Hearts at Rest

¹⁹This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ²⁰whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. I John 3:19-20

You know the feeling of going out for a walk and getting a rock in your shoe. With each step you feel the pain. For a while you think that you can ignore the rock and keep on walking. But the longer you walk, the more the little stone cuts into your foot, and the more it hurts. Then you finally realize that the whole walk is spoiled unless you deal with the rock in your shoe. And you stop, take off your shoe, and remove the stone. Ah, that feels better!

Moral theologians of the Middle Ages wrote of certain people who were excessively anxious or uneasy about the pricking of their conscience. They were the people who would make confession time and again for the same sin. They kept feeling guilty about something they had already confessed. This hindered their whole Christian walk because they were always feeling guilty about something.  The moral theologians called such people, scrupulous. This was a word that came from the Latin scrupus (“sharp stone”), a diminutive form which was scrupulous (“small sharp stone”). They were people who limped through life with a sharp stone in the shoe. And it hurt terribly. There was no joy.

I guess the reason I am writing about this is because I grew up feeling guilty. I seemed to think that a good Christian was one who was always feeling guilty about something. I could even feel guilty about not feeling guilty. Looking back on it now I realize that it was like walking with a sharp stone in my shoe. It always hurt and I walked with a limp.

Then I came across this magnificent text in I John that daily sets my heart at rest—whenever I begin to condemn myself I remind myself that God is “greater than our hearts” and he doesn’t condemn the believer.  In fact, God went to the extravagant lengths of sending his own Son to the cross to deal with our guilt once and for all.

I love the way The Message translates these verses from I John. Ponder them:

“It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it.  For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.” 

Once you’ve taken your sin to the Father and confessed it, then drop it. Don’t let the debilitating self-criticism shut you down any longer. Get the sharp stone out of your shoe and go on. Enjoy the walk!

Grace and peace,
Tim Smith

 
Tim Smith will be preaching June 21 and 28
At Camelback Bible Church
9:00 a.m. (Contemporary Service)
10:40 a.m. (Historic Service)

Weekly Bible Classes with Tim Smith
Every Wednesday through the summer
At the Franciscan Renewal Center
(Garces Room of Piper Hall)
 
Wednesday Noon – 1:00 P.M.
Songs for Life’s Journey:  The Psalms of Ascent
 
Wednesday Evening 7:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Profiles of Spiritual Maturity:  The Letter of James

Getting Our Bearings

For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

Psalm 48:14

Some years ago I was honored to conduct a graveside service for a friend that concluded with a most touching ceremony. After the benediction and the singing of Amazing Grace a man came forward with two beautifully decorated baskets.  Eagerly we peered into the baskets to see white doves resting noiselessly inside. Then, one by one, members of the family took a dove from the man and released it to the sky. It was a beautiful sight.

“consider the birds of the air”

But by the time everyone had walked away from the grave, I noticed that the doves were circling close overhead, except for two that had landed in a tree. Wondering if perhaps something had gone wrong, I asked the man what was happening.

He explained that the white doves were actually white pigeons, or homing pigeons, to be exact. He said that he could take his pigeons anywhere across the wide Valley of the Sun and they would always find their way back home. Often he would return home and find the birds had beat him back.

But first, he said, the pigeons had “to get their bearings.”   They had never before been there. And before they headed off , they wanted to first tune into their Global Positioning Systems (GPS). They wanted to find out where they were and which way to go.

Jesus told us to “consider the birds of the air,” which I did that day. Those birds got me thinking about how I had been worrying about direction. I had been fretting about which way to go.

And as the birds circled overhead they spoke to me, and they told me that this was a time for getting my bearings. This was a special time of waiting on God and tuning into his Spirit. No, I wasn’t just going around in circles! I was checking my own GPS readings. God would show me the way!

Did you know that the most often uttered prayer in the Bible is for the Lord to guide? Yes, God knows our deep yearning for guidance and to know which way to go.  God has filled his Word with promises to guide us forever, even all the way Home.

Take time to get your bearings. Don’t rush on down the road. Tune into the Spirit. Then soar!

Grace and Peace,
Tim Smith

P. S.  We invite you to check out the brochure on our Fall Tour: Renewing the Call to Christian Citizenship: In the Steps of the Founders. Space is limited. We’d love to have you join us!

WEEKLY CLASSES WITH TIM SMITH:
EVERY WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE SUMMER
AT THE FRANCISCAN RENEWAL CENTER
(GARCES ROOM OF PIPER HALL)
Wednesday Noon – 1:00 P.M.
Songs for Life’s Journey:  The Psalms of Ascent
Wednesday Evening 7:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M.
Profiles of Spiritual Maturity: The Letter of James

Tempered Steel

My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; ⁴and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.  James 1:2-4

I had always thought of my father as the wisest, smartest man in the whole world. He always seemed to have just the right answer for every question I had. But once he told me something I found hard to believe.

It happened when I got my first pocketknife. I was eagerly studying every bit of my new possession when I saw the strange words, “Tempered Steel.” ”What’s that?” I asked my dad.  “What is Tempered Steel?” And that’s when my dad told me something that didn’t make any sense.  He actually told me that they make steel stronger by putting it through fire. That was too much for my boyish mind to take in. I mean, how do you make something stronger by putting it through fire!

Well, I am in the midst of reading the fine book, Washington’s God, by Michael and Jana Novak in which they recount George Washington being put through the fire. They tell of that pivotal year in the Revolution, and pivotal year in Washington’s faith, 1776. After suffering humiliating defeats in New York and crushing retreats through New Jersey, Washington has lost three-fourths of his troops. As 1776 drew to a close his battered army was worn down to a mere four thousand  battered men. And worse, the enlistments of half of those troops were set to expire on December 1.

But the Novaks carefully document Washington’s growing faith and conviction that “Providence tests and tempers the character, seeing how far a person’s ultimate faith will stretch, how much pressure it can withstand.” Then the Novaks conclude that, “it was from such circumstances that Washington found the inner strength to maintain a relatively even keel during the horrible rollercoaster events of 1776.” 

In today’s text, James tells us something that at first doesn’t seem to make much sense. It sounds almost crazy! But when things do go wrong, and problems assail us, we can actually “consider it nothing but joy.” Why? Because God is tempering our faith and making us stronger. 

So hang in there through the hard times. Know that God is up to something good in your life. Don’t lose your temper!

Grace and Peace,

Tim Smith

WEEKLY CLASSES WITH TIM SMITH:

Wednesday Evening 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Profiles of Spiritual Maturity: The Letter of James

EVERY WEDNESDAY THROUGH THE SUMMER

AT THE FRANCISCAN RENEWAL CENTER (GARCES ROOM OF PIPER HALL)

Wednesday Noon – 1:00 pm: Songs for Life’s Journey: The Psalms of Ascent