"God of all comfort"

This month marks a full three years now since my world was changed forever.   Danny Gokey paints a vivid word picture when he sings these words in his song “Tell Your Heart to Beat Again”: “You’re shattered like you’ve never been before.  The life you knew in a thousand pieces on the floor; and words fall short in times like these, when this world brings you to your knees.  You think you’re never going to get back to the you that used to be.”

I’ve known sorrow, pain, and anguish these three years like I never knew before.  But I’ve learned a lot of lessons along the way as well.  One thing I’ve learned is that God comforts.  I’ve tipped my hand on this subject by titling the blog “God of all comfort.”  This is a phrase from 2 Corinthians 1:3: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all comfort.”  In Isaiah 51, God says, “I, even I, am He who comforts you.”

An article from Got questions discussing how a Christian can find comfort after the death of a parent, states, “The God of the Bible delights in comforting the afflicted and healing the brokenhearted (Jeremiah 17:14; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 7:6).  He is a “father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5).  When we are grieved by the loss of our loved ones, God is quick to offer us His peace.  In the midst of our mourning, we can know the presence of God with us; even in our sorrow, we can draw near to Him in worship and prayer.”  The citation of 2 Corinthians 7:6 in this article was a good reminder to me.  It reads, “Nevertheless, God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (italics mine for emphasis).  It is true.

https://www.gotquestions.org/death-of-a-parent.html

Kevin

Words of comfort in the midst of sorrow

For many years now, the Bauer family has been reading a devotional called Our Daily Bread.  Yesterday’s content was so impressive, timely, and relevant that I’ve decided to share it today.  Once again, all credit goes directly to the author of that particular devotional – Dave Branon – and Our Daily Bread Ministries.  One could probably even find the content I’m citing today on their website at ourdailybread.org.  With that introduction, here is Dave Branon and his devotional entitled “Hope Anyway.”

“Among the hundreds of articles I’ve written for Our Daily Bread since 1988, a few stick in my mind.  One such article is from the mid-1990 when I told of a time our three girls were away at camp or on mission trips, so six-year-old Steve and I had some guy time.  As we were enjoying an excursion to the airport, Steve turned to me and said, “It’s not as much fun without Melissa,” his eight-year-old sister and sidekick.

Neither of us knew then how poignant those words would turn out to be.  Life indeed has not been “as much fun” for the years since Mell died in a car accident as a teenager.  The passage of time may dull the ache, but nothing takes the pain away completely.  Time cannot heal that wound.  But here’s something that can help: listening to, meditating on, and savoring the solace promised by the God of all comfort.

Listen: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail” (Lamentations 3:22).

Meditate: “In the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling” (Psalm 27:5).

Savor: “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (119:50).

Life can never be the same again when someone we love is gone.  But God’s promises bring hope and comfort.”

I can only conclude with an enthusiastic “amen”!

Kevin

"You, O Lord, are the lifter of my head"

In the last sermon he preached before he went home to be with the Lord, Dr. Rick Ferguson told an anecdote about an elderly lady who was driving her car.  When it began to conk out on her, she managed to coast off to the side of the road.  Soon a Good Samaritan gentleman stopped to help her.  As he was toying with the car trying to figure out what was wrong with it, he noticed that the gas gauge was all to the “E”.  “Well, ma’am,” he began.  “I think the problem might be that your car ran out of gas.”  The lady replied, “Well, do you think it will hurt it to drive it home that way?”  Then Pastor Rick asked this question: “Have you ever felt like you’ve run out of gas, but you had to keep going anyway?”
 

I relate to that question, more than ever before, and I can certainly answer with a resounding yes.  I often feel this way.  What is the reason for this?  Many readers will know the answer, but I’m going to state it again anyway: it is because three years ago, my dad unexpectedly entered his Heavenly reward.  Dad shouldered many responsibilities and burdens that I took for granted, but now, I feel the heavy weight of them.

