We live in a fallen world, as sheep among wolves. We are to be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:6)
In ancient days, serpents were used as a symbol of wisdom. Being shrewd as serpents includes accurately assessing people and situations, anticipating events, and handling situations with good judgment. Now, our symbol is more likely an owl.
If we act on a quick evaluation of a situation, we may create unnecessary conflict and lose the opportunity to honor our Lord. We often need to reframe our perspective of reality in order to have a healthy point of view or take a godly action. Healthy reframing is a skill we need to live life well, both temporally and spiritually. It is a skill that helps us see a more constructive interpretation, helps us forgive, and helps us see the Lord in the midst of our mess.
“Cognitive reframing is a psychological technique that consists of identifying and then disputing irrational or maladaptive thoughts. Reframing is a way of viewing and experiencing events, ideas, concepts and emotions to find more positive alternatives.” (Wikipedia)
The Word of God is Filled with Healthy Reframing
James tells us to consider it joy when we encounter various trials. (James 1:2). We’re not to misconstrue the trial itself as joyful, but, rather, consider it joy because of the good that will come out of testing our faith.
Paul tells us the Lord will use all things for good for Christians. (Romans 8:28). That’s not because “all things” are, themselves, good, but because the Lord is sovereign and He will bring good out of the bad. (See What’s So Good About Bad? and When a Loss is Really a Win)
Here’s another: Someone’s action caused you great harm, yet God tells you to forgive him or her. If you focus on the action, on your hurt, it may seem impossible to forgive. But if you reframe your perspective to see the person as a flawed human being, rather like yourself, forgiveness is much easier.
Honest View of Reality
We must, however, start with reality. We’re sunk if we act on a very inaccurate view of what is happening. Even worse, we can be led astray spiritually.
If we use reframing to remake reality, we are on the wrong road!
“Everyday, in everyway, I’m getting better and better.” Oh oh. Really?!
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
Hezekiah
Hezekiah is a great example of how to forthrightly view and react to reality and reframe your perspective to include God. (2 Chronicles 32)
When Hezekiah saw that the Assyrians intended to make war on Jerusalem, he cut off the supply of water from the springs outside the city, rebuilt the wall, erected towers on it, built another outside wall, and appointed military officers.
Hezekiah acted on his clear view of reality.
Then he encouraged the people:
“Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.” (2 Chronicles 32:7–8)
Hezekiah acknowledged the reality of the horde of Assyrians, and reminded the people that God is greater.
What we are to do
Be realistic about your situation, and the people in your life. Ask the Lord to help you accurately see.
Reframe your interpretation to bring God into your circumstances.
I wonder: Do they sell pendants of the empty tomb?
He suffered for us on the cross, died, and was buried.
He rose from the dead.
The cross is empty.
The tomb is empty.
Jesus Christ is, and was, and is to come. (Revelation 1:8)
Because He lives, we also have a past, present, and glorious future.
In the past
He died on the cross, and we were saved from sin’s penalty.
In the present
He lives, interceding for us with the Father, and we are learning to walk in freedom from sin’s power.
In the future
He will reign, we will be saved from sin’s presence, and He will present us to the Father holy and blameless.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
I want to live thrilled with the knowledge of His life and the life to come.
Where is my empty tomb pendant?
This website, Pressing On Together, is based on the goal all Christians have: To grow in our Christian life, and become more like Jesus Christ. (See Welcome.) God guarantees He will make us in the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). He is working in us to make that happen. At the same time I, and you, have the responsibility to strive for holiness and resist sin.
Here is what I am saying to myself. You might want to listen in.
I can do it
I’ve been given everything I need to live a life pleasing to God, to walk in a manner worthy of Him.
His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)
in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge…so that you are not lacking in any gift, (1 Corinthians 1:5,7)
in Him you have been made complete (Colossians 2:10)
It is not I, but God
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5)
I might do it
I am able to live as He wants me, but I have a choice.
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4)
“Might walk” is an aorist subjunctive, which is an assertion about which there is some doubt, uncertainty, or indefiniteness.
I can do it, but will I?
But will I?
The truth, of course, is that sometimes I walk in newness of life and sometimes I don’t. Worse, sometimes I don’t even want to. Alas.
