The gift of a broken heart

Each and every fruitful mission initiative starts with the same thing… a broken heart. 

• Are you familiar with this ? The cycle of your eyes reopening to a new day of burden, of spiritual need around us, a new prayer of how He may use our integrity before Him in that reality today ? Is this the reality you see ?

God’s heart response.

The reality view to comprehend the compounding devastation of human life in a broken world comes from God. Seeing the tragedy resulting from being disconnected from our loving, gracious creator and redeemer prompts His heart and searing passion of mercy, compassion, and redemption to rise up in us as His children. It is a passion only of those who walk with Him, and are born of His Spirit.  The acknowledgement that life is not as it should be, viewing that a person would invest their life unreservedly in this temporary and failing world with its myriads of false gods, awakens in us a sense of heat and urgency as we consider the impending eternal catastrophe as the ever nearing conclusion clears on the horizon.

This is God’s heart (1 Tim 2:3-4) expressed through us.

This is a day of opportunity, to work within the boundaries of His grace. 

However dark the reality, the end has not yet come for so many individuals who make up the billions on hearts currently beating on our planet, and our God specialises in new beginnings. This is a day of such extensive opportunity we are so slow to seize. Whilst our wisdom to live is limited, His is infinite, and so it seems is His grace towards us and so many through the generosity he has extended towards us in Christ. So unfathomably big is the extent of His broken heart for the unreached and those yet to hear of His love, that it is not bound by geography, diversity of culture, or whatever background or history the hurting come from or with. So few realise what a day of opportunity this really is. Whilst we might be quick to see the limitations of who might come to into His family, He is not, and heaven’s grace is uncontainable.

This God teaches us that He gives, and gives, and gives again, also works in us a desire to see others live in the sunshine of His grace, have peace with heaven, and be reconnected with the one who satisfies eternally. This God of all wisdom is ready to lead us in His straight path the moment we acknowledge him in all our ways.

A broken heart has always been the pattern for fruitful living. 

The biblical evidence for a broken heart being God’s way for his people in a broken world is mountainous. When the Lord Jesus looked at Jerusalem (Matthew 19:41-44) the tears encapsulated a city and an extensive history of brokenness. 

When Jesus saw the crowds (Matthew 9:36) his whole being was moved in compassion, and so to it was with individuals (men, women, boys and girls) created in his image, and for those systems of humanity that operated without a broken heart or love and compassion for people or children (Mark 9:35-37,42).  

He rebuked his own disciples (Mark 10:13-16) for their hard and small heartedness because it was the antithesis of all that God is. His broken heart was bigger. The Lord Jesus saw the under trodden of society, the ignored women treated as inferior creatures in a patriarchal society. As the prostitute broke down in worship before him (Luke 7:36-50) she was received openly despite her undignified introduction being driven by her shame, commonly known history, and tears falling on his feet. Grace transcends protocol. The scandal of instigating grace towards the tax collectors, (Mark 2:13-17) the poor and suffering (Luke 16:19-31), drunkards, and sinners… was not water which quenched His compassion under Hebraic pressure, but paraffin to fuel the flames of seeing such included within the inner circle, loved at the epicentre of His resplendent kingdom of transformational grace. The measure and boundary of brokenness Jesus responded to was unlimited, versatile, and adaptable.

What we must ask God to help us with.

Why then, if broken heartedness for the lost, and fire to see the broken hearted, spiritually needy and hurting in a broken world redeemed is so instinctive to our way in Christ, do we often display so little brokenness and apathy?

1. Our desensitisation. 

In our world of brokenness, cruelty, and distress, pervading scenes of suffering are at every turn to give us a daily exposure to things as they should not be. This is “normal” life in every city across the globe, wherever we travel and whoever we see, and we have bought the lie of the enemy that this is “ok”. Western hard-heartedness is even more pronounced. We can watch wall to wall 24/7 news coverage on magnificent 4k/8k UHD / HDR computers, tablets and TV screens from comfy sofas. No pixels of tragedy are missed. We see the famines, disasters, wars, injustice, countless millions under tyranny, countless billions serving false gods and then … flick channels to watch a made up drama, go out to the supermarket, mall, football stadium and remain utterly compartmentalised into our own bubble of self service. In a world of S “I” N, we fail to notice billions of broken lives because our modus operandi / auto reset mode is to live for number one, and serve the spirit of our age in individualism.

