Labor Day: A Prayer for the Unemployed

This Monday, is Labor Day. Let’s celebrate the holiday by exercising our prayer muscles. It’s easy, and I promise it won’t take much time.  Set aside 10 mins–that’s right, the time if takes for a coffee break or to grill a burger–and say a small prayer for someone you know who is seeking employment right now. Be specific with your request, asking that God would lead them to a position of employment and provision for their household.  That’s it.

The  US Department of Labor reports that 14.9 million Americans (9.6%) are currently unemployed. You probably know some of them. They live on in your neighborhood, they shop in your grocery store, and for that matter, you may even be one of them.  It’s been a long, dry season, hasn’t it?

God does care about hardships, even if it seems like He is silent at times.  He is always working behind the scenes of our lives, and if we could pull back the curtain of the natural world–the things we can see and touch–we could see the intricacies of His hidden work in the great tapestry of our lives.  Make no mistake: God will use every trial and tear for something bigger than our present situation … if only we grant Him access to our hearts.

Trusting God to take care of us is hard when there are bills on the table and dwindling funds in the bank.  It’s hard when you are doing all that you can and still barely treading water in a sea of debt and discouragement. How can  you keep the faith when you have responsibilities at home, including young lives that are depending on you?

When the road ahead is grim, it’s time to look back to where we’ve been.  Look back and remember God’s faithfulness over the course of our lives.  Remember His goodness when we faced that last, great trial.  He was there, wasn’t He?  God actually commands us to remember His goodness. Those recollections seal our faith so that we can pass yet again through another difficult season. After all, the promise was never that that journey would be easy.  It was only that He would sustain us through the troubled times. And that’s a promise we can be certain will be honored. It’s worth is more secure than money in a bank.  Especially these days, right?

So take just 10 minutes of your holiday this weekend and say a prayer for someone unemployed, even if that person is you.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

–Philippians 4:6-7 MESSAGE

THE PROMISE: You will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters gone by ..

“As for you, if you redirect your heart and lift up your hands to Him in prayer— if there is iniquity in your hand, remove it, and don’t allow injustice to dwell in your tents— then you will hold your head high, free from fault. You will be firmly established and unafraid. For you will forget your suffering, recalling it only as waters that have flowed by. Your life will be brighter than noonday; its darkness will be like the morning. You will be confident, because there is hope. You will look carefully about and lie down in safety.”

–Job 11:13-18 HCSB

Rediscovering Passion: Losing the Fear of Passion for Christ

One of my first memories of living in Charlotte was going to a local buffet-style restaurant.  As I stood in the monotonous line with my empty plate in need of a good filling, a southern gentleman stepped up to the buffet and gazed at the spread of greens, fruits, breads and entrees.

As he surveyed the food, he did something that shocked and amazed me. Suddenly, the man spread his arms wide and with a great infectious smile, he declared in a voice loud enough to be heard across the restaurant, “Thank  you, Sweet Jesus, for this beautiful, amazing spread of foods before me!”

Wow! And me? I was just going through the line, another day, another meal. No big thing. I had not even considered how amazing it is to walk into a restaurant and feast from a spread of food that would once be found only at a king’s table.

Here is what I want  you to know: Something miraculous happened as I heard the man unashamedly thanking God for providing a bountiful meal.  In that moment, I was allowed a sneak peak into a heart of honest and fearless passion for God.  And like a flame, his joy immediately spread to ME. It changed not only my lunch experience, but my entire day as well.  I brought an empty plate to that buffet and this stranger filled it with much more than simple foods.  He scooped up a helping of gratitude and pure joyfulness.

Christ’s life, too, was filled with passion.  He was passionate for His Father. He was passionate for the poor. He was passionate for God’s word. He was passionate for his disciples, his friends. He was passionate for the overlooked, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the hungry, the sorrowful and the sick. The very act of dying of the cross is termed “The Passion of Christ.”  He was passionate for US.

It is also true that His passion offended.  It annoyed the religious Pharisees who had lost their own passion for God’s heart. They hated and despised it.

Even today, the world would prefer that we silence our passion. More than ever, Christians are feeling pressure to keep our passion to ourselves.  I’ll come right out and admit to you that I feel uncomfortable showing my passion in public.  I worry that my passion might be considered “intolerant.”  But why is that?  My passion is simply my passion.  I shouldn’t have to contain it for the comfort of others, and yet I sometimes I do. The truth is that my outward expression doesn’t restrict anyone else from being passionate about their own beliefs. And yet, I worry that my passion for Christ may offend others.  And here’s the reality: it does.

When we encounter an example of true passion for Christ, it’s like a mirror with the power to show what is missing in our own hearts. When I come across an example of such passion, sometimes I, too, am tempted to put it down. “Are they for real?” I may question, although I have no right to ask this question.  And then, thank God, the Spirit reminds me that the problem   … is me. The reason I am offended is because I’ve lost my own passion for God. It’s a red flag to return to my first love.

The good news is that passion is revived simply by returning wholeheartedly to Christ, who graciously forgives our wanderings and calls us back to Him.  It’s called grace, and it’s the spark that re-ignites the fading flame of passion.

Life is so fleeting, so brief. I don’t have a moment to waste by living a passionless life. I want to squeeze every ounce of joy out of the promises of God. I apologize in advance if my passion offends you.  I’ll warn you right now, you may just hear me belting out a loud “Thank you, Sweet Jesus,” the next time you dine out at a local buffet.

The question I leave you is this: Do you want to live with or without passion?  Don’t allow anyone or anything steal it away from you!  Passion is like water: we need it to become all that God intends for us to be.

We only get one life. Fill it daily with a huge serving of passion!

Now He came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!

Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” He answered, ”I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out!”

– Luke 37-40 HCSB