It has occurred to me again recently that the battle is the Lord’s, that I can do nothing apart from Him, that “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it. (Psalm 127:1a).” I am seeing more clearly that I don’t simply need His help, I need Him to do it for me, and in me, and through me. I am realizing anew that I am, and have always been, totally dependent upon the Lord in every aspect of life.

   One might think that in time I would learn to exercise a little independence, to accomplish something without bothering God for His help, but quite the opposite is true. I am learning that I was not made to function on my own. Some may laugh or call me lunatic, but I am actually enjoying my dependence. This is the result of revival, not laziness or a lack of zeal. It was God’s idea, not my own.

  He told me to, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Prov. 3:5-6).” He has revealed to me that, “…As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. (John 15:4).” I’m starting to see that while I am unqualified and unable to do anything of lasting value on my own, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Php. 4:13).” I have discovered power in dependence, and peace in surrender. I feel closer to God and I like it.

  He is the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe; He is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He is MY STRENGTH and MY GOD! “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21).”

  Christians talk about giving God thanks for everything, but some skeptical observers have asked, “How can one give thanks for things that are unpleasant or sorrowful?”  God’s word answers, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

  Let me illustrate this promise by telling you of an artist who spent a long tedious evening setting up a very expensive canvas on which he intended to create a masterpiece.  All was ready; he would begin the next day.

  Curiously, the artist encountered a crew of house painters exiting as he entered his rented studio early the next morning.  With a quick glance around the room, he spied a large black spot on his new canvas that matched the trim color around his freshly painted windows.

  After a long gaze at the spotted canvas, the old master picked up his brush and began to paint.  Miraculously the black spot became the center of a beautiful flower as the artist spread the colors over the canvas.  At the end of the first day, no one would have imagined that the house painters had spoiled the new canvas the night before.

  The following day, this patient master was met with apologies from an electrician who was exiting the building.  He confessed that in the busyness of the morning, the easel holding the canvas was tipped over, causing the painting to slide across the wet paint pallet left on his stool from the night before.  A long green streak now lay across the beautiful flower.

  Again, he took his place in front of what would seem to be a lost cause and studied it for a while.  Finally he dipped his brush and began to paint.  At the end of the day, the green streak had become part of a lush green vine that had woven its way through the flower garden and bordered the edges of the canvas.  The mishaps had faded into the beauty of the picture.  And so it is, as God, the Master of the universe, paints on the canvas of your life or mine.

  As a pastor I am often amazed at the arrogance with which most parents offer advice about raising children.  Amazed because their boldness does not seem to be effected by the mental, social or spiritual development of their own offspring.  They may have children who have miserably failed in business ethics, the exercise of social graces, or in their walk with the Lord, but still as parents they boast their methods and motives as if they had turned out champions for the next generation.

  Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not suggesting that the faults of every child are the result of parental failure, nor do I believe that good parenting skills are a guarantee that every child will turn out right.  But how is it that any mom or dad can be so naive as to think themselves sufficient for the task of molding a young man or woman for God.

  My children are raised now, and if there is one thing that raising children has taught my wife and me, it is that we are not sufficient for the task.  As we look back at our own experience, we can confidently say that every idea implemented in our home that originated with us, or with one of the self appointed professional parent authors, was a mistake.  On the other hand, it is equally obvious to us that every biblical principle and precept that was implemented in our home and tenaciously woven into the fabric of our children’s lives has proven itself to be beneficial to them.

  In short, parenting has taught me two things: (1) I don’t know how to raise kids. (2) God does!  The best manual on parenting comes from the One who formed the children in their mother’s womb.  From that manual I offer this advice: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).”

  It is foolish to keep doing the same things and expect different results.

 Recently, a man visited a local fast food restaurant and asked for a half dozen chicken nuggets.  “We don’t have half dozen nuggets,” said the teenager behind the counter;  “We only have six, nine, or twelve.”  “So I can’t order a half-dozen nuggets, but I can order six?”  “That’s right!”  So, he ordered six nuggets.  Though we smile, isn’t there something sad about this experience?  It serves as an example of the shallowness that pervades our generations, an unwillingness to think—to learn.  More sadly still, this cultural phenomenon has affected our ability to comprehend truth in the spiritual realm that lies just beyond the surface of what we see with our eyes.

  The Psalms reveal that individuals living in the days of old were not plagued with our mental lethargy.  It is convicting to notice how David’s meditations did not begin like mine.  The initial focus of the Psalm was not on the headlines of the day, nor on the events that kept his life “on the edge,” but on the condition of his own heart before God!  He prayed, “Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; Try my reins and my heart. (Psalms 26:1–2)”

  The King was asking the Lord to examine his integrity and uprightness.  He realized that the things that mattered most were his standing before God in uprightness, and standing for God while in the presence of his fellow man.

  Not until the end of the Psalm does David mention the lurking dangers that threatened His kingdom and his very life.  Interestingly, even then it was not to complain about his lot in life, or to play on the sympathy of the Almighty, but to acknowledge his dependency and express his confidence in his God.

  Perhaps our posterity will be shallow thinkers when it comes to ordering chicken nuggets or making change for a customer, but I pray that God would raise up generations who know Him and delight in His law.  Only then will we be certain of a bright future.  Think about it—no, learn about it.

  Just yesterday, the thought of that long awaited blast of the “Last Trump (1Corinthians 15:52)” came to mind.  It’s the next event on God’s prophetic time table, when believers, both dead and alive, will be caught up into heaven to meet the Lord.  For those left behind, seven years of chaos will ensue.  As I rehearsed God’s promise once again, a sense of confident expectation was renewed.  Though we don’t know when the trumpet will sound, we know that it is imminent, and we live in expectancy.

  The writer of Scripture encourages… “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede) them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1Thessalonians 4:13-18).”

  Though some will scoff, and treat God’s promise as if it were the last chapter of “Mother Goose,” for those of us who know the power and exactness of the Word of God, just the thought of that great event, The Rapture, causes our hearts to beat faster.  We long for that day when we will stand in the presence of our Great God, and hear His “Welcome home.”

  For those of you who are moved by the thought of our Lord’s return, would you also consider the apostle Paul’s words, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16).”  There is much to be accomplished in these “last days.” “…the night cometh when no man can work. (John 9:4)”