Thank God, He is working in me to want to. And to actually do what He wants.
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)
My responsibility
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. (Hebrews 12:4)
These are challenging verses!
Am I working so hard to live out the fact that I am God’s child, saved by Him, that I tremble?
Do I resist sin to such as extent that I shed blood?
Do I even close the refrigerator door?
The glorious good news
I am so far from what I want to be. I want so much to hear my Lord say “Well done.” I want to please God.
Unfortunately, these important “wants” do not necessarily result in action.
But the glorious good news, the fact that gives me hope, is that it is GOD who is at work in me. He is making me, more and more, want to do everything His way, and then actually to carry out His will.
It comes down, as everything does, to GOD.
Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
I periodically wake up at night and anxiously open my eyes to see if I can see.
Until a little more than a year ago, I didn’t worry about my sight, but then I suddenly had a significant problem with my vision and had four eye surgeries. God was so merciful to restore my vision. (See Practical Exam for the beginning of this trial)
And He was so gracious throughout the journey, answering my prayers for direction, teaching me about Himself, and helping me trust Him.
I worry now because I forget
So why in the world would I worry now?
I forget what God has done.
I know I must consciously refresh my memory.
Remembering cures scared.
Here is what is true:
- God is sovereign; He is in control of my eyesight (and everything else).
- God loves me.
- God has a loving purpose for what happens to me.
- God is trustworthy.
- God is with me and for me (whether or not I have my sight).
- God will accomplish His purpose for my life (whether or not I have my sight).
- God uses my circumstances to make me into the image of His Son.
Remember
Throughout the Bible we are constantly told to remember, because God’s faithfulness in the past confirms He is faithful in the present, and will be faithful in the future.
Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. (Exodus 13:3)
Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? ….Do you not yet understand? (Mark 8:18–19, 21)
The next time I wake up scared, I am determined to:
- Remember who He is
- Remember what I am to Him
- Decide to trust Him
When I’m scared, it is a symptom of forgetting. Remembering cures scared.
When you (men and women) want to look your best, you are apt to wear a specific color. Probably you wear a color others have admired on you, and have said something like: “Blue becomes you,” that is, you look great in blue.
You pay particular attention to that comment if it’s said by a special date, or the one you hope to marry, or your spouse.
What if God said that to you? What if God said: “Blue becomes you”? Suddenly, your entire wardrobe is blue!
Well, He has said something close: “Praise is becoming to the upright.” (Psalm 33:1).
Praise is proper, suitable, and fitting.
Praise is comely, beautiful, and seemly.
Praise Becomes You
When we, His children, praise Him, it is becoming. We look great when we praise Him.
GOD says we look great to Him when we praise Him!
If we want to look our best, let’s do what becomes us: let’s praise God!
NFL Stadiums now compete to be the loudest, which handicaps the opposing team’s offense. The current record holder is Kansas City.
“Kansas City Chiefs fans’ broke Seattle Seahawks’ fans’ record of having the loudest outdoor stadium by creating 142.2 decibels worth of noise at Arrowhead Stadium Monday night [September 29, 2014].
‘The Chiefs tweeted a celebratory infographic declaring Arrowhead the loudest stadium in the world.”
Claim to fame! Wowzer.
Shout Louder!
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to show their god would answer their call. When their god hadn’t responded, Elijah told them to call out with a loud voice (1 Kings 18:27). Shout louder! But “no one answered, and no one paid attention.” (1 Kings 18:29).
The prophets of Baal were loudest, but only Elijah’s prayer was answered (by the LORD).
Gentle Whisper
Elijah soon after sought the Lord, who answered, not in a great and strong wind, not in an earthquake, not in a fire, but in a gentle blowing, a gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:12)
Pilate’s Noise Problem
When Jesus was brought before Pilate, Pilate actually tried to release him. Three times Pilate said Jesus was not guilty. Pilate sent Jesus to Herod. Pilate tried to release him according to custom at the feast.
But the crowd “kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” (Luke 23:21)
They were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. (Luke 23:23)
The crowd kept on. Their repetition, their unrelenting loud insistence, overwhelmed Pilate.