Part of the nub of this is to understand that His grace is bigger than us, that there is a community and global dynamic to it, to view the scope of God’s grace as BIGGER. You and i need a radical , daily, dose of this reality from God’s perspective. Submissively opening His word to see His world is so key. Hungering for his perspective however is not without a comfort warning if done unconditionally, it demands a personal comittment in response.  

Nehemiah had this heart (Nehemiah 1:4). He saw that things were not as they should be before GOD. He saw a broken world. He was broken by God as the foundation to fruitfulness for God. We may view “worship” as a few well presented uplifting songs before the enjoyable pep talk sermon (and our hyper polished, only attractive performers allowed, suave, contemporarily groomed, technologically heavy,  materialistically fashionable churches have not helped this view) , but the biblical view of WORSHIP is of our whole being and our whole lives… just as we are …in a world of dysfunction. 

Put another way… in a broken world, unsightly tears and unattractive forfeit of the facade, seems to be the reality our God loves from us and blesses.   

“As soon as I heard these words 

I sat down and wept and mourned for days, 

and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4)  

Notice the immediacy of broken heartedness. It is non negotiable when we walk with God’s priorities. See the deep-rooted nature of it. Yes, feelings aren’t enough on their own, things have to be resolved in prayer and doing something, but that something did depend on a penetrating grief stricken response which is not swiftly wiped away or skirted around.

 

God’s grief is not paralysing, but like Christ in the humility of incarnation, results in frontier servant activity.  Let him be Lord of your life, in control of all of you. May He and His love be your sense of dignity and purpose, your emotions, your whole worldview. Don’t watch the news for entertainment, let the brakes off and watch it with a prayerful heart. Find time, make time, prioritise time, to cry for others and not just yourself. See individuals as creatures of the King and put on your redemption specs as you look at the world, the country, city, rural village, street, road, house, family, child, marriage, the depressed, the suicidal, the confused teenager, the terminally ill, the suffering, the abused … to see His grace though the tears.

 

Whilst we are called to live at peace as we are able with those around us (Romans 12:18) we are not called to spiritual mediocrity or the propagation of dead religion. If you are stuck in a spiritual community which forbids or dampens a broken heart, skirting a sense of gospel urgency and reality…prayerfully consider if your time, energies, emotions, gifts, and worship would be better invested in a community context less comfortable (or neat), but more fruitful.  

Maybe your tears are for those hard hearted who call themselves believers around you in such a context?  However, we must consider at what point we are wasting our stewardship on those who are trampling on grace (Matthew 7:6). We have but one life, and eternity very soon. Our priority tears must be for the lost and unreached. Tears now will soon give way to rejoicing, the biblical pattern of tears surrendered to God is seasonal (Psalm 30:5). When we see the global gathering of the grace bought, then our tears will have been contained (Psalm 56:8) by His Lordship and victory , finalised once and for all time by his own tender relational hand (Revelation 21:4). Let him deal with your tears for broken people and a fallen world according to His priorities and purposes (Romans 8:18-19, 26-27). Fit in with his passions, find people who do, and treasure them as friends and warriors of the kingdom. 

2. Tunnel vision for our own life, church and situation. 

The great tragedy of many of us is that we (the very ones who have received his transformational grace) have become selfishly content with that grace. We’ve known and become so familiar with His radical grace in a world of individualism that we’ve started to  interpret it as appropriate or even deserved. 

Let’s get real, self care and self centricity are very different. 

It is possible that for some of us our hard heartedness comes from a place of self protection, that our broken world is too much to bear. We are not the Messiah, and our capacity for the complete brokenness of our world is something only He can take the weight of in totality. We do need to take self care steps by taking every thought captive to Him and His victory.

However, (and it is a big caveat)… for most of us if we are honest, our hard-heartedness is far more often not due to lack of capacity but lack of intent for our comfort to be disturbed. Many brothers and sisters in Christ, many churches have reached a place of equilibrium, where life is lived in the neatness of a full church, a polished program, a tried pattern and contained (even controlled) community or environment. This is especially so if life for believers has been comfortable in a context but now they are trying to protect a comfort zone which is under attack. In such situations church can be seen as oasis spiritual spa therapy, not boot camp to be recharged for a week/ season of frontier mission. 

