One Single Day

05/13/2006

God is just touching my heart with the thought…“One Single Day.” I’m not sure how this will go, or what He will have me share, but I’m here writing, so we shall see…

“A single day in your courts is better
than a thousand anywhere else!”
Psalm 84:10a (NLT)

Just recently, Jim and I were given the “opportunity” to take on a task that was one we would have rather avoided. The task, in itself, is not important here, but what is important are the lessons we learned in the process. When asked to do it, we had an attitude problem. We were not only hesitant, we were scouring our minds for any reason that it would not be possible to be available to serve God in this way--instead of what we should have been doing, which would have been scouring our minds for God’s will to be done. In the end, we could find no good reason to say “No,” other than, “We just don’t want to,” so we said, “Yes.”

Now, in talking this over with my sister today, she asked me a good question. She said, “How do you know when you are asked to do something, if it is something you should do?” What she meant was, how do we know if God is asking us to do it, and we just don’t want to, or if we are being asked to do it merely on a human level, and God is actually telling us that it is not of Him--that this “task” is not something He is asking us to do out of obedience to Him, but just something that someone is asking us to do because it needs to be done… I hope that makes sense.

There are many things that need to be done each day, many acts of service that present themselves to each one of us, and if we were to do them all, we would exhaust ourselves. That is not what God is asking us to do. He is not asking us to be “Yes” people, but obedient people. To give Him our hearts, and to listen to His voice, even when our own is screaming, “No, I don’t want to!”

That’s what it came down to for Jim and me. And I prayed, “God, give me a good heart about this.” It seemed that as much as I hated, with a passion, the assignment given, I just knew I had no right to say no to the request. Oswald Chambers writes, “The knowledge that God has loved me to the uttermost will send me forth into the world to love in the same way. God’s love to me is inexhaustible, and I must love others from the bedrock of God’s love to me. “ (My Utmost For His Highest May 11th…)

And so, off we went…

I would give more details about this assignment, but that would only reveal the private plight of another, and that is not what this is all about. This is about God stretching and growing us when we make ourselves available to His call. It is about standing beside another person, and seeing their struggles through their eyes, and having God expand our hearts to the point where we can get past the judgmental thoughts, past the advice we might like to give, and past the, “I’d never have allowed myself to end up in this situation in the first place,” type of recommendations. It’s giving some time to the thought, “What would it be like to be in their shoes for one single day?”

After this assignment was finished, and we went home for the night, I thought about the situation we had just witnessed, and I thought about the person we had helped, and I thought of how it would be to actually spend one single day in their shoes…and it opened my eyes just a bit wider as to how difficult it is to understand just how difficult another person’s life might be.

Now, I can’t know all the ins and outs, and the ups and downs that have gone on through the years. I can’t know all the wrong or right decisions made, the wrong or right decisions still being made, the lies that might be told, the dead end they might be headed down, but I can comfort their heart, if I will take the time to listen and really hear what is being said. Once again, Oswald Chambers writes--God’s word says, “Love as I have loved you.” Chambers goes on to say of God, “I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit My love to them as I have exhibited it to you.”

Will there be times when we are being used? Yes.
Times when we are enabling another? Yes.
Is that our main concern? It shouldn’t be.
Our main concern must be, “What would God have me do?”
And then do it! And leave the rest up to God to work out!

In a different scenario, my friend and I saw a woman standing on the street corner today, asking for money. She was homeless, and she stands in this same spot day after day. It has been said that some of these people make a pretty good income from doing this. Because of that, many of us will not stop to help them. I have to admit; I rarely, if ever, give to those standing on the street holding up a sign. Not because I think I’d be taken advantage of--there are ways around that if that is our excuse--I’ve heard of people giving gift cards for food instead of money. That seems like a good idea, to keep them from buying the drugs we are so afraid they might be buying! Or the alcohol…but really, the bottom line is, if we reach out to help these people out of the goodness of our heart, out of a heart that is Christ-like, it is not our concern what they do after that. Our concern is to be obedient to our Lord if He asks for our help. Then the rest is up to God. It is between that person and God what they do with His gift to them through us.

We might also give some thought to what it might be like to spend one single day in their shoes. What if we stood out in the hot sun, on a street corner for one day, would we see the world differently after that? I would have to suspect so. Think of the looks we would get, the jeers, the self-respect we might lose, but also think of the willing, giving hearts we would see…those who actually took the time to talk with us and help us? Maybe the willing hearts would change us more than anything else? Maybe we would see the goodness of people and long to be a better person, a more giving person? When love is received, we are then more able to give it away…

It’s like a friend shared with me just recently, “Kindness brings peace.” But, are we getting the cart before the horse? How do we truly show kindness without peace in our hearts? I have heard it said that, “Hurting people hurt people.” So, if we have God’s peace in our hearts, wouldn’t that create an attitude of kindness in our hearts? Wouldn’t it be automatic? Would there be any reason to lash out at anyone if there was no furor inside of us? If God’s peace filled every part of our heart, there would be no spark of anger to ignite the fire of meanness.

There is no true peace that is not God given. Oh, we can be happy because of certain circumstances, but to have peace we must be able to rest in something beyond what we can see. We must have faith in what is beyond this world, and be absolutely convinced in the truth of it and the hope it contains. To be truly at peace, we must know we are loved with an unconditional love, and completely forgiven--having our sins removed from us as far as the east is from the west. “He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12 NLT) When the Holy Spirit fills our hearts, we will find a new kind of fruit growing from within…

“…when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce
this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.”
Galatians 6:22-23 (NLT)

Do you think there is a reason for the order here? I’m sure a million sermons have been preached on this passage, and I’m no expert on it, but I like the order the fruit is put in. Love comes first. When we are shown unconditional love, doesn’t that produce a joy in us that is awesome? When that love and joy are combined, don’t we find God’s peace? And with that love and joy and peace, don’t we automatically have more patience for what we come up against on any given day? And when others see that love and joy and peace and patience exhibited in our lives, doesn’t it appear as kindness and goodness towards others? And in the end, wouldn’t faithfulness be the result in us, not only towards God but towards all those we come into contact with? And in that, a gentle spirit with self-control would be our nature, or as the passage began with, the nature of the Holy Spirit producing it in us. It is not of our own doing, in our own strength, but by the power of God’s Spirit that we see this kind of fruit in a human life.

