even over loving service. To fellowship with Jesus, we might have to leave some things undone, even good and worthy things. Jesus is more interested in our undivided hearts than He is in our big acts of sacrifice.

So, today, I ask, are you busier doing for Jesus than you are being with Jesus?

And we should take a lesson from cats – this holiday season, do not let your doing keep you from being.

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What do you get when mixing the colors blue and red? You think know the answer? If you said purple, well, you would not be correct. Purple is not an actual color found in the color spectrum. Mixing blue and red creates violet. Sir Isaac Newton’s Theory of Light proved that the color spectrum consists of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. I memorized these colors in science class using the acronym ROY G BIV. Maybe you did as well.

Whereas violet is a spectral color (single shade), purple is any of a variety of combinations of blue and red (multiple shades). Violet is a “real” color, purple is only “perceived.” Unlike the seven spectral colors, which are single wavelength colors (monochromatic), there is no single wavelength that will make you see purple.

We live in a country in which 50% of people are “blue” and the other 50% are “red.” We don’t seem to agree on anything, in fact, we don’t even agree to disagree any longer. Instead, we live in a world of “I am right, and if you disagree with me, then frankly, you are wrong.” We never seem to see violet.

What if, on this election day, each of us, regardless of whether we are blue or red, or any other color in the spectrum, made it our goal to be (or become) someone who instead of simply seeing blue and red, instead sees what those two colors, when mixed, create – violet. What if the goal of every interaction, every dialogue, was to have a relationship with the other person, rather than prove a point, or to simply be right? What if we focused not on how someone voted, but on how we treat those who voted differently than we did? What if we learned to create violet? Seeing violet does not mean giving up your blue or your red. What is does mean is knowing that both colors add a vibrancy that can only be found when mixing the the two colors in any number of variations.

In this very divided country in which we find ourselves, where every color seems to think it is the only color in the spectrum, this mixing of diverse and sometimes very different colors might best be summed up as “artistic” peacemaking.

And if you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, being a peacemaker comes as part of the deal; it isn’t an optional add-on. In His most famous teaching, the Beatitudes, one of the things Jesus said was – “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Mt. 5:9). The apostle Paul says this, found in Romans 14:19 – “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.” There is a real connection that occurs between people when peace is pursued. The psalmist writes this – “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other” (Ps. 85:10).

While blue and red are beautiful colors in and of themselves, what if instead of seeing violet as losing both blue and red, we see it as a mixing of those two distinct colors to create something of greater beauty! And it is important to remember that both colors are needed to make violet.

So, my challenge to all of us – in this great divide of a country we live in, what can you and I do to not only see blue and red, but also see violet.

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I am sure that you are familiar with the long running television and radio commercials that end with, “I’m Tom Bodett for Motel 6 and we’ll leave the light on for you.” The first Motel 6 opened in Santa Barbara, California in 1962, with a nightly room rate of, you guessed it, $6. Leaving the light on for someone is a sign that you care about them, that you are waiting for them, and that when they arrive, you welcome them into your space. When we know someone will be coming to our house after dark, we leave the front porch lights on for them. I am sure you do the same.

Tertullian, who was a second century Christian apologist and author said this, “Hope is patience with the lamp lit.” Right now, maybe you face a life situation that is challenging, making it difficult to be hopeful. Everything you dreamed of, and hoped for, hangs in the balance, and discouragement floods your soul. You have been waiting and waiting, and today you find yourself impatient and tired of waiting. You have been praying for God to move in a particular situation, but so far, it seems from your point of view, that the light is not on, and God has gone to bed.

Hope refers to a feeling of desire for something to happen, with a real expectation that is could happen, but still with some level of uncertainty. When you plan a day at the beach you hope for sunshine and not rain. Or maybe you have planned a trip to the art museum and as you get in the car you say – I sure hope it isn’t too crowded when we get there.

The Bible has quite a lot to say about hope. But unlike the way we use the word hope in modern conversation and vernacular, biblical hope does not convey any level of doubt. It is not pie in the sky wishful thinking. Instead it has as its foundation a confident faith in God. In the Old Testament the word hope most often comes from a Hebrew word meaning confidence, safety, or security. In Psalm 62, as David talks to his inner soul, we find that confident expectancy – “Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken” (vv.5-6). The word hope in this verse comes from a Hebrew verb that means to gather into strength.     

Psalm 42, in which the psalmist wonders where his hope has gone, ends with these hopeful words – “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God” (v.11). This Hebrew word for hope, while slightly different than the one in Psalm 62, still implies the same thing – a confident waiting, to tarry (linger in expectancy).

And turning to the New Testament, we read these words in Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” The word hope in that verse is the Greek word elpizō which means to fully expect, count upon, place confidence in. In other words – there is no doubt about it!

So, the way I see it, biblical hope is not a feeling, it is a reality. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking, it is an assured and confident expectation, a sure foundation upon which we can base our lives. Biblical hope is looking forward to, and trusting in, all that God has promised. Biblical hope is knowing that even when you are walking (or waiting) in darkness, you have the absolute certainty of a loving and faithful God. Biblical hope is standing at a door where the porch light is always on.

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