Our Noise Problem
The world is LOUD!
The world demands our attention. Louder and LOUDER. Unrelenting. More insistent.
The world’s noise often threatens to distract us from our purpose. We probably cannot control the noise, but we can control whether and how we listen to the world. We can deliberate seek to hear the Lord, knowing He might speak to us in a gentle whisper.
Pilate initially resisted the loud voices. But over time, with their insistent repetition, the loud voices began to prevail.
Is there any counterpoint in your life? In mine?
You and I have distractions. We have demands on our time, resources, and energy. Some of these are healthy and we need to pay attention. Others divert us from our purpose and can take us down some dark paths.
Over time, if we don’t take steps, unhealthy demands begin to prevail.
Remember, sometimes God is only heard in the gentle whisper. (1 Kings 19:12)
Don’t let LOUD drown out the Lord.
What to do:
Be alert to whether the noise leads you towards—or away—from God.
If the noise threatens to take you from the Lord:
Don’t listen.
Get away.
Find some quiet space, some quiet time, to get yourself settled down.
Change your friends, or your routine, or maybe even your job.
Deliberately (often requiring great effort) turn your attention elsewhere.
Intentionally seek to hear God.
Don’t let LOUD drown out the Lord.
Many years ago, my mom told me about a visitor from Romania. When the visitor went to the grocery store and saw the huge array of fresh fruit and vegetables, she burst into tears.
Fresh fruit and vegetables were in short supply in her country. Seeing such abundance was overwhelming.
When was the last time?
When was the last time you were awed at the choices available to you in the grocery store? When was the last time you deliberately gave God thanks?
We have so much, and we tend to expect those riches. “Plenty” has become “normal.” However, abundance is a gift, not an entitlement.
Be intentionally grateful
Take a moment and look around wherever you are. Give God thanks for your situation, and what is available to you. Be intentionally grateful.
In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for [your name] in Christ Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 5:18. See also, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 3:16-17, Hebrews 13:15)
The challenge
I am sitting in a beautiful spot, looking out at the water, hoping to see a dolphin. The refrigerator/freezer is running and has quality food inside. The house is dry, my computer is behaving, the TV works… and on and on.
Am I going to grumble because I don’t see dolphins? Or am I going to stop what I’m doing and give thanks to God for His many blessings?
How about you? What are you grateful for right this minute? What should you be grateful for?
The challenge to myself, and to you: Be intentionally grateful.
Since we were very young, we were told: “Look both ways!” That’s a basic safety drill to assure we can safely cross streets.
But it’s often fatal from a spiritual perspective.
If we look to God and we look to ourselves, if then we act on our own, we can easily get run over.
Don’t Look Both Ways
Think about the disaster stemming from ten of the twelve Israeli spies looking both ways.
Twelve were sent to spy out the Promised Land. They came back with a single cluster of grapes carried on a pole between two men. (Numbers 13:23) They agreed the land flowed with milk and honey. (Numbers 13:27)
Those are facts.
Ten of the twelve also said:
the people who live in the land are strong,
and the cities are fortified and very large;
and moreover, we saw the descendants of Anak there. (Numbers 13:28)
and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:33)
EEK!
Ten of the spies concluded:
“We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us.” (Numbers 13:31)
And they criticized the Lord:
Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? (Numbers 14:3)
So they said to one another, “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.” (Numbers 14:4)
Those ten saw the land through their own fears rather than through the Lord’s promises.
Two of the twelve, Caleb and Joshua, on the other hand, relied on the Lord’s promises:
“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”” (Numbers 13:30)
and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us—a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:7–9)
The Lord had His say as well:
“The Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst?” (Numbers 14:11)
Only Caleb and Joshua and those under 20 entered the Promised Land—40 years later.
Do you look both ways?
Suppose you are in a scary situation. You know what the Lord has said, what He has promised, what He wants you to do. But you also look at it with your own understanding and experience.
Who do you believe? Yourself? The Lord?
Do you choose to act on your own interpretation? Or do you choose to trust in the Lord’s promises?
It’s not easy. We must be determined to look to Him instead of ourselves. We must set our hearts and minds on trusting Him. With practice, we get better at this.
