We have just commemorated Remembrance Day – a time for remembering. With respect we remember the more than 110,000 Canadians who lost their lives in wars ion the past century – some heroically, some in utter fear and loneliness, all tragically, in their pursuit of peace.
It is also a time for remembering the harshness and brutality of wars in which they and 55 million others have died. It’s a time to remember the devastation, the grief and suffering, the pain and agony that war brings. There is nothing glamorous about war (although we tend to glamorize the technology of our western war machines). War of any kind always leaves its carnage of death and destruction.
Remembrance Day is a time to reflect on why wars are still being fought. For me it’s a time to also remember our Anabaptist forbears who were martyred for their faith, the conscientious objectors who were ostracized for their pacifism during WW II and all those across the globe who continue to encounter sufferings for reasons of faith and conscience.
It’s a time to remember our children, and all the children who would like to grow up in joy and hope and peace. It’s a time to resolve to work for peace and justice with peaceable methods.
Remembrance Day is also a time for re-examining what Jesus Christ and the cross, the resurrection and the power of prayer have to say to all forms of violence. Jesus calls us to live by the law of love and to practice the forgiveness of enemies, as Jesus Himself exemplified for us. He is the Prince of Peace - the answer to human need, enmity and violence.
Peace is a treasured word. It’s an agreement to end hostilities between two dissenting groups. It’s the absence of conflict, an inner calmness. It is not a natural characteristic of persons, governments or nations. Ideas clash, desires conflict, goals create tensions, words produce battles, passions blaze into fights.
We may excuse ourselves for any involvement in a national or global conflict. But within our own little world there are conflicts and battles. They may be visible with vocal and physical participation. They may be “cold wars” between non-speaking persons, between persons carrying grudges, resentments, hostility and hate towards each other.
For there to be peace on a global or national or community or home level there must first be a personal peace. I’m reminded of the Chinese Proverb that says:
If there is righteousness in the heart there will be beauty in the character.
If there is beauty in the character there will be harmony in the home.
If there is harmony in the home there will be order in the nation.
If there is order in the nation there will be peace in the world.
The Bible says “..the kingdom of God is…righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Romans 12:17-19
Peace-making begins with righteousness in the heart. Jesus points out the problem of man’s sorrows and this world’s condition has to do with our heart– it’s sinful. Jesus said “It’s from within out of man’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.” (Mark 2:21-22) We need a transformed heart.
Where does peace come from? The Bible declares that man is at enmity with God. Jesus Christ came as the Prince of Peace to bring about a peaceful resolution to the enmity that separates man from God. He paid the supreme sacrifice – dying in our stead on the cross. He paid the penalty our sin demanded. Now we can have peace with God through faith in Christ (Romans 5:1). God replaces the un-rightness in our heart with His righteousness and gives us personal peace. His power enables us to work at being a peace-maker in our homes, community and nation.
Peace-making is an expression of our love for God and others and is pleasing to God. Jesus called peacemakers “blessed” in His sermon on the mount. (Matthew 5:9). We need to be a peace-maker, not a trouble-maker. Christ will help us to work to resolve issues. Righteousness in the heart produces a beautiful character.
Peace-making begins at home. Is your home a shelter of peace or a storm center of bitterness and anger? Peace-making requires effort. “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace...” (Romans 14:19).
“Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.” (Romans 12:18-21 The Message)
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Leveraging the Pain and Hurts in Your Life for Good
My wife and I were privileged to attend a Leadership Summit simulcast in Winnipeg earlier this month. One of the great leaders and speakers who spoke was Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion International. Wess is an internationally recognized advocate for children in poverty. Wess maintains that leadership without compassion is not leadership at all! He challenged us to consider what fuels our leadership – is it joy and fulfillment or is it driven by pain, sorrow or fear?
Then Wess shared his leadership story and what lies behind his drive and compassion for children. Wess grew up as a missionary kid in Africa. He spent his elementary education years in a Baptist mission school where he and other missionary kids endured unbelievable abuse – physical, emotional and even sexual abuse at the hands of supposedly dedicated Christians. At one point at 10 years of age and just before he got on the plane to fly back to the school for another term Wess dared to break the “code of silence” and blurted out to his parents about the abuse he and other kids were experiencing. He begged them not to send him back. His mother was so distraught over what he shared that she was unable to continue to function as a missionary and had to return to the States due to an emotional breakdown.
At school Wess was singled out by the headmaster and humiliated for breaking the silence. He was blamed for his mother’s emotional breakdown and that he was the cause of defeating his parents’ ministry – now hundreds of Africans would end up in hell. He was accused of serving Satan. To demonstrate that you can’t serve both God and Satan without getting burned the headmaster handed him a candle with wicks at both ends. He then lit both wicks. It was during the ordeal of watching the flames move toward his finger that Wes resolved to not let the abuse go on any longer. He would endure the flame and not let go. Anger burned within him at his abusers and their mistreatment of the students. He loved the African children and what Mr. Edwards said was not true. That was a defining moment in Wes’ young life. He would not let the abuse continue. Fortunately Wess’ dad did some investigative inquiry into of the school and changes were made.
