“Why have I found such favor in your eyes” (Ruth 2:10 NIV)?

Have you ever been someone’s favorite? Favorite son, employee, player, student… have you ever been the “apple” of someone’s eye?

I recently read about an experiment with underperforming elementary age students that they divided into two groups. They took the first group of underperformers and changed their files to show that they had extremely high IQs but were not living up to their potential. The second group was designated the control group and they left their records unchanged. They assigned both groups to new teachers and classes.

What happened? The first group’s performance improved significantly, but the second group’s performance was relatively unchanged. It seemed that the teacher’s expectations of the students greatly affected their work. The favor they showed the students that they expected to do well, ended up doing much better than before.

Apparently, it pays to be teacher’s pet.

In the book of Ruth, a foreign widow woman from the land of Moab moves to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law. She is a nobody– no husband, no children, no property, and no hope. Yet, she goes out to work in a local man’s field to pick up the leftovers that his servants have left behind hoping that God will show her favor.

God does. He leads her to the field of a man who shows her favor in spite of her situation. She had nothing, but he was the most wealthy, eligible bachelor in Bethlehem. God caused Boaz to show Ruth favor.

What is favor? It is the gift of grace. It is what God offers to us through the Bethlemite who loved us while we were still “underperformers,” sinners alienated from God (Romans 5:8). We had nothing, but through His death, burial and resurrection He offers us everything. He offers us unmerited favor.

Why would He show us such favor?

Love. We who believe are the “apple” of Christ’s eye.

“In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab” (Ruth 1:1).

I once passed through the land of Moab, but I didn’t try to live there.

In January 2005, I spent three weeks in Jordan visiting some of our WCC families working there. We spent most of the time working in the city of Amman, but we did get an opportunity to take a few sightseeing trips.

On a trip to visit Aqaba on the Red Sea, we passed through the land just East of the Dead Sea that was once called Moab. As we journeyed South we passed by snow covered hills that seemed out of place in the desert setting. Other than the modern highway we travelled on, this land looked as if nothing had changed in centuries. It was a good thing our bus driver had a full tank of gas because I didn’t see anywhere to stop for miles. The land of Moab was as it had always been, a land for sheep and goats, and little else.

Having passed through Moab I can’t imagine why anyone would want to live there. Yet, Elimelech took his wife Naomi and two sons from Bethlehem (Hebrew: House of Bread) to Moab to live. Probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Like a lot of men, rather than praying and staying, Elimelech decided to go try living outside God’s promised land for a while. Perhaps he could see the snow capped hills in the distance and thought they meant better rain. He probably only meant to stay for a while. But man’s worldly schemes never work out in the end.

Ten years passed and Elimelech and both his boys were dead in Moab. Poor Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws, Ruth and Orpah, were left alone.

That’s when Naomi heard about there being bread again in Bethlehem. She decided to get out of Moab and return home. Ruth went with her. She had never been out of Moab, but with eyes of faith she followed Naomi into the “House of Bread.”

Some of us end up in Moab because we take a short cut to pass through there, never meaning to stay. Others are born there and never know any better unless someone tells them of a better place.

No matter your reason for being in Moab, come out. The Bethlemite calls you. Come taste the Bread of Life. You’ll never want to go to Moab again.

Unless you’re just passing through on a tourist bus to visit the Red Sea.

“You must deny yourselves and not do any work because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins” (Leviticus 16:29-30).

Do you ever feel like a hamster running on a wheel? You strive and drive and bear down harder, but you don’t seem to get anywhere?

You say to yourself, “I’m just trying to get ahead!”

But you keep slipping behind.

A lot of us bring that same striving strategy to our faith. We suppose that God will love us more or give us greater blessing, if we only strive to do better, give more, work harder, and thus earn His approval.

This type of striving is not only dangerous to our happiness and health, it’s deadly to our souls. God wants us to stop striving and start trusting Him.

In the book of Leviticus, God told the Israelites that He wanted them to set aside a special day every year called the Day of Atonement (in the Hebrew, Yom Kippur). On this day they were to rest from their wanting and their working and to remember that they needed a substitute to stand in their place for the redemption of their sins. This day pointed to and was fulfilled by the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Christ has done the work that we couldn’t do. He has once and for all paid for our sin and offered us eternal life and full acceptance by the Father, adopting us into His very family. We cannot add to this work. It is finished. We can only rest from our wanting and working and receive His work on our behalf.

Where are you still striving today? Stop your wasted whirling and dizzy spinning. Start trusting and depending on Christ for all.

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” – Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV)

How do you live your life? Is it driven by faith or fear? The truth is, for most people, phobias determine how they live. Many choose to live life with an attitude of playing it safe and avoiding their fears.

Those who live a life navigating around fear are in good company. Let’s face it. There is a lot to be afraid of these days! Wars, terrorism, global warming, layoffs, rising prices… and that was just last night’s news!