Being impenetrably hard towards others who are broken and spiritually in need behind a polite veneer however “churchified” our diction and presentation is still empty of God. Change of attitude, to be unsettled for further inclusion of the messed up, can come to those who know His grace and should come in growing measure, as we explore how wide such grace and love is (Eph 1:18). To not want to see this, to hide our eyes and hearts from His impact on our priorities and comfort, to be impenetrable and immovable, never desiring to be in an uncomfortable place surrounded by gospel need and be deeply in pain, is dead orthodoxy, dead religion, dead church. It knows and shows nothing of personal and relational knowledge of the Christ who came. 

The monochrome and monocultural compassion of Jonah had reached its limit. He thought he had found his happy place in God’s Ghetto. Yet there was no joy and there never will be for those who limit his heart, and assume the synchronistic view that this world is for us, or even a self centric view of His kingdom. 

And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, 

in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

Jonah 4:11

His kingdom is outward bound, comfort sacrificing, and the mobilisation of an army of broken hearted worshippers who want others to worship. He sees all things, all people, all situations and the magnitude of brokenness. 

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, 

he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.  

So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to debate with him. Some of them asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others remarked, “He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 

When Paul was moved to his core in Athens, it was the reality of worthless worship that broke his heart. Observing a person who gives everything to something that will not satisfy prompts us to want to declare the one who will. Not everyone will listen. Not everyone will receive. We will be misunderstood, uncomfortable as our heads poke above the parapet. As we declare the love of the one who made each and every life listening to his invitation, some will come home to him. 

What do we pray for ?

Whoever we look at in History that God has used in mission and lives of grace expressed, it has come from a broken heart for the plight of those who don’t yet know him and the uncontainable privilege that we do. Whether it is Amy Charmichael praying …

"O for a passionate passion for souls ,

O for the love that loves unto death ,

O for the fire that burns !

O for the pure prayer - power that prevails , 

 That pours itself out for the lost !

Victorious prayer in the Conquerors Name , 

O for a PENTECOST ! 

Or my local hero Richard Baxter - 

wanting to redeem the years the locusts had eaten…

"With what love and compassion did he beseech me! and yet I did but make a jest of it. How oft did he convince me! and yet I stifled all these convictions."

In the UK the post covid church is in an interesting season. Some churches have seen accelerated decline which has been subtle as people have been slow to rejoin the army of kingdom industry for Christ. I get calls from those who say their church has become somewhat lethargic, lower in attendance at prayer, less generous in finance and risk / faith averse, somewhat more concerned by what performances look like online than what our hearts look like before God. On the other hand I speak to people whose churches are bulging with hurting people who have come through warm spaces, coffee friendship, children and youth activities. One pastor said “the heart and conviction problems were there before, covid just made it harder to interact with those whose hearts were in a bad place”. I think he was right, the heart of the matter is always the matter of the heart. So let’s address our own first. 

That He would keep our hearts soft to marvel at what He has done for us. That God would keep us in awe and wonder of how amazing the reality of His grace is. It is all of grace. This is the only motivation needed for mission. Compassion and broken heartedness for the lost is our foundation. The attitude of gratitude is what switches on the afterburners to serve his kingdom and not our own.    

David said (1 Chron 17:16) 

Who am I, LORD God, and what is my family, 

that you have brought me this far? 

That God would keep help us be outward bound and not stuck introspectively with grace.

Paul says in Phil 1:8  

"For God is my witness, 

how I yearn for you all 

with the affection of Christ Jesus."

There is some conjecture about the exact grammatical meaning (“ἐν σπλάγχνοις Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ”) of Paul (whether his response of expressed love was from a core realisation of Jesus’ love for you and me, or whether his expression was the kind of love Jesus has for you and me). Either way (and it could be purposefully ambiguous) the prompt is clear (it is from Christ) and the power at work is clear (it is from Christ). This is transparent integrity before God not performance religion.  

