Be Encouraged!

As I was reading and praying this morning, I was reminded once again of this great blessing that Shaana is to me. You see she is away at a ladies retreat this weekend. She is enjoying a time of renewal... away from daily tasks and the distractions of life. She is away on a true vacation, if you will. She has the great opportunity to spend time with other ladies participating in a little "girl talk," but listening to others encourage her to press on in her pursuit of Christ. She will be challenged to be a better lover of Christ, which in turn will make her a more intentional wife and mother. I look forward to Sunday when she gets home not because she will rescue me from "Mr. Mom" duties, but because she will come back refocused on Jesus and not on the sins of her family. We all need a refocus like this periodically.

Yesterday when I arrived home, Shaana had just left for the retreat. Within a couple of hours Natalie had cut her foot while running around outside barefoot, and Evan had cut his hand by grabbing a fence as he ran alongside of it. This morning Noah woke up early with a nosebleed... minor, but bleeding nonetheless. I exercised my medical skills to the best of my abilities and offered as much motherly concern as possible while offering some corrective advise to avoid future “booboos.” I’m sure my kids would have rather had their mother here to tend to these needs, but they did not vocalize that if it were the case. These small but necessary tasks of love, medical attention, and correction are the daily tasks of a mom. As important as they are they can serve as distractions (or reminders) to our pursuit of Christ likeness. I pray that Shaana will make the most of her time away and not worry about the things that she has left behind for a few days.

The short time away from my wife has driven me to the Scriptures to "refocus" my attention on Grace, my need to receive it and to be a channel of it to others. Over the past year I've been reading The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers from hundreds of years ago. I have found them to be helpful in the process of refocusing. I want to share some of what I read this morning (replacing some of the older language with more familiar words):

“Union With Christ” - O Father, You have made man for your glory, and when he’s not an instrument of Your glory,he is nothing. No sin is greater than the sin of unbelief, if union with Christ is the greatest good, unbelief is the greatest sin… Lord, keep me from committing the greatest sin in departing from Christ, for I can never perfectly obey and cleave to Christ in this life… My Great evil is that I do not remember the sins of my youth, actually, I forget my sins from yesterday. Keep me from all things that turn to unbelief or lack of felt union with Christ.

“Passion” - Holy Lord, How little repentance there is in the world, and how many sins I have to repent of! My sin of passion troubles me, the shame and horror of it is an evil; I desire not to allow it to control me any longer, and come to you for the strength to accomplish this… Lord God, I know that my sudden anger arises when things cross me, and I desire to please only myself, not Christ… All good things partially please me and partially please you. My sin is that my heart is pleased or troubled as things please or trouble me, without regard to Christ’s being pleased or troubled… I should humbly confess my sin and fly to the blood of Christ for pardon and peace. Give me repentance, true brokenness, and lasting contrition for my selfish sins. Thank You Lord because you love me in spite of myself.

“Longings After God” - My Dear Lord… my soul longs for communion with you, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride. How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness! What a blessedness to be like you as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its Creator! Lord, give me more of your likeness; enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; engage me to live more fully for you. Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at ease after sweet communion with you, teach me that I still know and do far too little. Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to you, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with you, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my hear is wandering and lifeless, and my soul mourns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved. Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to your will, more fixed on your glory, that I may be more fitted for doing and suffering.

I encourage you to “refocus” as often as necessary. I need to do this multiple times a day not only as I battle my own sin but also as I’m leading my children. I’ve noticed their tendency to imitate particular sin patterns that I struggle with. Anger, pride, greed, selfishness are evident in the hearts of my kids from time to time. I don’t want to simply infect them with my sin but I also want to infuse them with the gospel and encourage them to pursue Christ likeness. We must put off sin but also put on Christ. I was reminded of this great truth this morning. Recently, Noah had to be encouraged to find passages of scripture that deal specifically with anger and patience. Much like me, Noah struggles with controlling his anger at times. With the help of his mom the other day, he made a list of scriptures that address this and encourage him to be patient and to think of others. This morning he came to me (very early) and asked for his list. Unprompted by me, he wanted to read through the scriptures. He is waging war against the sin that desires his heart. He is pursuing Christ likeness as he seeks God’s Word and responds to God’s Spirit. You can do the same.

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma” Ephesians 5:1-2.

Be encouraged!

Humbly,

Chuck (Shaana's Hubby)