And that’s what every single day would look like, if we truly allowed the Holy Spirit to control our lives. ”A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!”
Psalm 84:10a (NLT) A single day, spent in the presence of God, is better then a thousand days spent doing our own thing, having our own way, and going our own direction. Oh, for a time, we might argue this point, but “walk a mile” in obedience towards God, and you will never be the same again! It will change your heart, because God has been invited in, and His blessings are amazing!

We get a touch of what that is like when we say, “Yes” when we’d rather say, “No.” Once again, don’t get me wrong. We need to be obedient here, not just “Yes” people. “Yes” people get worn out fast!” There’s too much to do, and too few people to do it, so we have to be prayerful about our decisions. God has specific things He asks each of us to do, and just because your neighbor is making a meal for a hurting family, that may not be what God is asking you to do. Just because your mom is making coffee on Sunday morning, or working in the nursery, that may not be what God is asking you to do. He has an assignment for you, but it’s not what someone else is doing, it’s what you should be doing!

For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:30 (NLT)

How did Jim and I know we were to be doing what we were doing? Because the yoke fit perfectly, and the burden was light, even though if you had asked us before we got there about the task at hand, we would have said we hated it! We would have said it was not for us…but it was, and we knew it when we were there, and we knew it when we left there--and we were stretched and grown in ways we never expected to be because it was God’s call on our lives, and He had a plan for it. And even though the person being helped felt that they were the one being blessed by God, in God’s way of doing things, we were even more blessed. God is amazingly wonderful in that way! “His commands are difficult, but immediately (when) we obey, they become divinely easy.” (O. Chambers)

And as I stood talking with the person we were sent to see, I could not imagine being in their shoes. I could not imagine what the physical pain must be like. I could not imagine the desperate situation they were facing. I could not fully understand what had gotten them there, and I had no idea where it was leading them to, but in all of it, God had us find a common ground, because that is why God sends us on assignments like these. He knows what we don’t know and what we can’t imagine…that the people He brings together are going to not only connect, but they are going to grow closer to God because of where they find themselves on this day. Even though we sometimes cannot imagine what one single day would be like in each other’s shoes, we can agree that God is needed to sustain each life, and as God is shared, Hope can be given.

As this person explained to me, “Without God, they would walk out into the ocean and drown themselves,” I could relate. There is no gray area for me in losing a child. It’s either God and Hope and Eternity, or just tell me where the ocean is…this person understood that. We connected on that point of desperation for God in our lives.

Jim and I had not spent one single day in this person’s shoes, but neither had they spent one single day in ours…would we have traded? I sincerely doubt it. Upon mentioning the loss of our child, with everything else that was going on in their lives, that was one thing they could not imagine having to deal with. The thought of losing their child seemed to be the one thing they could not bear…and yet, what we witnessed in their life seemed devastating, and out of control, and in need of not just one miracle, but many! What could we do? What could they do? There was only one thing to do besides the tasks at hand, and that was to pray!! And so we did!

It says in Hebrews 2:18, “Since he himself has gone through suffering and temptation, he is able to help us when we are being tempted.” (NLT) Can you relate to this? Can you think of things you have suffered and been tempted by that better helps you relate to someone else who is suffering and being tempted? Doesn’t it help to have “been there”? Otherwise, we might be too quick to say, “I’d never…” or, “They just need to…” Jesus understands our suffering, and He loves us through it. He does not judge us in our weakness, but fills us with His strength.

How insightful of God to give us a High Priest, Jesus Christ our Lord, who walked this earth in a fleshly body. A Lord who got thirsty and hungry, who felt persecuted and abandoned. One who was deserted and filled with grief. There’s no way He’s up in Heaven, sitting at the Father’s right hand saying, “These people just need to get a grip! They need to shape up!” No! He’s there pleading our case before the Father, as our Lawyer. “For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Advocate.” (Hebrews 9:24 NLT)

Jesus knows! He understands! And He died to set us free! He’s walked a mile in our shoes, and He knows how hard it is! He’s about the only one who could say, “I know what one single day in your shoes feels like.”

When I think of our son, suffering and dying, I could get so angry. How could God do that? And to a child? To our child? But when I remember what Jesus went through, I know it is so much worse than what Phil had to face. Phil was not spit upon, beaten, persecuted, deserted, crucified, etc…he was loved, and cared for and given as much comfort as possible right up to the end of his life. Jesus knows pain and suffering and hardship and desertion and heartbreak and you name it…better than anyone of us. When He died on the cross, He took on every sin ever committed since the beginning of time and to the end of time. He bore it all for us. He has walked in our shoes, and He paid the price for us. He understands, and now all He is asking of us is for a little understanding towards each other when He calls on us. Is that too much to ask?

In Hebrews 3:10, it says, “…Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.”

Oh, how we wanted to, Jim and I. We wanted to avoid this assignment, to go home and have a relaxing evening, and do what we wanted to do…but God had other plans, and in the end, we were very glad that we had even been asked--that God thought us worthy of such an assignment. It was humbling.

We may never know what one single day in another person’s shoes would be like, but we can know what one single day walking in the direction God calls us to is like--the yoke fits perfectly and the burden is light!

Better is one day in His courts!
Diane