Also clear is that such a doctrine is truth for living, and results in outward expression, not just an inner prayer or burden. Whether in Athens before pagan idols or in a fellowship planted through blood, sweat, prison and tears, Paul is looking to the next chapter of grace and seeing people through the eyes of Christ for the glory of Christ. Fatigue is not an option when the Living resurrected Lord is living in us.  

So we do not lose heart. 

 Though our outer self is wasting away, 

our inner self is being renewed day by day.

2 Cor 4:16

Praying for you as I pray for myself: 

Lord help us to press on with grace, loving  your blood bought people, active in seeing the unreached reached. 

Not a casual phrase but considered… 

The Lord bless your heart (as you read).

The Lord bless your tears (as you hear His word and respond to His heart). 

The Lord move you to prayer, with a burden weightier than you can carry, as He helps you to take it to the one who can. 

The Lord bless your going, to make disciples who make disciples. 

The Lord bless your travel to the unreached and persecuted in frontier contexts, where many gods do many people no good.  

The Lord bless your solitary isolation, as you pray for those who go*, and those they go to. May His heart work in us and through us, for His unmatchable glory,

 AMEN

 *(NB If you would like to be more informed on such situations… I have some great friends who would really appreciate your prayer and intercession).

Gospel generosity and the enormous impact of a man shaped by God's own heart.

 I was super challenged and encouraged a few days ago. Partly just because I had some fab quality time with my precious Dad, whose fellowship  and character is more valued to me than ever, but also after a meal we took a walk past a chapel in Station Road, Rossett (nr Chester). 

I remember visiting as a kid, and sitting in the hard wooden pews when accompanying Dad to preach. At the entrance of the chapel on the outside wall is a memorial stone laid at the opening of the gothic style building by the great man D. L. Moody. 

That was a significant journey for him make ...to open up a simple little gospel chapel, but that ...is only a fraction of this amazing tale and those involved. 

Moody visited the area of Rossett (and preached there), because he was sponsored by and friend of an amazing man of God, who lived nearby in Mount Alyn House,  

(left).

 During Moody's exhaustive and rigorous schedule, he needed respite encouragement, and he found it in this man. They became huge friends and Moody took refuge in his nearby home as his safe haven for spiritual and emotional refreshment. The brother (and hero of mine) in question was Alexander Balfour. Having moved from his native Scotland to Liverpool he started a shipping company and life of extraordinary  philanthropy, which profoundly affected our broken world for the gospel and proclamation of the name of Christ.

To this day Balfour is revered in Liverpool who know his legacy and impact on the city. He had such incomprehensibly good impact on society. He famously said... 

"Get the young men of Liverpool imbued with Christian principle and adequately taught and trained, and the Liverpool of the future with be a new Liverpool". 

He started / funded amongst many things; the seaman's orphanage, institute and sailors home in Duke Street, many educational initiatives including Edge Hill university. The Balfour institute building sadly no longer stands, but his legacy is still referenced by one impressive building...  Balfour was the pivotal chairmans of the YMCA and it was his generosity to establish its first proper (purpose built) building which not only richly impacted the city but became a prototype which spread across the world.  The building still stands in Mount Pleasant. Until fairly recently it was still providing a home to over 70 homeless friends at a time. The young men's Christian association (YMCA) maybe known (even derided) today for its association with a camp disco song, but before that was something of real worth which changed lives in a deep way and brought real dignity to people. The building was bought by the Hatter group it is now a travel hostel.  

True social Historians of that city can't ignore Balfour (1824-1886) and his legacy. His statue still stands amongst the greats of the city (Gladstone, Rathbone, Disraeli) outside the back of St George's hall (St John's gardens.) 

However, like many great gospel people of the past (in the UK at least), Balfour is now in danger of being forgotten by newer generations. At least there is a very real danger that he is not remembered accurately. It seems a common current trend to rewrite history on the pretext of an anti christian agenda, forgetting that the foundations of many good things in our society are from Christian and Christ loving ethics. This blog and what follows (maybe other blogs) are a small humble attempt to redress that a little,  and take the challenges of Balfour's life to heart for us to live better today in our context. 

 The great thing is that due to the breadth, purview, and impact Balfour had (which stretches across Liverpool, far into surrounding areas and throughout the globe) no-one can deny either the real history or redeemed heart of this man. That he walked with God who undeniably shaped his character after Christ's own heart, and this is seen in so much concrete evidence and changed lives, changed courses of societies and even nations.