That candle incident was the defining moment that turned Wes in the direction of his life’s work as a passionate advocate for the hurting children of the world. He refuses to be defeated and to give in to the powerful forces that would violate the downtrodden and oppressed. He tells his story in his book Too Small to Ignore – Why the Least of These Matters Most.
Wes challenges us to consider how we might leverage our past hurts and pain for good. Rather than allowing the pain and hurts of his past to hamstring his future he allowed God to redeem the past for His glory. Out of the pain of his past God is using Wes to champion children to the Church. Wess states that “poverty and abuse whisper the same destructive message into the spirit of a child: ‘Give up. Nobody cares. You don’t matter.’ It’s a voice from the depths of hell that wars against the truth proclaimed by the Gospel: ‘You do matter. God loves and believes in you..’”
Wes wrestled with the question of “Where was God when the abuse was happening?” He doesn’t say it was God’s plan for the abuse to occur. But Wes believes that God can redeem anything and bring good out of evil. He sees God’s shaping hand at work in his life preparing him for an epic fight on behalf of abused children.
Wess came to the point where he knew that he needed to forgive his abusers even though his abusers never asked for forgiveness and even were not sorry. He would only keep hurting himself if he didn’t forgive. If you don’t forgive those who hurt you they live rent-free in your life. Don’t let what they did define you. If they damaged your childhood, don’t give them the power over the rest of your life. Choose to forgive.
Good words – good challenge. As I think of some of the pain and hurt that many of our aboriginal brothers and sisters have experienced in their childhood this can be a message of hope for them. Those of us who have experienced personal pain through loss of a loved one or due to the betrayal of trust it’s a good message. Don’t hang on to your hurts and pain. Choose to forgive. Ask God to show you His next steps for you in your journey to wholeness. He can redeem anything…He can leverage your past for His glory.
Then Wess shared his leadership story and what lies behind his drive and compassion for children. Wess grew up as a missionary kid in Africa. He spent his elementary education years in a Baptist mission school where he and other missionary kids endured unbelievable abuse – physical, emotional and even sexual abuse at the hands of supposedly dedicated Christians. At one point at 10 years of age and just before he got on the plane to fly back to the school for another term Wess dared to break the “code of silence” and blurted out to his parents about the abuse he and other kids were experiencing. He begged them not to send him back. His mother was so distraught over what he shared that she was unable to continue to function as a missionary and had to return to the States due to an emotional breakdown.
At school Wess was singled out by the headmaster and humiliated for breaking the silence. He was blamed for his mother’s emotional breakdown and that he was the cause of defeating his parents’ ministry – now hundreds of Africans would end up in hell. He was accused of serving Satan. To demonstrate that you can’t serve both God and Satan without getting burned the headmaster handed him a candle with wicks at both ends. He then lit both wicks. It was during the ordeal of watching the flames move toward his finger that Wes resolved to not let the abuse go on any longer. He would endure the flame and not let go. Anger burned within him at his abusers and their mistreatment of the students. He loved the African children and what Mr. Edwards said was not true. That was a defining moment in Wes’ young life. He would not let the abuse continue. Fortunately Wess’ dad did some investigative inquiry into of the school and changes were made.
That candle incident was the defining moment that turned Wes in the direction of his life’s work as a passionate advocate for the hurting children of the world. He refuses to be defeated and to give in to the powerful forces that would violate the downtrodden and oppressed. He tells his story in his book Too Small to Ignore – Why the Least of These Matters Most.
Wes challenges us to consider how we might leverage our past hurts and pain for good. Rather than allowing the pain and hurts of his past to hamstring his future he allowed God to redeem the past for His glory. Out of the pain of his past God is using Wes to champion children to the Church. Wess states that “poverty and abuse whisper the same destructive message into the spirit of a child: ‘Give up. Nobody cares. You don’t matter.’ It’s a voice from the depths of hell that wars against the truth proclaimed by the Gospel: ‘You do matter. God loves and believes in you..’”
Wes wrestled with the question of “Where was God when the abuse was happening?” He doesn’t say it was God’s plan for the abuse to occur. But Wes believes that God can redeem anything and bring good out of evil. He sees God’s shaping hand at work in his life preparing him for an epic fight on behalf of abused children.
Wess came to the point where he knew that he needed to forgive his abusers even though his abusers never asked for forgiveness and even were not sorry. He would only keep hurting himself if he didn’t forgive. If you don’t forgive those who hurt you they live rent-free in your life. Don’t let what they did define you. If they damaged your childhood, don’t give them the power over the rest of your life. Choose to forgive.