A recent survey found these ten phobias to be those most often expressed by Americans:

Top Ten Phobias in America

1. Arachnophobia – fear of spiders.
2. Social phobia – fear of public speaking, public situations.
3. Aerophobia – fear of flying.
4. Agoraphobia – fear of leaving home or answering the door.
5. Claustrophobia – fear of being trapped in tight spaces.
6. Acrophobia – fear of heights.
7. Emetophobia – fear of vomit.
8. Carcinophobia – fear of cancer.
9. Brontophobia – fear of thunderstorms.
10. Necrophobia – fear of death.

Life is filled with things that go bump in the night. Life is scary. But do we have to live a life disabled by fear? Isn’t there better way?

There is. We can choose to follow Jesus. Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and to enter into his safety. That is why we call him Savior. He saves us from the consequences of our sin. Those who follow Jesus are found safe in him.

But after he saves us, he sends us back out into dangerous waters to share the message of salvation to others. Jesus calls us to pursue a life of significance, not safety.

It may seem strange medicine for fear sufferers, but Jesus often calls us into life’s storms. Why? Because it’s in the storms, when we’re facing our worst fears, that we cry out to Christ for help. It may feel as if he isn’t listening. It may seem that he has left us. But he never leaves. He is always present and waiting for us to learn to call on Him. Jesus wants to turn our fears into faith. How? By facing them, head on, while trusting in his Name.

Is Jesus leading you to follow into an area where you are afraid? What will you choose? Faith or phobia?

“Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag” (Matthew 19:26, Message).

I think Americans are becoming too safety conscious.

We’ve become the most risk-adverse generation in history. We’ve made everything so safe, that the only danger we’re in is of taking all the fun out of life! I mean, I can’t even take a Tylenol without getting a worse headache trying to get the bottle open!

I’m not sure that we would even have an America if today’s generation had to pioneer it. Can you imagine Columbus asking for trip insurance? Or Lewis and Clark not willing to travel without their GPS. What if Davy Crockett had refused to fight at the Alamo without insisting they have commercial fire insurance? Do you think Daniel Boone would have killed a bear if his parents had insisted he not play with knives?

Christians have carried this desire to play it safe into the church. We’ve diminished Christ’s call of sacrifice to a syrupy sentimentality and safety. We’re in danger of boring ourselves and our children to death with this watered-down version of the gospel.

But Jesus didn’t call us to a safe life. He called us to follow Him. He didn’t say, “Look, these Romans and Jewish leaders are probably going to kill me, but maybe they won’t give you much trouble.”

No, Jesus told them that He was headed to the cross and that they needed to be ready to take up theirs too.

The call of Christ isn’t to safety. It’s to significance.

… Now, would you mind helping me open this cap?

“Your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God” (2 Corinthians 9:11).

Have you noticed how gratitude and generosity are connected? People who see their possessions as a gift from God show gratitude. They are full of thanks. Since they recognize God as their source, they worship Him as Owner and Provider. They see themselves as stewards and managers of God’s stuff.

This attitude of gratitude makes them more generous. Their gratitude overflows into gracious giving.

My next door neighbor recently illustrated this to me. He knew a landowner that had some downed hardwood trees that he was willing to give to anyone that would get them off of his property. My neighbor asked if I wanted to go with him to get some of the wood.

“Man, I wish I could. With this cold winter, I could really use the firewood. I’m going through that oak I bought really fast. But I’m so busy, I just don’t have time to cut it, haul it, and split it.” I said, shaking my head.

“Well, if you change your mind let me know. We’re going out this Saturday to get some.” He answered.

“Thanks.” I replied, while heading back to my yard.

A couple of weeks later, imagine my surprise when I answered the door to my neighbor standing there with a big smile on his face and a load of freshly cut wood.

“Hey neighbor! I brought you some firewood.” He said, gesturing towards the stack. “Open up your garage and let me load you up.” He continued.

“What?” I finally managed. “You don’t need to do this.” I insisted. “You’ve worked so hard.” I said, shaking my head. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because you’re a good neighbor and I’m being neighborly.” He said through a big grin. “Besides, I got the wood for free and I want to share it with you. Now, let’s get this wood in your garage, it’s cold outside.”

That evening, the fire in our fireplace seemed to put off more warmth than usual as we combined my neighbor’s freshly split poplar with our remaining oak. Every pop and crack of the fire inspired gratitude in my heart.

People who have a hard time being generous also have trouble with gratitude. I guess that’s why we say “thanksgiving,” because “thanks” and “giving” go together.

Now, pardon me while I put another log on the fire… hmm… nice.

“Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked” (Matthew 20:32 NIV).

Jesus was always “stopping.” His ministry was marked as much by its singular focus on the cross as it was on its willingness to accommodate interruptions along the way. Jesus accomplished His mission as Savior without overlooking the people He came to save.

Many leaders fail in being able to balance the tension between the target and the team. Most leaders have been promoted to their level of responsibility because they knew how to get things done. They produced results.

However the skill set that got them promoted to leadership often isn’t adequate. The very focus and personal talent that got them results in the past doesn’t serve them well as leaders. They must learn to accomplish the mission with and through others. Otherwise, they will make what Hans Finzel calls one of “The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make.”

