Catching the Slow Train

by Leave a Comment

Do you complain about the journey at times? Do things take too long or trap you in the slow lane? Does it seem much harder to make the progress you are hoping for? Then consider this prophetically inspired fictional allegory….

You are waiting on the platform for an express train to get you quickly to your destination. Then an announcement informs that the express train has been cancelled and alternative arrangements need to be made. To your disappointment there are no good connections and so you set off on the slow train to get as far as you can.

Changing Course

To get you through the long hours of grinding progress you read a magazine someone has left behind. An article piques your interest and you devour it with delight.

Since the slow train only goes so far, you find yourself waiting on a lonely platform for the mail train. You buy a coffee and find an old man to chat with. He fills you in on some of the local history, which doesn’t interest you. He extols the virtue of the local produce which is made into a special dish at a fancy restaurant in the big city. Once he has spelled the exotic name it sticks in your head, despite your attempts to think of something else. Thankfully the mail train finally arrives and you chug off into the darkness.

You wake from a doze to hear a mother arguing with her child. She appeals to you for assistance and you get drawn into her unhappy encounter. When you do help her quiet her child she thanks you by giving you a ticket to a theatre show where her brother has a lead role, in the city you are heading to.

Then, in the early morning you have to change trains yet again.

Strange People

While waiting for the next connection you are approached by a talkative salesman whose voice keeps you awake with its grating tone. He extols the wonders of various products he has sold over the years and outlines the various failings each one has. You manage to get away from him by going to the bathroom.

The annoying fellow has found someone else to talk with and you end up in a quiet chat with a young lady who tells you about the university course she is about to start. You nod off for a few minutes and are relieved to hear your train approaching.

Last Leg

You try to catch some sleep on the last connection, while you fight off feelings of resentment toward the rail system. Your express train would have deposited you quickly and effortlessly to your destination. You have now had to endure an ordeal that takes you back to your days as a poor student. That memory prompts you to look out for the young lady who is going off to university. You find her and pass her a small amount of money, which you are sure she could do with.

As you approach the final station a chap informs you of the big fire incident overnight, filling you in with details which he claims are true, since his brother knows a security guard at the premises.

At the Destination

Your trip has been a disaster. You missed the good night’s rest you needed and all your plans were taken out of your hands, which makes you feel uncomfortable. You would have arranged a much more satisfying set of circumstances.

When you arrive for the scheduled business meeting several things come together, much to your surprise. You are asked to give a short presentation, and you use the insights you gained from the magazine article. Someone laments that there are so few sales opportunities for his particular product range and you suggest that he target people who are using a particular installation which you know to be faulty, thanks to the talkative salesman. You also suggest that he follow up with the management of the building which burned overnight, since their installation was destroyed in the fire and they have to be fully operational asap, no matter the cost. You even suggest a name that he should contact.

Your contributions attract the interest of businessman from out of town who suggests he would like to talk over some things in a social setting. You suggest the peculiar name of a unique dish that he could sample with you and offer to take him to a show where he can go backstage to meet one of the lead actors.

As you and several others step out of the building, several hours later, the young university student sees you and hurries over to thank you for your kind generosity. This leaves a powerful impression with the others, that you are a person of good character and compassion.

Moral of the Story

We choose the path of least resistance and most comfort for ourselves. We like convenience and speedy progress. Yet God sees the big picture and He may well derail our plans, sending off on what seem like useless detours. Yet God is actually taking us on a course of His making, where we can harvest many rich blessings we would otherwise never know.

It might be a good idea to trust Him and commit your way to Him, rather than force your own plans.

Inspiration

I crafted this story from an idea passed to me by my son in Germany…. “There was a prophecy in church last Sunday that was a picture of someone taking a train from A to B. They were expecting an express train that would take them directly and comfortably to their destination, but instead they found themselves changing from one slow train to another, often with long stops at out-of-the-way railway stations. The prophecy went on to say that the person often felt frustrated and wondered why he had to waste so much time. Along the way, at the various stops and on the various trains, he met different people and encountered situations that would not have come up on the express train. When he finally did reach his destination, all of the events and meetings from the trip proved to have been necessary, and he was only able to fulfil his purpose at the destination because of the encounters during the trip. The conclusion was that we may sometimes wonder about the detour and loss of time, but the truth is that God is taking us by the fastest and most direct route that fulfils all of his requirements. It is not a detour at all, and no time is being wasted.”

The School Bully

by Leave a Comment

Imagine settling into a new school and being accosted by a school bully who demands that you pay him money each week. You survive the meeting and then ask others what the story is with this bully.

You find out that everyone is paying money to the bully. You find that the teachers have no plan to stop the bully’s activities. You also find that the bully isn’t regarded as a bully, but just part of normal life at the school.

