Steven Fry

Change vs Transition

admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:49:16 +0000

We all know that change is one thing – transition is yet another, because it is during times of transition that we better understand the changes that have already taken place. And sometimes transitions can be challenging. Which is why it is so important to anchor transitions to some important scriptural moorings.
Not too long ago I spent time meditating on some of the leaders in scripture, and how they responded during their times of transition. Specifically, I reflected on their first requests to God after they were initially consecrated into their new roles of leadership.
The first leader I thought of was Moses. What was his first request after he was commissioned to deliver the Israelites? One of Moses’ first prayer requests is found in Exodus 6:12: "The Israelites have not listened to me, so why should Pharaoh take any notice of a poor speaker like me?" The background is that not only had Pharaoh denied Moses' request to release the Israelites, but he then forced them to make their bricks without straw, greatly adding to their labor. This had infuriated the Israelites and they rejected Moses.
So Moses comes to the Lord and basically says, "Why would you use me, an unskilled man?" Not a very significant first prayer from a man destined to be the great Lawgiver. And yet, we see in this prayer a man very much in touch with his weaknesses. Very much in touch with who he was. One day, Moses would be known for the ages as a man of humility. Little wonder that we hear the theme of humility resonated in this prayer. This was not the prayer of unbelief. It was not the prayer of doubt. It was the prayer of a man in touch with who he was. And that is the measure of humility: it is being known precisely for who we are.
Transition Prayer One: Keep us rooted in humility. Keep us in touch with our weaknesses as well as our strengths – to know who we are and who we are not.
The second leader I considered was David. His request to the Lord is somewhat veiled. And again, it is not the kind of prayer for power or wisdom that we would expect a leader to pray. After David is consecrated as the King of Israel, his first request of God is recorded in 2 Samuel 2:5,6. David's friend Jonathan had just been killed in battle along with his father, Saul. Messengers came to a grieving David, and told him that the people of Jabesh in Gilead had given Saul, David's enemy, a proper burial. To which David responded, "May you be blessed by Yahweh for showing this faithful love to Saul." In other words, David, taking stock of what these had done to his enemy responded in the spirit of reconciliation.
He could have taken their response as an indication of their allegiance to Saul, and their subsequent reluctance to come under his own authority. He could have taken it as disloyalty. Instead he chose to bless those who blessed his enemy. It was as if David prayed, "Lord, would you bless those who showed kindness to my enemy?"
Transition Prayer Two: Lord, Help us be people of reconciliation.
And then I looked at Joshua. After he received the baton of leadership from Moses, we have to read quite a ways into the book of Joshua to find his first personal request of the Lord. It came on the eve of battle at Jericho.
The Israelites had crossed the Jordan miraculously, and now were facing Jericho. The image we have of Joshua on the eve of battle is a poignant one – Joshua taking a long walk. Reflecting, wondering, thinking about how they would take the land.
Suddenly he sees a man in front of him grasping an unsheathed sword. Joshua is apprehensive, but intrigued, and walks toward him. "Are you on our side" he asks, "or on our enemies' side?" To which the man replied, "On neither side. I have come now as the Captain of the army of Yahweh."
All at once, Joshua knew he was in the presence of deity and he fell down and worshiped Him, "What has my Lord to say to his servant?" One instantly sees two things here: Joshua's initial response of worship and his subsequent appetite for obedience. In a sense, what Joshua is saying when he says "Who are you?" is “I want to know who you are.” And this is the heart of worship. It is coming to the Lord and asking, “Who are you – I want to know who you are!” And when the worshiping heart encounters the Lord, the immediate response is "In what will you have me obey?"
Transition Prayer Three: "Lord make us people of worship, knowing that people of true worship seek not only to encounter you, but obey you." Worship is only genuine if it renders the heart obedient.
These prayers are certainly good ones to pray when in times of transition and new assignments – but actually, they’re good prayers to pray every day of our lives. We will all face changes this year. And in these days of increasing uncertainty, may these ancient leaders show us road maps of prayer that will guide us into that peace which the world cannot take away.

Facing the Presence of the Lord

admin — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:42:04 +0000

Any of us who have ever faced the presence of the Lord would have a keen appetite for friendship with Him.

Moses had a passion to know God. He knew that his innermost longings would only be satisfied in an abiding friendship with the Lord. Nowhere was that longing more eloquently expressed when Moses, alone on Mt. Sinai cried out, “O Lord show me Your Glory!”

What brought Moses to this place of this spiritual hunger? What was it that launched him on this journey to the glory of God? To discover that we must go back a bit.

