Tag: Lord

On The Shelf

February 25, 2018

imageOn that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. Esther 6:1-3

‘OTS’ – pronounced Oh-zuts as in “Oats”, acronym for ‘On The Shelf’. OTS Syndrome [definition]: a condition whereby one’s life is defined more by observation than by participation; life is put on hold like the cat who by an unseen force somehow mysteriously perched herself  on top of the living room window curtain rod, you are mostly invisible while observing life passing beneath you. (Source – Somebody’s Corny Urban Dictionary).

It is said that there is no tougher place to be then when the Lord puts your life “on the shelf”. What or why would God do that to anyone? Is there is purpose? If so, what is the purpose? In reality, there is purpose in living life mostly from an observation tower. Let’s take a look at some people whose lives were once “on the shelf” who God miraculously transfused with fresh hope and purpose.

A Man Named Mordecai

For some things, especially things concerning spiritual matters, timing is critically important. It definitely was for the Jewish populace living during the time of King Ahasuerus as recorded in the Book of Esther. Most are familiar with this often quoted line in the book: “And who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” The man speaking those words was named Mordecai. And he was speaking to his adopted daughter-cousin Hadassah (Esther):

And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. Esther 2:7  

As the story unfolds, Esther is chosen Queen and takes up residence in the king’s palace. Mordecai faithfully sits at the king’s gate day after day as a palace porter, sitting on the shelf (so to speak). During the course of his duties, he uncovers a plot to assassinate the king. He sends Esther communication about the scheme, then nothing. No recognition, no award, no bonus pay, no promotion was given to him. Mordecai experienced firsthand what it felt like living on the shelf. Life and people moved on. But, he waited. God had a plan for Mordecai and knew exactly when to move him to the next phase.

And the Lord did. The king had a bad night’s sleep and to help pass the time he asked that events recorded in the chronicles concerning his kingdom be read to him. Something catches his attention. It is about a man named Mordecai who usurped a plot to take the king’s life. “Was anything done for him?” Nothing. Mordecai’s life on the shelf had just come to an end.

King Ahasuerus rewarded the good deeds of the man who saved his life and generously made up for lost time:

And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. Esther 10:2-3

God Calls Another Life Off The Shelf

Real kings keep their promises. David made a promise once to King Saul that he would preserve his lineage and not destroy his entire family:

Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house.
And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold. 1 Samuel 24:21-22

King David’s life on the shelf while running from Saul was now a distant memory. Life was good. He was now the “big man on campus”, he even got a name for himself (2 Samuel 8:13). Amazing how success, even for those chosen by the Savior, have a predisposition to forget the One who is behind any and all good that happens in life.

As time so oftentimes proves (substantiated by our fallen nature) promises of good made to a defeated foe faded into the shadows of his memory, maybe power washed by too many wars, women, wealth and weariness. But, the Lord remembered and brought it to his attention many years later:

And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son, which is lame on his feet. 2 Samuel 9:3

Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! 2 Samuel 9:5-6

There are not many accounts of people in the Bible as heartwarming and touching as that of Mephibosheth. Being the lame son of Jonathan, he lived most of his life in obscurity and heartache not knowing that an unfulfilled promise from God rested right above his head. His day finally arrived. God saw it was time for Mephibosheth to come down off the shelf:

And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. 2 Samuel 9:7

From that day onward, Mephiboshet’s life was never the same. He became a new man with newfound hope and purpose in life. God is especially touched by the broken, crippled, lame and bruised – on the outside and on the inside (Ps 86:15, 145:8, Is 53:5, Mat 15:32, Mark 6:34, & Heb 4:15).

The Shelf Life Produces Something Amazing

Some things in life are made better by being motionless, by just doing nothing. The process is called curing. Meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses (and some other mysterious elixirs made from rye, barley and malt) are transformed into exquisite creations by simply left sitting undisturbed on a shelf. Such is the case with the one thing that saves us:

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Romans 8:24-25

Hope is what saves. Not love, not faith, but hope. Hope for what? Hope that God’s word is truth and will come to pass, hope that Jesus Christ is real, alive, is the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings, and that he is coming back again for his people. And if we don’t live to see it, he will raise us from the dead to make the appointment (Romans 8:11, I Corinthians 15:52). That is a hope worth holding on to.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10  

The interesting thing about hope, unlike faith and love, it is not a spiritual fruit or spiritual gift. The Lord does not drop dollops of hope into our lives. Hope does not come easy.