Born into poverty himself into a Godly farming family (1867 Monike, (Forfarshire) his Father was an Elder at church) , Alexander had God's heart for the poor. As he progressed from humble beginnings (apprentice Merchant in Dundee) his heart remained tender to others as His influence, resources and impact grew. Take for example the development of his shipping company Balfour Williamson who were the primary initiators of taking goods to Chile, when others did not see it as economically advantageous to their own purse. Add to this that his personal greater priority was gospel advance. He was motivated not by amassing his own wealth, but driven  to use this new Chilean route of success to initiate the taking of the gospel to an unreached nation. Good things came to poor people in Chile because of Balfour's generosity, but the greater wealth story is that how a nation came to have a Christian history and heritage. Today there is a vibrancy in many growing gospel initiatives in Chile. Humanly speaking this stems from one man and his generosity to take the gospel. 

 This is backed up by numerous other examples, his massive generosity to Liverpool City Mission in infancy, his opening of cocoa bars (and refit pubs) to help dock workers and seamen move away from the pubs and alcoholism and instead take their pay home to their families. Closing a pub to turn it into a place of temperance may not win many friends today but then it did, because people saw how it changed families, reduced crime, diminished violence, rejuvenated a society and a city to become a global, influential hub initiating humanitarian initiatives which spread across the world. His massive impact on education enabled many unskilled poor to have a practical hope and future. At every level this man saw people before profit. For this reason alone even the most cynical in today's world should honour his life and work. 

Principally his life demonstrated God at work in two great traits or applications of God's character which peppered his 61 years... compassion and generosity. Exceptional hard work, discipline, creativity, self control and selfless entrepreneurial drive also featured in abundance of course. These qualities also are a great challenge to us to use our allotted days well. 

He also experienced many sadnesses in a world far less comfortable than ours; 

• the death of his first wife at a young age (he was married 3 times) 
• his daughters husband (a surgeon for East India Company dying and leaving her with 12 children, 
• His only son from his first marriage (Henry) also a merchant also died in 1854, leaving his two sons to carry on the business before they passed away (1863 before Alexander passed on and 1891 respectively). 

Grief in burying loved ones whether wife, children or grandchildren is overwhelming, but to face all of the above and remain tender hearted, is a work of God. Behind the curtain of a cruel world,  Alexander's heart was shaped by grace, goodness and generosity. His heartbeat was the rhythm of God's love for a broken world. His conviction was that behind every puzzling micro providence was the macro goodness of God. 

Growing in the knowledge of God and his gracious dealings with us is a state of true wealth.

We can all be fatigued by life in a broken world, and life on the ocean was the most brutal of environments in those days. Each of us on the epic transit of life's journey can fill our carry cases ( our memories / emotional hard drives) with bitternesses of how things did not work out as we had hoped. This means we can walk with increasing slowness into the future, laden down with weights we need not carry. Consider Mara (which means bitterness) in the book of Ruth (Ruth 1:20). Our perspective on God's dealings with us personally impacts our future ambitions and abilities, it impacts the rest of our lives and our capacity use them fruitfully. Consider the other side of the coin though, and the rest of God's story in Ruth... (God's provision of bread, a kinsman redeemer full of grace and generosity, an amazing daughter in law's faithfulness, her real identity and calling in the people of God as Naomi (meaning pleasant, delightful, lovely), the ultimate road to Christ and engrafting into His eternal family (Matthew 1:5-6) . 

A life in Christ is shaped not by bitterness but the blinding sun of Christ and God's eternally generous love which shapes all of human history. The reality of Christ cheers our face, warms cold hearts, takes our burdens, relieves us of complexities and burdens which are the domain of God alone. His love breaks through all circumstantial clouds and covers both our identities and understandings of our eternal existence, and entire experience. Balfour knew in Christ that the overwhelming perspective on all of his life, was God. 

Balfour's work, and dealings happened in the context of God's work and dealings. God's goodness to him and work on him historically, personally and that saving grace in Jesus Christ outshines everything. Christ's incarnation to take on poverty and come for the humble, to live a humble life, to be unerringly obedient and just on our behalf, to lay aside his honour, die, His resurrection and salvation, it is all undeserved for those who respond in faith. 