I’ve been ministered to by many great Christian songs these three years, but to give just one today, I’ve been reflecting on the song by Colton Dixon simply called “You are”.  Check out these lyrics: “When I can’t find the words to say how much it hurts, You are the healing in my heart; when all I can see are broken memories, You are the light that’s in the dark.”  I miss my dad every day, but there are those raw, emotional, visceral times when I truly can’t “find the words to say how much it hurts” to be without him. 

The song goes on to say, “And when my circumstances leave me with empty hands, You are the provider of my needs.  When all my dirtiness has left me helpless, You are the rain that washes me” 
(for the full lyrics, and more information on the song, check out https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/coltondixon/youare.html).  

God is the One that has been good, faithful, kind, and generous to me these three years.  Psalm 3:3 says, “But You, O Lord, are a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter of my head” (ESV).  He is the “lifter of my head” because I know my dad is experiencing the wonders of Heaven, and one day, I will see him again.  What a day that will be!

Kevin

Celebrating Independence Day

If you’ve spent any time on this blog, you know that I enjoy sharing the origins of holidays.  Today is the 4th of July, or Independence Day.  This is the holiday that celebrates America’s independence from Great Britain.  This came, in large part, because of a document that details America’s ideals – the Declaration of Independence.

 

One helpful resource states, “Many times casual students of history tend to bypass the Declaration of Independence declaring that the document was written as a response to the taxation without representation that King George was imposing on the American people.  While this is in part true, this is far from the whole story.  The Declaration of Independence came about after a long period of suffering and even bloodshed on the part of the new American colonies.  The events leading up to the Declaration of Independence can constitute a whole study in and of themselves.  The document was carefully crafted to include all the reasons that separation was being demanded by the young country against the most powerful force in the world (on land or sea) Great Britain.

“The timeline of the Declaration took place over several weeks.  The Declaration was the result of several meetings and several different drafts: not a single copy as history would have us to believe.”  The article goes on to cite that from June 12-27, 1776 “Thomas Jefferson, at the request of the committee [appointed to compose the document] drafts a declaration [of independence].”  It also states that from July 1 to July 4, “Congress debates and revises the Declaration of Independence.”  (Source: https://www.surfnetkids.com/independenceday/265/what-any-citizen-should-know-about-the-declaration-of-independence/ )

Something that caught my attention was the high price for signing the document.  “There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence…In the time following the signing of the Declaration of Independence we see that the British threats were serious, as five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died…Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned, losing all of their earthly possessions.  Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.  Nine of the fifty six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.”  (Source: https://www.surfnetkids.com/independenceday/258/who-signed-the-declaration-of-independence/ )

The just cited article concludes with this: “These men had everything to lose and risked it all to declare that citizens of America would no longer be forced to subject to the whims of unfair British rule.  Because they did, we live in a nation with liberty and justice; a nation that is united and seeks to foster general welfare and justice for all of us who have the privilege of being Americans.”

Kevin 

"Perchance to Dream" - birthday blog for 2018

I recently had one of those “Wow, I’m getting older” moments.  Last year, the classic TV show, “Batman: the Animated Series” celebrated its 25th anniversary.  It was in 1992 that this amazing show debuted.  I remember with fondness when this show was first on TV.  One website was spot-on when they said: “Over the last 25 years, there have been six Batman movies, multiple cartoons, dozens of toys, at least one massively successful video game franchise, and countless comic books.  But it was Batman: The Animated Series – which premiered Sept. 5, 1992 – that provided this era’s definitive version of the Dark Knight” (Source: http://ew.com/tv/batman-animated-series-episodes-ranked/).

This article goes on to showcase their list of 25 best “Batman: the Animated Series” episodes.  Several websites have similar lists of their favorites.  Every single one of the lists I came across mentions an episode called “Perchance to Dream”.  Rightly so, this is an excellent episode.  It is in my top 5 of best “Batman: the Animated Series” episodes ever made.