Like precious earthly metals, stones and gems, hope does not occupy shallow ground, its origins reside deep within the soul. Hope is forged by enduring the pressure and heat of God’s handiwork upon our hearts. How and why? To form something rare, beautiful, exquisite, and valuable for His glory (Malachi 3:17). Hope is essentially the byproduct of God’s mercy and grace at work in our lives.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: Romans 5:3-4

We with patience wait for it. Our soul is preserved by the nuclear bond between patience and hope. Jesus had something to say on this subject:

In your patience possess ye your souls. (KJV)
In the sphere of your steadfastness, constancy, and endurance you shall win for yourselves your lives. (Wuest) Luke 21:19

Your soul is acquired, secured, or purchased through patience – sometimes while enduring life while sitting on the shelf.

Is My Shelf Life About To Expire?

Is life looking like a dead end? Do you feel that your “shelf life” is about to expire? Who is to say that there is not yet an unfulfilled promise from the Lord resting over your head? How will we ever find out if we don’t patiently wait for it?

The Lord could be preparing you to come down from your disaster and enter into His destiny. The shelf has prepared you for this moment in time. And when you do come down, you will know for sure that “The Lord, He is God!”.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalms 100:3  

 

Secrets

November 22, 2012

“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” Proverbs 11:13

We live in a world highly sensitized to personal confidentiality and the risks involved in its loss. Information data breaches, identity theft and information system compromise are news headlines we hear about almost daily and even experience ourselves.

The evidence is out that keeping anything “secret” is becoming more and more difficult as our personal lives are being increasingly intertwined with globalized information networks that we all inter-operate with.

However, there are some secrets that must be held in confidence, and if not, result in devastating consequences. National security, intellectual property and personal medical information (to name a few) all fall into the “secret” category. A breach in any of these areas could potentially result in massive loss of life, wealth or dignity.

Thinking on a more spiritual plane, I wonder if God Himself also has some secrets He wishes to keep confidential. Are there some “God secrets” He wishes to share, but cannot because of the presiding spiritual climate?

Could it be that the Lord does not reveal some things to His people because either they will not appreciate them or they cannot be trusted with the information (a Heavenly data breach)?

The Secret Place

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalms 91:1

There is a place in God where secrets are shared, intimate thoughts exchanged and deep revelations of truth and knowledge is transmitted; it is called “the secret place” and getting there will cost something. There will be resistances of flesh, the world and the powers of darkness that will try hinder one from arriving. But, it is worth the trip.

It is not a place for cowards, lairs, backbiters or the insincere; it is a place for the thankful, those with wholeness of heart, a hunger for truth, right intentions and pure motives. The secret place is where God shares His most private thoughts.

The biblical record tells us that many have visited the secret place and they were never the same afterwards; Moses (Exo 34:29), Jacob (Gen 32:24, 30-31), Hannah (I Sam 1:10-12), Ester (Est 4:16), Jonah (Jon 2:1-10), Cornelius (Act 10:1-4), Saul of Tarsus (Act 22:6-11), the Apostle John (Rev 1:10-17), and of course Jesus (Luk 22:41-45).

There are some things that cannot be disclosed to just anyone, things only discussed behind closed doors and in intimate places. Can we be trusted with the secrets of God? Can the Lord speak “things in the dark” to us and trust that they will be protected by heart and mind?

Touching the Holy

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;” I John 1:1

As the disciples physically touched and “handled” Jesus (the Word of life), we today are touched and do touch God’s Holy spirit, the Holy Ghost. When the Holy Ghost fills the human soul with that infusion of new life (Acts 2:38), we are at that point literally “handling” the Word of life; Jesus Christ himself (Rom 8:11).

How do we act when our hands touch the Holy? Am I handling Jesus the way I should? Do I really appreciate the “secret” that God has revealed to me, the secret that was hidden in the O.T. (Gen 49:10, Psa 110:1), the secret the prophets could not yet perceive (Isa 28:11-12, Joel 2:28-29) and the angels themselves could only wonder about (I Peter 1:12) ?

The Good Part

We read in the N.T. a very personal narrative and discourse between Jesus and two of his favorite companions outside of his circle of disciples, Mary and Martha. There is hardly anything like it in the gospels. Here we see Jesus in conversation who delves down to the bare metal to unravel and defuse conflicting emotions between two sisters:

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.” Luke 10:38-40

As Mary clearly understood, some things can only be found close to Jesus, by sitting right at his feet. This is the place where his secrets are heard, felt and understood.

“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42

The “Good part” is a “God part“, it is a place where secrets are whispered, secrets that make the mind spin and the heart burn. It is a place where life takes on new meaning, one’s God-walk is energized and faith is rekindled. This is what the “good part” did for Mary, it will do the same for you and me.