Finzel describes this mistake in a chapter entitled, “Putting Paperwork Before Peoplework: Confessions of a Type A Leader.” He says that leadership tends to attract Type A personalities, people who are very driven and focused on future goals. These are the kind of people who often ask the question, “Are we there yet?” They tend to be impatient and perfectionistic. They also tend to have trouble with people-interruptions. If these Type A leaders want to succeed, they will have to learn how to become winners at “peoplework.”

I have a Type A personality. But God is working on me and I hope I am growing. I want to become more like Jesus in this. He knew how to balance the call to mission with the needs of people.

Leaders must still do their “paperwork.” Organizations demand results. But Jesus modeled a mode of leadership that made the people around Him feel valued even while He accomplished the mission. He never made people feel like an interruption. Even while hanging on the cross, He ministered to the thief who had questions about eternity, saying, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”

I want to be more like Jesus. As a husband, a father, a grandfather and a pastor, this Type A leader really needs Christ’s help to put peoplework ahead of paperwork.

Are you making room for peoplework in your life?

“Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God” (Zechariah 6:15 NIV).

Back in early 2002, I was going through a difficult season of personal doubt. My mother had recently passed away, the church was experiencing some disunity, and I was feeling uncertain about where I was in life.

I didn’t doubt God. I doubted myself. I decided to take a three-day fast and pray, asking God for direction.

The first 24 hours were miserable. I was hungry. I had a caffeine withdrawal headache. And I wasn’t hearing anything from God.

God never seems to work according to my schedule.

Late that night, I finally sensed God speaking to me. I knew it must be Him because I was feeling led to read from Zechariah (Not a book I would have chosen on my own).

In the book of Zechariah, God spoke to the people who were rebuilding the temple. They had started the work, but had been unable to complete it. They were discouraged and filled with doubt. Through the prophet Zechariah, God told them to keep working and not to “despise the day of small beginnings.” He told their leader, Zerubbabel, that he had laid the foundation and that he would be there to set the capstone. In other words, God told him that he would finish what he had started.

Those words were like food to my soul. God sent me back to Wilson from this three-day fast, filled with encouragement and calling. He reaffirmed my call to continue in this work that He had called me to start.

Recently, the experience I had with God while fasting and reading Zechariah came back to me. I was at breakfast with my family, describing the exciting things going on with our new property. I was explaining how miraculous it was that we had people coming all the way from Canada to help take out the old theatre seats, screens and curtains.

“So, we were going to have to do the demolition anyway, but this theatre owner in Canada responded to our Ebay ad for the seats. Not only was he willing to buy them, he was willing to come down, remove them and transport them back to Canada!” I explained.

My daughter-in-law, Caroline, responded, “Wow. That’s amazing… that they would come from so far away.”

“What did you just say?” I blurted out, nearly choking on my toast.

It was then I remembered something else I had read in Zechariah, that “those who are far away would come” to help us build.

“God sent these guys all the way from Canada to help us!” I jumped up from the table shouting (To the surprised looks of my family). “God is doing it. He is doing everything He told me!”

I had forgotten some of the details from that time back in 2002, but now I’m re-reading Zechariah. The same God that encouraged the Jewish exiles to return to the work of rebuilding the temple, still lives. He sent them help from far away.

And I believe He sent us help from Canada.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 NIV).

Are your hands too full to enjoy life? Do you ever feel overwhelmed and almost dizzy with the busyness and urgency of the day?

You’re not alone. Americans are suffering from a modern malady known as “burnout.” We’re over-scheduled, over-committed, and scatter-brained from information overload. There must be a better way to live!

There is, but it will require a radical step. We need to let go. That’s right. We need to drop everything for a moment and reevaluate our lives. I think it was Socrates who said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Far too many of us are living “unexamined lives.”

I’m not proposing that we all become hermits and escape from this crooked, crazy world (although tempting sometimes). I’m suggesting that we need to look and see where all this busyness is taking us. We need to empty our hands of all the burdensome stones that we’re carrying and carefully put only the important ones back.

How? I believe there is only one way. Follow Jesus. His is a simple call. He says, “Come, follow me.” He also says, “Come unto Me you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

We’ve made life too complicated, too full of rules and duties and responsibilities that we can’t shoulder. Why not answer Christ’s simple call to simply “Come and follow.”

When we release our burdens and exchange them for the “easy yoke” that Christ offers, I’ve noticed that He calls us to three simple commitments:

1. A commitment to celebrate God’s Son – to worship God first and to make Him our first priority, not allowing anything in life to crowd Him out of first place.

2. A commitment to connect to God’s family – to recognize our need for fellowship with other believers, carving out room in our lives to live in encouraging, accountable, sharpening relationship with others.

3. A commitment to contribute to God’s Kingdom – to focus our time, talent and treasure on investing in the only Kingdom that will last. Following Christ, He “makes us fishers of men.”

Let’s empty our hands for a moment and, following Christ’s leadership, let’s carefully put back only those commitments that He deems worthy.

Living the simple life means continually saying “No” to the world’s urgent cry for our busyness and ordering our lives around simply following Jesus.