Good words – good challenge. As I think of some of the pain and hurt that many of our aboriginal brothers and sisters have experienced in their childhood this can be a message of hope for them. Those of us who have experienced personal pain through loss of a loved one or due to the betrayal of trust it’s a good message. Don’t hang on to your hurts and pain. Choose to forgive. Ask God to show you His next steps for you in your journey to wholeness. He can redeem anything…He can leverage your past for His glory.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Something Beautiful from Something Ugly
During summer vacation in the early years of our marriage Mary and I went on a guided tour of a large cave in Montana – the Lewis Clark Caverns. You walk through these winding and really narrow passageways, admiring the wonders that God has created from stalagmites, stalactites, and underground rivers. When we entered this one large chamber, the guide directed his light to this high vaulted ceiling. You can probably guess what animals we saw hanging out up there - bats, lots of bats. The guide told us that the early explorers of this cave had found large quantities of what she called "bat guano." If you don't know what that is, never mind. It's gross, that's what it is. But they made lots of money selling that stuff. I thought, "What good could bat dung possibly be?" Surprise - they make gunpowder out of it! And even more surprisingly, they can turn that gross stuff into makeup - like mascara and lipstick! Makes me think twice about kissing my wife!
Well, that got me thinking about "Something Beautiful From Something Ugly." It's amazing how people can turn something seemingly useless and ugly into something useful and even beautiful. It's much more amazing how God does that with our lives! In fact, He's wanting to do that for you - to make something beautiful and useful of the ugliest things that have happened in your life.
One way He does that is described in God's Word- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: "The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort... comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."
I don't know what kind of "troubles" you've been through - it could be anything from sickness, to abuse, to addiction, to grief - but whatever the trouble, I know it's made you need the Lord more than ever before. And so you experienced His compassion, His comfort, His strength, and His support in deeply personal ways.
Now, in a sense, God wants you to be for other hurting people what He has been for you. That's how He takes the worst things that ever happened to you and makes them into something beautiful. Amy was in our daughter Sara’s class throughout school. She was the daughter of the vice-principal of Frontier Collegiate Institute in Cranberry Portage, MB. She seemed to have everything going for her - good looks, smarts. But inside she was a lonely, hurting girl. She came to camp and accepted Christ. She faithfully attended church. I had her in my Sunday School class for a couple of years. She went overseas to attend a Bible School in New Zealand and there found the love of her life.
Mary & I were invited to attend her after-wedding in Saskatchewan. She shared with me how lonely her growing up years had been - she had considered suicide many times in her early adolescent years. Instead, she gave her life to Christ. She said if it hadn't been for camp and church she didn't think she would have survived and she thanked me for being an encouragement to her during those years. Today she and her husband are still in New Zealand - with two lovely children and teaching in a Bible Institute impacting other young lives. She and her husband have a ministry to people. She knows how to help lonely people because she had been lonely. She knows that Jesus can make something beautiful out of your life.
Sharon, another friend, was sexually abused by an uncle in her youth. When she brought that awful garbage to Jesus, He began to heal her emotionally and spiritually. She went on to have a vital ministry at Winkler Bible Institute for many years and was a popular speaker at Simonhouse Bible Camp Youth retreats. Today she has a teaching and counseling ministry in B.C. and happily married to Kevin who is involved in pastoral ministry. Her history of abuse became her strange credentials for caring for abuse victims.
My friend Brent has a tremendous ministry to young people from the inner city. For many years he directed Pembina Valley Bible Camp in southern Manitoba and today directs Brightwood Ranch Camp at Evansburg, AB a ministry of Hope Mission out of Edmonton. What makes him so effective is his tender and compassionate attitude toward kids, especially those from the inner city. You know why? He says it's because he remembers the hurt he experienced as a child in a terribly dysfunctional home living in the inner city of Winnipeg. God has recycled his wounds into a life-changing compassion. He is happily married with 4 exuberant children.
God wants to do that for you - if you'll bring Him all that pain, all those wounds, all those memories of the dark times of life. He wants to take all that ugly stuff - stuff that looks like its useless - and He wants to turn it into a treasure - into something very beautiful - a tender, compassionate, helping heart in you. Because of what Christ can do with the waste of our lives, the ones who have been hurt the most turn out to be some of the greatest healers in the world.
Well, that got me thinking about "Something Beautiful From Something Ugly." It's amazing how people can turn something seemingly useless and ugly into something useful and even beautiful. It's much more amazing how God does that with our lives! In fact, He's wanting to do that for you - to make something beautiful and useful of the ugliest things that have happened in your life.
One way He does that is described in God's Word- 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: "The Father of compassion and the God of all comfort... comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."