For forty days, Moses had been alone with God, excitedly watching as God laid out a blueprint of which a whole nation could enjoy divine blessing. These were not the dry dictations of a distant god who wanted his creatures to obey his every whim, or the passionless mandates of a judge communicating laws. Here was a loving Father, designing a spiritual environment in which His children could thrive and be happy. And during this tender time, the Israelites were far away at the foot of Sinai, building their golden calf. We are stunned by people who have seen God’s hand of deliverance and were afraid of His presence on Sinai – yet so quickly forgot all this, pooled their golden earrings to make an idol and declared that idol responsible for bringing them out of Egypt.

The shock to the heart of God must be something like what parents feel when a child adult of obstinate fury, or what we feel when we are betrayed by a trusted friend of whom we’ve confided our most intimate feelings. Brokenhearted, God said to Moses, “Go down because your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt.”

At that moment Moses, too, must have felt the sting of disappointment. Moses had anticipated Pharaoh’s attack, had prepared himself for the rigors of leading the people across a barren dessert, had steeled himself against the opposition of the devil. But this was so unexpected – this outright rejection of the God who had so graciously displayed His power on their behalf!

Sometimes we are stunned by unexpected disappointments. Disappointment can come like a thief in the night, puncturing our expectations when they are at their highest. This can be devastating. Moses must have felt a sickening blow to the gut when he saw God’s people creating an idol for themselves. And yet this unexpected disappointment led Moses to the crest of divine encounter.
It is encouraging to see that from the staggering disappointment, God led Moses on a journey that ended in a glimpse of His glory. It is encouraging to realize that sometimes the unexpected disappointments in life actually are God’s call to us to a deeper more intimate relationship with Him.

Perhaps we have let past disappointments affect us. Perhaps we have unknowingly buried things causing us to react to people in unhealthy ways… or perhaps we have unconsciously developed negatively attitudes because of hurts we have never come to term with. If we have allowed our hearts to grow hard, or lowered our expectations so as not to get hurt again, our withdrawn from someone simply because they’ve disappointed us… we can take solace in the reality that if we let the Holy Spirit do His work in us we too – like Moses – can be brought face to face with glory!

The Great Drama of Human Relationships

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:31:32 +0000

Dear Friends:

As a pastor, I have a front row seat at the great drama of human relationships.
Among other things, I have observed that a first human reaction to disappointment or frustration is to secure personal happiness at any cost. Even if it means focusing on ourselves at the expense of other people.
That is why an episode in the great Exodus story hit me with such force.
When God’s stiff-necked people made an idol, their leader Moses was so very distressed. He was still reeling from shock when God makes Moses a spectacular offer: “Let Me destroy them,” God said, “And I will make you into a great nation.”
What? Did God really say that? Yes, He did. He vowed to annihilate the source of Moses’ distress – those rebellious people! Furthermore, God promised to make Moses great – to birth a whole new nation through him that would eventually provide redemption for the entire planet. Incredible!
Was God playing games with Moses, merely testing his humility? I think God meant business. On the line was His plan to redeem the planet. God needed people who would bear His name no matter what. With this proposal, God was saying to Moses, “I see in you what I need to further my purposes.”
Incredible as it sounds, God seems to be saying to a human, “You’ve got what it takes!” In the face of severe disappointment, who among us wouldn’t take comfort in a vote of confidence from the Creator Himself?
Have you noticed that when we are hurt by other people, we close ourselves off from any further exposure to pain? We refocus our attention on the one thing, one person, we can be sure of – ourselves.
Rather than focusing on the rebuilding of relationships and our alignment with great purposes, we often look to our own interest. It is easy – in the midst of relational pain – to take Polonius’s advice in Hamlet: “To thine own self be true.”
Moses could have done that. Instead his response was almost higher and purer than the human mind can imagine.
He asked God, “Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It is with evil intent that God brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?” (Exodus 32:12). In other words Moses was asking the Lord, “What will the nations say about You if You do this thing?” Moses was more concerned with making sure God was glorified rather than finding vindication or reaching his personal potential.
And, here is what I heard the Lord say to me through that story:
If I focus on myself, then I must accept responsibility for the outcome. However, if I keep my focus on the Lord and release it all to Him, I can rest in His majestic strength and responsibility! It’s all in Him.
Think of it; by releasing personal interests, we find the place of abandonment, where every consideration on earth falls away in the grand march of God’s glory.
That is a great moment. So, today, I want to encourage you (and myself!)…
Let us survey all our potential, all our goals and dreams, and gather them up and hand them over to God and say, “Lord whatever gives you the most glory, is my highest satisfaction.”
May God bless all of you and give you grace for your journey.