If we look both ways, if we act on our own interpretation, if we head off without the Lord, disaster awaits.
We have been warned. But the Lord has also equipped us to handle it (for example, 2 Peter 1:3).
When you’re sick, sometimes your physician treats the symptoms, and sometimes he or she diagnoses and treats the underlying condition.
For most viral illnesses, for example, the appropriate action is to reduce the signs and symptoms of the illness, for example, addressing fever or muscle pain, since current medicine doesn’t treat the underlying problem.
Sometimes, though, treating only the symptoms and not the underlying illness results in masking the real problem, leading to greater health problems, or even death.
The Spiritual Counterpart
We sin because we are Sinners. Our sins (lower case “s”) are symptoms of a fatal disease: Sin (upper case “S”), our rebellion against God.
It is unfortunately possible to feel good about improving your behavior without addressing the fatal, underlying, condition of Sin.
In our own strength we can “improve,” becoming more moral, appearing more Christian, but not actually becoming a Christ-follower.
The Moral Non-Believer
There are many people in the pews who are not saved, but appear to be upstanding Christians. They have worked on their sins, but have not turned to Christ to deal with their Sin, their underlying rebellion against God. They are whitewashed tombs.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:27)
Because they consider themselves moral, they’re apt to believe they don’t need the Lord. They are terminally ill, but don’t know it. (See Matthew 12:43-45 and 2 Peter 2:20-22)
And Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repent. (Luke 5:32)
Symptom or Fatal Disease?
Be sensitive to “sins” and “Sin” when you talk with others. Is the person a believer who wants to live more according to the Spirit? Or is the person not saved, but wants to reform his or her behavior?
If they are Christian, the Holy Spirit has been working in them to convict them. You may want to concur with their concern, deepen their determination to flee from their pattern of sin, exhort them to live in the Spirit, and forsake the flesh. You may want to give them resources to help.
If they are not Christian, their pattern of sin is a symptom of a fatal disease: rebellion against Almighty God. You need to agree they have a problem, but, instead of helping them solve the specific issue, try to turn them to God. Lead them to Christ. (See Becoming a Child of God.)
If you deal just with their concern about a specific pattern of sin (sin, lower case “s”), you’re working with them on the symptom, but not dealing with the disease (Sin, upper case “S”) that will result in eternal death. The danger is that if you allow them to focus on the specific sin, and not the underlying disease, you’ll leave them worse off.
Help them see they have a fatal disease. Show them the Lord.
Are you going through a hard time? The more difficult your circumstances, the longer your situation seems to last.
It’s Not Forever, Just Until
But, for the child of God, whatever you are going through is not forever. It is just “until.”
Your situation might be temporary until the Lord is finished working on you or others through your circumstances, or until He readies you and the world around you so you can move on.
Your situation might be permanent in this world, but it will last only until the Lord takes you home.
Whether you are in a temporary or a permanent spot, there is an end.
Examples of “Until” Times
Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:30)
And the child continued to grow and to become strong in spirit, and he lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel. (Luke 1:80)
Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)
The Lord Uses Your “Until” Times
“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
Your temporary situation will be used by God for good, making you more like Christ and bringing glory to God. Determine to trust Him. Determine to tell others of His faithfulness.
A situation that is permanent in this world, for example, disability or terminal illness for yourself or a loved one, will be used by God for good, making you more like Christ and bringing glory to God. Determine to trust Him. Determine to tell others of His faithfulness. (Yes, I know I repeated myself!)
Recognize your situation is not forever, just until. As a child of God, you have hope, knowing He is your loving sovereign and keeps you in His sight. And you know glory awaits when He takes you home to be with Him.
Living in the “Until” Times
Until the Lord acts, be faithful.
Keep your eyes on Him.
Know it is not forever, just until.
Know Almighty God is with you and for you.
Know that your situation gives you opportunities to tell others of His glory.
Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)
Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. (Revelation 2:25)
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When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready?
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? helps Christians not fear bad news, shows them how to handle current trouble, and helps them emerge stronger on the other side.
About me
I'm a Christian, wife, retiree, and author.
I love studying and putting knowledge into action. I'll share what I'm learning, encourage you, and urge all of us to press on to become more like Christ.
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