I don't know what kind of "troubles" you've been through - it could be anything from sickness, to abuse, to addiction, to grief - but whatever the trouble, I know it's made you need the Lord more than ever before. And so you experienced His compassion, His comfort, His strength, and His support in deeply personal ways.
Now, in a sense, God wants you to be for other hurting people what He has been for you. That's how He takes the worst things that ever happened to you and makes them into something beautiful. Amy was in our daughter Sara’s class throughout school. She was the daughter of the vice-principal of Frontier Collegiate Institute in Cranberry Portage, MB. She seemed to have everything going for her - good looks, smarts. But inside she was a lonely, hurting girl. She came to camp and accepted Christ. She faithfully attended church. I had her in my Sunday School class for a couple of years. She went overseas to attend a Bible School in New Zealand and there found the love of her life.
Mary & I were invited to attend her after-wedding in Saskatchewan. She shared with me how lonely her growing up years had been - she had considered suicide many times in her early adolescent years. Instead, she gave her life to Christ. She said if it hadn't been for camp and church she didn't think she would have survived and she thanked me for being an encouragement to her during those years. Today she and her husband are still in New Zealand - with two lovely children and teaching in a Bible Institute impacting other young lives. She and her husband have a ministry to people. She knows how to help lonely people because she had been lonely. She knows that Jesus can make something beautiful out of your life.
Sharon, another friend, was sexually abused by an uncle in her youth. When she brought that awful garbage to Jesus, He began to heal her emotionally and spiritually. She went on to have a vital ministry at Winkler Bible Institute for many years and was a popular speaker at Simonhouse Bible Camp Youth retreats. Today she has a teaching and counseling ministry in B.C. and happily married to Kevin who is involved in pastoral ministry. Her history of abuse became her strange credentials for caring for abuse victims.
My friend Brent has a tremendous ministry to young people from the inner city. For many years he directed Pembina Valley Bible Camp in southern Manitoba and today directs Brightwood Ranch Camp at Evansburg, AB a ministry of Hope Mission out of Edmonton. What makes him so effective is his tender and compassionate attitude toward kids, especially those from the inner city. You know why? He says it's because he remembers the hurt he experienced as a child in a terribly dysfunctional home living in the inner city of Winnipeg. God has recycled his wounds into a life-changing compassion. He is happily married with 4 exuberant children.
God wants to do that for you - if you'll bring Him all that pain, all those wounds, all those memories of the dark times of life. He wants to take all that ugly stuff - stuff that looks like its useless - and He wants to turn it into a treasure - into something very beautiful - a tender, compassionate, helping heart in you. Because of what Christ can do with the waste of our lives, the ones who have been hurt the most turn out to be some of the greatest healers in the world.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Treasures of Darkness
It’s interesting to me that although Christmas and New Years are often deemed as celebrative points in life it is also that period of the year in which people sometimes experience times of greatest despair. Instead of a sense of joy and light, darkness and anguish threaten to envelope the soul.
How do you respond when circumstances and situations bring you into a dark period in your life? Wes, a friend of mine was diagnosed with a brain tumour in late summer. The initial news came as a shock to him and his family. Fear and uncertainty were their constant companions. Dinah, his wife decided to journal and blog their journey in this period of darkness. Both Wes and Dinah have a solid faith in the sovereignty and love of God. As I have followed her blog during Wes’ surgery and subsequent radiation and chemo treatment, I see a resiliency of faith, hope and courage. This in the midst of the gloom that threatens to shroud the reality of God’s love and care. I see an enlarged faith and increased strength to face life head-on no matter what the outcome will be.
Another one of our friends experienced the devastation of their 21 year old son’s suicide in October. As we met with them over the New Year we heard an incredible story of pain, anguish - a period of deep darkness and despair combined with resilient hope, courage and renewed confidence and trust in God’s sovereignty. They told of us of lessons they were learning which they could have learned in no other way. My wife and I understand much of that since we have been down that same road almost 8 years ago when we lost our dear 22 yr old son to suicide following a devastating bout with schizophrenia.
As I reflect on these experiences of pain and darkness in the rough places of life I recall a passage from the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah 45:3: “I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in the secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of
There is something to be gained in the dark periods of our life journey. If we trust in the God who has promised to care for us then He will also reveal “treasures” and “riches” in the least expected places. Author Gerald Sitzer in his book A Grace Disguised: How the soul grows through loss shares how the most difficult experiences of life can actually shape our soul. Like garbage thrown into the compost actually becomes the very thing that enriches the soil, so our periods of darkness can yield treasures that enrich our soul.
It is a strong faith in God and the sense of His presence that gives enabling strength. Both of our friends have stated that they don’t know how they could go through their experience without a faith in God. In the midst of their pain and darkness they are seeing new “treasures” that can’t be gleaned anywhere else. And they are experiencing God’s promise that He will “go before them and make the rough places smooth.” Isaiah 45:2
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