Balfour's attitude to others was therefore not on the basis of merit but grace. Christ's sacrifice for frontier generosity to enemies who were guaranteed to reject Him personally is the model for our generosity. Our undeserving recipiency of His generosity in taking all our sin, giving all his perfection in our place, treating us a heirs not enemies, and exchanging our destructive self-centeredness is incomprehensibly good changes everything. He lavishes on us everything we could not obtain ourselves. He offers a new history in place of a trail of our sinful destruction. He gives us His employment closest to His heart, an opportunity to co-work with Him, so way beyond our ability, credibility, or accomplishment. He has power and resources. He gives it to us and trusts us with the building of His empire and kingdom. He has status which he gives to us, and with all this he shares with us His ability, his instruction, his inner life by His Spirit to live in his gospel, with his people and work together on a global, eternally good plan. God is so good. 

God had been so extravagantly generous with Balfour, and so He has with us. 

• Is God's goodness the main thing which impacts and summarises your life and mine? 
• Do our lives show that we have comprehended just a fraction of how extravagantly generous God has been with us in giving us Christ, and his ongoing loving generosity with us moment my moment, millisecond by millisecond, day by day, year after year ?
• How are we applying the generosity of God in our lives with time and money, our attitude to the unreached, seemingly unredeemable, global initiatives of God ?

Big lessons from Big Alex.

1) GENEROSITY IS FOR THE LIVING NOT THE DEAD.

One of Balfour's great repeated statements and principles (here paraphrased) is that it is easy to be generous with what God has given us when we die... (giving away a legacy is easy, we don't need it then). The true test of our gospel generosity is how willing we are are to give away our wealth (from God, for God) when we are alive.

2) WE CAN NEVER "OUTGIVE" GOD. He gives, and gives, and gives again. In truth, he is especially generous with those who use His gifts wisely and invest for His glory in His kingdom purposes. This not a rpsoperrty gospel, but exactly the opposite - the more we give, the more God enables us to give. The mantra outlined by Wesleys 1787 sermon was common to significant Philanthropist believers of that era  ...

"earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can." 

It was a great 3 pointer. Wesley's conviction was that many could do the first two but struggled with the latter. Behind generous believers conviction in that era was a careful personal economy not to unduly spend on ourselves (flesh) but a sacrificial desire to channel things into God's work (the work of The SPIRIT). Investing in the bank of eternity and God's economy rather than feeding our immediate passions for comfort and synchronistic self service leads to an altogether different dynamic in life in dependance on GOD not ourselves, whereby we become more alert to God, His purposes and how He provide for them. How He answers prayer becomes more significant when we become passionate that He does. We also learn in prayer how to steward and what would happen to the money or gifts / where the money will be going if  and when He does give.  A career as a professional kingdom investor should be common to all who know the generosity of God. Saying the church should be missional is like saying a woman should be female. Likewise saying a Christian should be exercised in generosity is like saying those who know God's goodness should know what to do with it. There is a balance in all these things, self care is part of God's stewardship wisdom, but those who are exercised to do more and more for others in love for Christ, suddenly find they have more to give generously with and are more fully used of God in it.

In the next blog, I hope to explore more of today's context and how this applies, and why more than ever these principles need to be thought through. Lord give us your generous heart. 

Bible verses for meditation and ponder:

JAMES 1:7 ff

 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation...

JAMES 1:17

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[d] 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

2 CORINTHIANS 9:8

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency at all times, you may abound in every good work.

 

Where are you living these days?

 I was struck by a friend's question. We'd lost touch a little and last time we spoke was before our house move. They asked, "why on earth would you leave the South Coast (which to them is paradise) to go to West Midlands ?" (which in their minds is a smog filled city complex of factories, where people speak an incomprehensible dialect far too unlike radio 4 or the royal family to accomplish any good). I'm very conscious that our girls have been through 6 major house moves when their friends have stayed in one place. In a society  which somewhat idolises stability and it's connection with good mental health, I'm stuck by how many people (who live in spiritual chaos) have suggested that we should never even consider leaving a place where we feel happy or at peace to go to a place where people are in greater need or things are in a desperate state of dysfunction. For the record... the people of West Mids are the friendliest, most generous hearted neighbours we've ever had and are rich in community. Of main consideration though are greater issues and the bigger perspective - the global calling on our lives, and the voice of the ultimate frontier missionary who we follow. He would teach us a different perspective to many around us. He left the comfort and glory of heaven, and through this we have everything that matters. 

