Waiting at the Traffic Lights

We all dislike the inconvenience of traffic lights.  They stop us mid-journey and delay us in reaching our destination.  However, think of the chaos on our roads without them?

In our busy lives, we can become so determined to reach our destination that we have no patience for one of life’s many red lights.  When interruptions make us frustrated it is a sign that we are losing our graceful way.  It won’t be long before we are so preoccupied with our own plans that we are completely insensitive to the destinations of others.   
We should take every delay as an opportunity to relax and look around - when we’re so focused on our destination how can we possibly enjoy life’s journey?  God is in control of all life’s traffic lights.  We can be confident of reaching our objectives at precisely the right time - even allowing time to show compassion to other drivers. 
If we continue to speed through life’s red lights, God is the policeman who stops our reckless driving before a fatal accident occurs.  He gives us a ticket (divine discipline) to remind us there are other drivers on the road-of-life who also have very important destinations.

Buy Now - Pay Later

Apart from God’s gracious gifts, everything in life has a price.  Don’t be fooled - we seldom get out of paying.  We either pay beforehand or pay later, often with interest.
Buy now – pay later, may be an acceptable concept when buying goods in life, but “paying later” is to be avoided when it applies to our physical body.  If we don’t find time to exercise, then we will pay later when we are unwell.  If we don’t find time to eat the right food, we pay later when we are sick.

That which is true of the body is often true of the spirit.  If we don’t find time to study God’s Word, trust in Him and utilise His power, then we will have no option but to pay the price later when life’s many problems break us.  We live in a time of mental break-downs, stress, depression, hatred, fear and suicide.  We are all running up accounts which must be paid one day.  We can save much grief and avoid mounting debts if we simply remember - prevention is better than the cure.

Uneasy Rests the Crown

We assume it is good to be King.  He has power, great riches and people vying for his attention. Yes, this is true, but the King is also a regular target for assignation.  Friends and enemies are constantly trying to steal his wealth, usurp his power and privacy is something all his riches can not buy.

We wrongly assume that if we reach our aspirations prosperity will follow.  All our problems will then be solved, people will celebrate with us and our happiness will finally begin.  But usually it is the start of our problems, the beginnings of misery and a time of great personnel attacks.
For every action - there is a reaction.  The greater your impact - the greater your opposition.  For every person who claps you on the back - there is another who stabs you in the same spot.  The greater your size - the bigger the target you make. Once you’ve have a crown, it’s so very easy to lose it.  Prosperity is one of life’s hardest tests.  It breaks more people than it makes. 
So, what is life’s ideal environment? Every set of circumstances (rich or poor, famous or unknown, powerful or insignificant, successful or not) has its own set of tests.  We must quit looking for ‘Heaven on Earth’; it does not exist. God never said that Heaven would be found in the Devil’s world.  Happiness is a state of the soul, found in a spiritual environment.  We must be careful wishing for success, prosperity or fame.  God has a sense of humour - He may just give us what we wish.

Childish Things

Children love toys and playing childish games.  As they grow into adulthood it is natural for them to put away childish things.   However, if we demand they grow up and take away their toys before they are ready to give them up of their own accord, we can unwittingly do more harm than good.

As a child does childish things, new believers do spiritually immature things.  However, in the spiritual-life we are sometimes guilty of demanding new believers to give up ‘this’ and stop doing ‘that’ in order to be instantly more mature. 
We should show more parental tolerance and allow them to grow spiritually in their own time.  We should not concentrate on the childish things they are doing, but extend grace and leadership for them to grow under God’s guidance.  As they become more spiritually-mature they will automatically give up their childish things - not for the wrong reasons of guilt, pressure or bullying, but because God has revealed something much, much better.  

The Life of the Party

We all like to be invited to a party or a celebration.  It is a time to put aside our cares and give honour to someone or something special in our lives.  Whether it is a birthday, wedding, anniversary or simply a get-together, we all plan to have a good time.  In our quest to make merry, we avoid rude, miserable, depressing people and seek the ‘life of the party’ – the friendly people who are laughing, joyful and carefree.  We naturally want to celebrate with those who are celebrating.

God is hosting an event called, ‘Time’.  He has called us to be the ‘life of the party’ and rejoice in whatever circumstances we find ourselves.  He has arranged the catering, brought the gifts and paid the costs.  All we need do is choose to attend.  Even in our darkest hours we should turn on the lights (remember God’s grace and provision) and celebrate.  God understands that every party has broken glasses (tragedies), but He has said He will pick up the pieces and clean up the mess (if we let Him).  God has taken away all our excuses for being miserable.  He commanded us to cast our cares and worries on Him and celebrate as if everyday is Christmas (because it is). 
God has asked just one thing.  When people pass by and see us celebrating, we should invite them in saying, ‘The Host welcomes all guests – there’s no charge, the bill has been paid – walk through the “Door of Christ” and give your cares and worries to the Host.’