 

In the episode, Bruce Wayne wakes up to find that his life is completely different.  His parents are alive; he is engaged to Selina Kyle; and someone else has taken on the role of being Batman.  In essence, he is trapped inside a prison of a life of his heart’s desire.  But he refuses the fantasy, and he escapes (quite ingeniously, I might add).  The same article I cited from earlier has an intriguing comment on this episode.  He states, “Bruce doesn’t give into this temptation and rejects this world, choosing his dark crusade instead, which is one of the most heroic and heartbreaking things we’ll ever see him do on the show” (http://ew.com/tv/batman-animated-series-episodes-ranked/#6-perchance-to-dream-season-2-episode-1).  I wholeheartedly agree.

Today is my birthday.  Thinking about this marvelous Batman episode made me stop and ask myself this question: What would I do if I were introduced to a dream world like Bruce Wayne was in that episode?  Would I have the character to reject the fantasy and choose the harder life?  As I think about my life, I won’t sugarcoat it: sometimes my life is difficult.  The unexpected passing of my father almost three years ago changed my life.  I was the one that needed to pick up his torch and to shoulder the responsibilities he carried.  In short, my life has turn out differently than I ever could have imagined.  But I want to live this life because it is the life God has for me.

Kevin

Two heads are better than one

How time flies!  It was 10 years ago today that my brother, Mark, married his bride, my sister-in-law, Tiffany.  I remember the day like it was yesterday.  I had the great privilege of being Mark’s best man the day that we welcomed Tiffany into the Bauer family.

I wanted to include the vows that Mark said in the wedding.  Incidentally, Tiffany said the same words, except for the beginning.  “I, Mark, take you, Tiffany, to be my lawfully wedded wife; my constant friend; my faithful partner, and my love from this day forward.  In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow: to be your faithful partner, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow.  I promise to love you unconditionally; to support you in your goals; to honor and respect you; to laugh with you and cry with you; and to cherish you, for as long as we both shall live.”

At one point in Mark and Tiffany’s wedding, Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 was quoted.  It reads, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.  For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.  But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.  Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.  And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”  The old saying is true: two heads are certainly better than one.  Congratulations on your 10th anniversary, Mark and Tiffany.

Kevin

When God says "no"

There are times in life when God says “no” to something that you wanted.  This was something that you felt was reasonable, but He mysteriously chooses to decline your request.  I could cite several illustrations of this in my life, but let me give you just one example. 

Today at work, I learned that a coworker of mine recently got engaged.  While I’m certainly very happy for her, she is probably 20 or 21 years old (although I’m guessing on this; I don’t ask a female her age).  Her life story is to get engaged in her 20’s.  By contrast, I’m turning 37 next week, and I’ve never been married, or engaged.  It doesn’t mean that I’ll never be married, but to this point anyway, God has said “no” to this desire.

How should you respond when God says “no” to you?  Actually, I addressed this in a blog back in January of 2012.  In a blog I titled “God’s ways and man’s ways” I began by talking about how there are times in my life when God chose to go in a different direction than I anticipated.  And then I said these words:

“Have you ever been there?  You thought God was going to go one way, but instead He went in another way altogether, and it shocked you.  What do we do in these situations when God makes absolutely no sense to us?  In Isaiah 55, God says, 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways…as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.' 

I own a precious cat named Belle.  She is my faithful companion.  Wherever I go, she goes.  Recently, I was playing a video game and, of course, Belle was right there with me watching me play.  It occurred to me that my cat had absolutely no idea why I was holding a controller and looking so intently at a TV screen.  Furthermore, if I stopped and explained to her what I was doing or why I was doing it, she wouldn’t get it.  My thoughts and ways are higher than hers.  I think that’s an example of how we are with the Lord.  If God stopped and explained what He was doing and why He was doing it, we wouldn’t comprehend a single word of it.

In those times when I became perplexed, even angry, at the way God is moving in my life, I have discovered that the best thing to do is to submit to His way.  One of my favorite preachers, Michael Youssef, recently said in a sermon that when God’s plan differs from ours, the best course of action is to realize that God’s plan is far superior.”  

I conclude by stating that I affirm once again today what I did back in 2012: God’s way is best.  I trust Him and His plan for me. 

Kevin