It turns out that the “bully”, as you call him, has had his place passed to him through generations of bullies. Payment of the bully levy is a tradition that goes back as far as anyone can remember. School teachers rely on the bully to help them maintain order in the school, even though they know he has self-interest as well. They see the arrangement as both normal and appropriate.

When you decide to stand up to the bully everyone looks at you in horror. You are urged to stop your bizarre behaviour and to just get used to the way things are. The whole social order is built on the status quo. Would-be bullies are competing with each other for the honour of displacing the incumbent. The more offended victims have their support groups. A code of penalties has been defined and each new student is briefed in the mechanisms of the school-yard order.

Most alarming in this whole situation is that anyone who stands up to the perverse system is confronted on all sides. You encounter apathy or antagonism from those who should support you; despisement and oppression from the bully system that seeks to rule you; and abandonment from the authority figures who should have stopped this situation long ago.

Now, that’s just a fanciful scenario. But it is an allegory for situations which occur around the world.

At Sydney University in the early 1970’s, for example, I confronted compulsory Student Union membership. The Student Union engaged in many activities which offended my personal values and which I would never engage in. I saw no reason why I should be forced to pay anything to what seemed like a group of self-indulgent people who used their position to peddle their own ideology and morality. However, that was the system. There was no changing it, so it seemed. Thankfully, in subsequent years compulsory student unionism was abandoned.

The same situation may be seen in workplaces where a strong union presence imposes compulsory union membership on anyone who wants to work there.

Yet again, in some cultures the police force is corrupt and imposes various unwarranted penalties on people. I was once pulled over by a traffic policeman who was not interested in giving me a genuine penalty, but sought some “coffee money” from me.

Totalitarian regimes impose this “school-yard bully” system at a national level. Various limitations are imposed on their constituents, which people are powerless to object to.

I am not saying in all this that forced subscriptions are necessarily evil, or that unions, police forces or governments are suspect. I simply use these examples to illustrate a point. I am drawing your attention to the fact that some situations are actually oppressive and out of order.

Now, the correct way to deal with such situations, if it is possible, is to take the matter to higher and higher authorities, until someone resolves what is out of order, putting it right. In many situations even the judiciary is compromised or intimidated and true justice is denied the citizenry. In those situations the only court in which effective appeal can be made is before the throne of God.

Reading the book of Ecclesiastes recently I noted Solomon’s awareness that God is the true Sovereign in all of life’s situations. While men will oppress others and ply their evil agendas, those who trust in God and are not overcome by the evil of others, have the best outcome.

Being consumed in rage at the system means you have been overcome by evil. Making it your life passion to right the wrong system may also be a sign that you have been overcome by evil. You were not created to be moved by your enraged sensibilities, but to fulfil God’s plan for your life. If He calls you to deal with the system in some way, then you will have to do it. But that won’t be for self-gratification or to get even for wrongs experienced, or any other personal agenda. You will be most effective when you can be dispassionate and focus your affections on Him and His glory, rather than being moved along by personal arousal.

School-yard bullies exist in many contexts. You may be called at some point to do something about it. But if you are, it will be God’s call, not yours. The methods and all that is part of the process will be at God’s behest, not your own direction. If you engage in the process with that kind of spirit you will be a worthy instrument in God’s hands to see His Kingdom come and His will done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Revelation of God

by Leave a Comment

If you were raised in the fear of some idolatrous and despotic deity how would that affect your understanding of the true and Living God? If you only knew of gods as demanding, enslaving, capricious and cruel would you readily understand the God who is “love”?

I was recently blessed by the testimony of Meng, a lovely woman of God who helped me focus these thoughts. I asked her for her notes so I could share her thoughts with you and spring into some of my own observations as well.

She shared something of her testimony recently and drew attention to Jesus asking His disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” (See Matthew 16:13-19). The significance for her is that her own vision of God has had to be expanded, progressively over the years, to open her heart and understanding to the wonder of the God who is her Father. We all have a head knowledge of who God is and can recite some of His numerous titles. In response to the question of who Jesus is, we could all say, “Messiah”, “King of Kings”, “Saviour” and so on. Yet we could easily say those things out of head knowledge, like facts learned for a school exam, rather than truths that burn deep into us.

Peter had a revelation of who Jesus is. “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God”. And Jesus commended Peter for receiving ‘revelation’, since such knowledge of Christ came from God, not from Peter’s own analysis or his discussions with others.

Now, in Meng’s case, having come from an Asian religious background, her understanding of God was tainted by her existing concepts of what a deity is. She described her situation quite poetically, in the allegory of serving the gods of Egypt in her former life of slavery to sin. I let you read it as she put it.

“Before I came into the Kingdom of God, I served under the gods of this world. I was in bondage in Egypt and I served under the god, Pharaoh. As his slave I had to work long and hard to please my master and when I didn’t work hard enough, Pharaoh, my taskmaster, would punish me. I was made to feel guilty and I was compared to others who outperformed me. My god was my taskmaster. I had to work for acceptance – and although I worked very hard for it I still didn’t get it. No matter how hard I worked, it was never enough – my only reward was to work harder. That was all I knew about god and gods.