Cursing the Rain

We quite often curse the rain for the inconvenience.  Yet, without that rain we would surely die.

We are strange creatures who sometimes curse the things that keep us alive.  At times our family and friends, who care and support us, are the ones who bare the brunt of our worst behaviour. 
Never has a man been the object of so much animosity than our Lord Jesus Christ.  What did he do to deserve such hatred?  He gave his life so we may be saved.  Ironically, some use his name in substitute of swear words.
God’s grace always rains down upon us, but sadly too many of us are walking through life with our umbrellas up.

Reflections

To see our reflection we need some sort of mirror and another basic component – light.  When we stand in front of a mirror in complete darkness we can’t see our reflection.  In partial light our reflection is vague.  If we want a true reflection of ourselves we need to place ourselves under full light.  Alternatively, if we want to imagine we are film star material we should stand in dim light, hide our flaws and emphasize our best side.

In order to see a true reflection of our spiritual self we need a mirror and light.  The mirror is the Word of God and the light is God Himself.  We may have the mirror (Bible) and look into it every day, but unless we have a personal relationship with God and let Him light up all facets of our spiritual life, then we won’t see ourselves as we truly are - a mirror is no good in darkness.  Without God’s light we can easily hide the flaws and emphasise our best side.  We may convince many people we are spiritual superstars, but God knows we are just another ugly Christian who refuses to step into the light. 

God Botherers

A botherer is a term for a person who bothers others.   A God-botherer is a term of ridicule given to Christians to define someone who is always annoying God.  But if God could be annoyed, what would really be bothering Him?

God is the Author of all creation and Supplier of all things necessary for our daily survival.  So, does God get annoyed when we seek Him in gratitude or in times of trouble, or would He rather we ignore and not acknowledge Him in any way?
God is never bothered when we make constant requests, when we chat with Him continuously and come to Him with all our problems – in fact He commands it.  The truth is we bother God when we rely on all His riches to keep us alive and yet have no interest in what He has to say.  We bother God when we rely on His grace and mercy yet have no grace and mercy for others.  We bother God when we reject His priceless gift of salvation when His Son (Jesus Christ) has already paid the ultimate price.  Yes, it’s a fair question to ask ourselves - are we God botherers?

Baking a Cake

Some cakes look great with a cherry popped on top; however, its taste should never be judged by its garnish.  If a cake is made with sickening ingredients, no amount of decoration will make it appealing to the taste.  

A person’s life should not be judged by its decorations (fancy clothes, house, car, etc); it should be measured by the richness within.  The ‘World’ teaches us that happiness is in appearances – a life garnished with cherries is the successful recipe that will be applauded.  Yet if our life is filled with revolting ingredients (bitterness, hatred, anger, jealousy and pride), no matter how we decorate it, nobody in their right mind is going to want a slice.  True, they may come into our kitchen for a cherry, but rest assured, not for the cake.
For a life fondly remembered (for the right reasons), we must refer to a recipe book (Bible) written by a successful Chef (God).  Inside are all the ingredients needed for an enriching life.  When we start using Christ-like love, compassion, patience, etc, people will be drawn to our kitchen and soon be asking for our recipe to life. 

Colours of Heaven

How can we describe colours to the blind or sounds to the deaf?  These things must be experienced for true appreciation.  Without these senses, colour and sound remain an academic concept to those who are blind or deaf.   However, there are operations that help a percentage of blind to see and deaf to hear. 

Heaven is beyond our frame of reference.  The Bible states very little of what Heaven is like.  It says more of what is not there – no more tears, sickness, death, etc.  God does not spend time describing those things that we humans can not comprehend.  How can the inexpressible be explained to finite beings who have neither the senses nor capacity to understand? One day, we will understand – all it takes is a terminal operation (death) and for those who believed in Jesus Christ this operation has a 100% success rate (resurrection).  It is natural to be nervous about death (no one likes the thought of an operation), but we should keep our mind on the glorious outcome of the operation - resurrection and the gaining of new senses in order to appreciate all the colours and sounds of Heaven.

Wise Fools

After a long night of drinking, a foolish young man hoping to impress his mates, jumped into his car and sped round the neighborhood.  Before long, a telephone pole jumped out in front.  His horrified mates pulled him from the burning wreck and called an ambulance, but it was evident he only had minutes to live.  Crowding around, his mates heard him gasp his final words, ‘I’d pay anything NOT to have done that.’  His mates all agreed his dying words were very wise in hindsight.  