As with Mary, we all need to strive to find the secret place in God, to desire the “good part”.

Could it be that the Lord wishes to give more people “the good part”, but because of a lack of interest his wishes often go unnoticed?

And can Mary be faulted for her desire for deeper truth, and to the chagrin of her sister Martha, neglect fleeting earthly concerns in the process? Apparently, Jesus did not think so. Am I spending more time on earthy pursuits, on mindless time drains and less time “at the feet” of Jesus?

The Lord has some secrets to tell us. Are we listening?

“Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.” Luke 24:45

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lost And Found

September 17, 2012

We have all lost or misplaced things. It is normally the usual stuff such as car or house keys, wallets, purses, and gloves. And let us not forget the inevitable lonely and unmatched sock that seems to surface in almost every other load of laundry!

You know there is something about lost things that also gets God’s attention. As we read the parables about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son (Lk 15:3-24) we see a caring, merciful and detail-oriented God wondering about things lost or out-of-place. Apparently, Jesus is also discomforted and concerned when things are amiss in his kingdom.

In the O.T. King David faced a similar situation. The Amalekites attacked and pilfered the city of Ziklag and abducted all of the women and children:

And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; 1 Sam 30:1

It was a devastating and embarrassing defeat for the king. The enemy directed a blow right at the heart of David and his men; their wives and children. (Are these not the same battle tactics the enemy uses today as he mercilessly takes aim at the sovereignty and cohesion of the family?)

The defeat was so demoralizing to the soldiers that they wanted to stone him (1 Sam 30:6).

Sometimes it takes losing something ‘dear‘ that we might find something ‘divine‘.

It did for King David. After discovering that his two wives were abducted we are certain that his imagination (as well as the imaginations of other men) must have tried to process some of the possible horrors that their families and the other women and children were now experiencing.

The king lost something dear that day, but he also found something divine. What did he find? He found his prayer life, his lifeline to glory. And he desperately needed to find it real fast:

And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. 1 Sam 30:7-8

The spirit of the Lord beckons us to rediscover and reclaim what we have lost in the heated battles of life. The Lord knows all about the ‘lost and found’ departments of our life.

Because, the Bible records in 1 Samuel 30:19 that:

… David and his men recovered all.

Everything. All the wives, sons and daughters were rescued.

The Lord is a perfectionist and does not take pleasure when His creation lives out of kilter to His perfect plan. Like the lost sheep (shepherd), the lost coin (woman) and the lost son (father) in the parables, Jesus will do all within his power to restore things that are lost. Someone once wrote: “You have never looked into the eyes of anyone who does not matter to God.” Jesus cares for lost souls.

What else is it that we could possibly have lost?

Let us revisit prayer one more time. Am I really praying until I am positive that those prayers are airtight and bottled in heaven (Rev 5:8)? Airtight from leaks due to: fear, doubt, sin, unbelief, insincerity or self-centeredness? Is my prayer life consistent and meaningful to both me and the Lord?

If I have lost my prayer life then I need to find it and get it back.

Or how about faithfulness? How faithful am I to the Lord? Do I give 100%, 95% or 80%? Do you know that if one is 99.91% faithful to one’s spouse that in one year (8760 hours) eight of those hours is spent being unfaithful? How would that make you feel tonight when you look over at your spouse lying next to you knowing that he or she is only faithful 99.91% of the time? Is eight hours of unfaithfulness acceptable to you? Or how about four hours of unfaithfulness (99.95% faithful)?

How do you think Jesus feels about his bride, the church he is coming back for (Rev 21:2, 22:16-17), that is maybe not faithful 100% of the time? It is something to think about.

If I have lost my faithfulness then I need to find it and get it back.

And then there is the study and meditation of the Word of God. Have I been spending quality time in the Word? Am I putting aside time to allow the Word to speak to my spirit and allow its light to shine and direct my path (Ps 119:105)?

If I have lost my daily devotions and quality time reserved to study God’s Word then I need to find it and get it back.

And then there is holiness; indeed a very ‘touchy’ subject these days. No apologizes, but without it one cannot even see the Lord (Heb 12:14). How well have I been keeping my inner person sanctified and crucified to corruptible things?

If I have lost holiness then I need to find it and get it back.

Do you feel like you have lost something? Is there something missing in life? Perhaps it is the Lord speaking to our spirit telling us that we have lost some precious things and need to go and find them.

Heaven’s ‘lost and found’ department is open 24 hours a day.

Oh, I think I just heard my number being called!