When I was set free from Egypt, I brought the same concept of God out with me. I left the slavery of Egypt but I still have traces of Egypt in the way I live in the promise land.”

Meng testified to how she has lived under a performance syndrome, having to push herself to do her best, in the vain quest for acceptance. As a Christian she continued with the impetus to please God, as if He too demanded excessive striving before He would accept her.

What set Meng free from that former concept of God were the truth of God’s Word and an ever deepening revelation of God. Isaiah 55:1 blessed her as it reveals how God’s wonderful graces and abundant benefits don’t come because we can earn them. Christ in us makes us acceptable to God, not our own vain efforts.

The anointing of the Holy Spirit and the showering of God’s love in her heart (Romans 5:5) have been rich healing streams, releasing her to embrace the revelation of God as her ‘papa’ who she can snuggle close to, just as a child would to her daddy. Relationship is replacing performance. Being a child of God and a ‘friend’ of God (as Moses was) are transforming revelations. Being the bride to our heavenly bridegroom, Jesus, is also a strong relationship revelation. And in it all Meng is enjoying an ever deepening hunger to know God, to enjoy a powerful revelation of who He is and to go into richer and sweeter relationship with Him.

So, who do you say that Jesus is?

Notice that Peter’s heightened revelation of Christ resulted in him being given new destiny. Jesus blessed Peter and prophesied great authority for him. That’s what comes from an increasing revelation of God. We are transformed by every new insight we have into who God is.

The surest way for you to become like Christ and to be transformed from the inside out is to get a clearer and deeper revelation of God. Those old religious ideas may have become a strong-hold in your heart and mind. I have met people who can only think of God as a fearsome God of judgement. They cannot accept the truth of God’s love and grace.

Your past concepts of who and what God is may well be robbing you of your spiritual growth. And your ideas of what a father is, based on your childhood experiences, may also be blocking your acceptance of God as a loving Heavenly Father. The false teachings of various groups may have infected your thinking.

I recommend that you read the Bible with eyes to see the rich depth of God’s reality and the awesome grace and love which He possesses, along with His holiness, authority and power. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and relationship with God is the outcome of His salvation. I pray that you, like Meng, have an ever increasing longing for intimacy with the God of all eternity.

Order – the Torch

by Leave a Comment

Having waxed lyrical about ‘order’ I realise I need to bring you up to speed on why the subject has caught my attention. As I travel internationally I look for simple ways to communicate important ideas. In speaking about Family I realise that many people have lost sight of God’s intended design for the family. So I looked for an allegory which would convey the importance of ‘order’ in the family.

The allegory I came up with was that of the battery powered torch. If  I were to pull a torch apart, the pieces are few and relatively simple. There is a casing. There are the batteries (assuming 2 batteries in the average torch). There is the lens at the front which focuses the light. Then there is the tiny globe.

If I were to spread the torch pieces on a table would I have a torch? If you say, “No”, I could protest and say that I have all the pieces, so what is missing? If you say, “Yes”, I could protest and say that I can’t get any light out of the pieces. You see, a torch is More than the sum of its pieces. A torch (and many other things as well) involves a set of pieces, but also the all important Order !! If the pieces are not in the right order then the torch simply will not work. It will not be a torch, but something that resembles a torch.

Assume, then, that I take the pieces and set them in order, except that I put the batteries in the wrong way round. When I turn on the torch there is no light. Why? Because I have the wrong ‘Order’. So, the missing ingredient in a set of torch pieces is the unique arrangement of those pieces in a special order that causes their sum to be much more than the mere sum of the parts.

Applying that same observation to a family, a dad, mum and kids could be sitting together in church. To all outward appearances they are a ‘family’. But a true family is not the collection of the parts. A true family is the parts configured in a divinely appointed ‘order’ that causes the lights to come on.

The children sitting with their parents may be in quiet rebellion. The wife may despise her husband. The husband may have lost all commitment to his wife. There may be little reality of true ‘family life’ among the family members. The marraige may be a farce. Yet to all who look on the appearance of a family persists.

If your family is nothing more than a collection of people then you are missing the wonder and the powerful result of establishing divine ‘order’. So, ‘order’ is a pretty big deal for me. But then, that’s where the messy part comes in. Order, which leads to productivity, then produces mess. And the two must survive in happy counter-balance. Interpersonal relationships mean that we bump into each other. Our self-interest bumps into another person’s wishes. Our impatience and intolerance hit those around us. It can get quite messy.

If you would like to see more how I have applied the concept of ‘order’ to the family check out my book, Family Horizons – Creating Families of Destiny. You will find it at the Family Horizons website – www.FamilyHorizons.net.