Wisdom is beyond price.  Ask anyone in hindsight, how much they would pay to reverse the foolish act that led to the death of loved ones.  Ask the invalid in a wheelchair, crippled through their own stupidity, how much they would give to regain the use of their body.  Ask the drug addict who has ruined their life, how much they would offer not to have started the habit.  And ask the person infected from a one-night-stand with aids, the amount they would ‘shell out’ to reverse the decision of that foolish night. 
Wisdom doesn’t only give us the ability to do the right thing, but more importantly the discernment not to do the wrong thing.  God invests large portions of the Bible in teaching wisdom – our attainment of which is said to be more precious than gold, silver and expensive stones.  It is interesting to note that we give priority to educating our children in ways of becoming successful and wealthy, but neglect that of becoming wise.  

Spiritual Babysitting

As babies, we are hopelessly dependant creatures - our every need must be fulfilled by another.  As children, we are totally self absorbed – seldom putting the needs of others before our own.  As adolescents, we start learning to put the needs of others before our own – but frequently choose to be selfish.  As adults, we should be mature enough to put the needs of others before our own.

When a person becomes a Christian, they are said to be born again - and generally show traits of a baby (spiritually).  However, as in life, Christianity is all about growth.  It is a slow process of changing from a dependant, self-centred Christian who always expects compassion, sensitivity and toleration (but shows very little) - to a mature Christian who has developed the spiritual-strength to put the needs of others before their own.
As soon as we show traits of spiritual maturity, God will start bringing immature Christians into our life for us to baby-sit (encourage, nurture, lead and tolerate).

Clash of Schedules

A lady had an important job interview, a school reunion and an exciting date all in the one day.  To fit it in, she planned everything to the last minute, but on arriving at the bus stop (right on schedule), she found that all bus drivers had scheduled a strike.

To reach certain objectives in life we soon learn to plan ahead.  However, have we stopped to consider that our schedule may be interfering with God’s schedule?  God is the busiest Being in the universe and has a very tight agenda.  His schedule is flawless – everything will happen at exactly the right time and place.  For example, when God brings certain people and circumstances into our lives, it may be an inconvenience to us, but we must be flexible and understand that these circumstances have arrived on cue according to God’s schedule.
We should ask ourselves, are we too busy with our own schedule to have God interrupt us with His?  Which schedule is more important?  We should try to be sensitive to life’s daily interruptions.  We should not be so time-tabled that there is no room for God’s plan.

Eyes On The Road

When driving a car, our eyes must always stay on the road in order to reach our destination.  At times we need to glance down to check gauges and make minor driving adjustments, but to take our eyes off the road for an extended time we are sure to have an accident.

The same principle applies in life.  If we focus on the things we are doing instead of where we are heading, we are setting ourselves up for a crash.  There are many turns and obstacles in the Christian way of life.  As we move forward there will be many opportunities and setbacks (accelerating and braking), decisions (steering), and preparation (gear changes).  There will even be time for entertainment (stereo), but we should never focus or be distracted by these things.  Eyes should always remain on Christ and Heaven.  Like driving a car, all our actions and changes in life should be in direct response to our oncoming destination (eternity in Heaven). 

Spiritual Suicide

Suicide is the act of deliberately taking ones life.  It can also be defined as an intentional or unintentional act that causes separation from a political, professional or social life.  Suicide is simply an act of separation - parting us from all future opportunities.

At the point of salvation (belief in Christ) we are given spiritual life yet many Christians commit spiritual suicide (separate themselves from a personal relationship with God).  As a Christian, we can never lose our salvation (that’s eternally guaranteed), but we can deliberately separate ourselves from the spiritual life that God intended for us.  We may have many justifications for spiritual suicide, but so do those who commis physical suicide.  We may go through a horrible tragedy and think that God doesn’t care.  Then, by a wilful act we commit spiritual suicide destroying all future opportunities of God working in our lives and becoming everything that He intended for us.  However, unlike other forms of suicide, spiritual suicide can be reversed.  God can heal any wounds we inflict upon ourselves.  We just need to phone the help-line (pray to God) and it won’t be long before we hear the sirens of Grace rushing to our aid.

Life is Just a Game

‘Games’ come in many forms and can be played on boards, play-stations or computers.  They are lots of fun but the outcome is not valid in the real world.  We may monopolise the board, create the strongest character, win countless victories and collect all the treasure - but as soon as the game is finished, all wealth and victories won are meaningless in real life. 

Life is like a game.  What we monopolise in this life will not help us in the after-life.  We may accumulate much wealth, we may win prestigious awards and achieve great things while we live, but when we die these things become instantly meaningless.  God has told us not to strive for earthly-wealth but acquire treasures that have eternal significance. 
Our number-one priority should never be temporal promotions, investments, power and security because when life on earth ends all these will be as useful as ‘Monopoly’ money.  We should stop ‘playing games’ when there are very real opportunities to gain priceless treasure which God guarantees we’ll keep for eternity -  simply by following our Lord, Jesus Christ.