We can evaluate where we live by many criteria; (friendships, work opportunity, peacefulness/ security, asset building, seclusion from poverty and crime, community dynamics, mono or multicultural). For us the simple conviction is deep... that anywhere God is leading us to is a good place to be. 

Anywhere we live on earth is a temporary sojourn (1 Peter 2) before our permanent residence. Anywhere we are given to live now, and any length of days our life is extended now is to be used to honour Him, with our home (borrowed, rented or purchased), with our time, with our energies and health. Although it was a jokey well meaning, really lovely/ pleasant conversation... I'm not sure the friend really "got" why we moved. Their evaluations were based on very different things to ours (how many days sun we had, how near the beach we were, how relaxing our life was (as if these were the only significant priorities and comfort was the only goal worth serving)). Surely our daily question should be... LORD where would you want me to be of best use to you just now ?

Where should we be living ?

Living consciously in the grip of God's grace and good plans means some basic foundations for evaluating where we are. Perspective in our lives is so critical to us using them well. The hour glass has turned on our lives and the sands of time are dropping. Some of us attempt to block out this reality hoping that increasing comfort will slow things down, but however we attempt this and whatever we use for escapism (perfect renovations, listening to stunning music for hours on end, collecting shells on the beach, posting millions of photos of our pets on facebook, sitting on the lounger, binge-watching, exercise/ posting the biggest route on STRAVA), the reality is unchangeable... this life is short. 

1) We are here to give praise, honour and thanks to God, regardless of where He has physically put us and how long we are here for. 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice !!! (Phil 4:4)

Note that Philippians was written in the context of prison and confinement. Many friends attest today that Christ is with them in a special way as they suffer. Relationships are important, but God is able to give us immeasurable joy even fruitful isolation. If He is with us we have much to thank Him for, and everything to live for.

2) Environmental beauty is only a mere reflection of THE ONE (of incomparable beauty) it comes from. We are preparing to be with Him in his immediate presence forever, He is our God and we are His people. This is THE beautiful environment we crave... He is the one of true satisfaction beauty, and we can have more of Him and His intimate presence now. By His grace He dwells with us, lives in us and is more ready to give us more of Himself than we are to receive. Add to this the reality that this temporary world is environmentally nothing compared to what is to come. The old NKJ translation of 1 Cor 2:9-11 is helpfully so clear.

 "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him".

The greatest footage we've seen or viewed of nature in an ULTRA HD David Attenborough documentary (for me even eyeballing first hand such things as penguins in South Africa or the vast beauty of the Himalayas), is nothing compared to what it will be to witness the new heavens and new earth with sinless eyes and clean heart to comprehend the glory of God. We have always lived with the knowledge of sin, and always lived in a broken world groaning with increasing imperfection. You ain't seen nothing yet... even though God's glory is incomprehensibly dumbfounding you and I even through the fallen world and glimpse of His love we do now see.

 3) The reason we remain on earth is not to trample on grace with selfish living for comfort, but to give us opportunity to declare His glory whilst the day of opportunity is still here. Our freedom is not a license for flesh satisfaction, but to live in the liberty of The Spirit to serve. Eternity is coming soon, life is short, eternal destiny is too critical a thing for our neighbours and family to be wrong about. Our primary goal each day therefore should not be driven by desires for comfort, but desires for Christ and confession of Christ. God has given us so many good things... but these are given to serve His purposes not master us and captivate our hearts. Lord help us use what you have given us by your grace for your Glory. 

Lord help us to make the most of our allotted days, fill our gaze with you and your good purposes, our satisfaction with your daily presence, and our ambitions with your glorious gospel. Help me to live in this place by your grace and power, walk with you into the inheritance you have purchased for us.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2    He makes me lie down in green pastures.
 He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3   He restores my soul.
 He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name's sake.