Honor Your Father – Doing the Hard Things Well

“The modern world detests authority but worships relevance. Our Christian conviction is that the Bible has both authority and relevance, and that the secret of both is Jesus Christ.”   .  John Stott    .

2 Sam 1:1 After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

The King was dead on the battlefield. The man David had honored as King, father-in-law, a father-figure, the one appointed by God, the anointed leader of his people was gone. The man David honored even though he had spent the last eight years being hunted by Saul. Through the abuse and the threats and the need to protect himself from being killed by his king, David had never ceased to honor the Lord’s Anointed. This is one of the great stories in which God shows us just how it is that we are to honor those He places in authority over us – even if those people fail to do right and honorable things.

 Many of us have someone we should honor in accordance with God’s Word but we have difficulty living up to God’s standard in this; a parent who was abusive or neglectful or has offended us in some way; a boss who doesn’t listen or seems to be actively against us; spiritual leaders who seem hypocritical or overly harsh when lined up with our way of thinking or our understanding of God’s Word; political leaders who push laws or policies we disagree with – the list of people God has given authority over us is quite large and our reactions to these people are important to Him and to our relationship with Him. We may fool ourselves into thinking that our own understanding is as good or better than those in authority, we may even fool ourselves into thinking that God’s Word is not as plain and simple as it seems in these matters. But God is not fooled and He knows if we are walking in forgiveness and submission to His plan or not.

David sets an unparalleled example for us in this; we would do well to follow it. He was not weak. He was not foolish. He was not blind to the faults of his mentor and king. But he trusted God and His ways and words more than he trusted his own judgment and feelings. If you are walking in opposition to the authority God has placed in your life for your protection and guidance this might be a good day to repent and ask God to lead you into forgiveness and obedience. Know this, David refused to speak against or raise his hand against God’s anointed and God blessed him for it. The years of submission and obedience and trust in God while waiting for God’s timing to enter into God’s plan were years of great growth and spiritual understanding for David. When he heard the report of Saul’s death David had no regrets for how he had treated his father and King, it would be well for all of us if we can say the same of those God has put over us.

 What growth in wisdom and God’s Ways are you missing by opposing those God has put in authority for you? What power in battle and abilities to overcome your enemy have you lost by opposing them? What future plan of God are you thwarting, diverting or delaying because you refuse to submit to God in these matters? Consider your ways, speak with God, listen to His Word, examine your own heart and let Him show you His grace in walking a life of honor.

Draw Me Closer – In Memoriam of Ben Swetman

Draw me closer to you Lord, to hear
            Your voice, the whisper in my ear
                        A gentle touch

To see the world through God’s eyes, the pain
            The joys, a hand reaching out
                        Bringing redemption

Help me to know You more – to show You more
            To those in need of life, a breath away
                        From forever

Teach me Your ways, to put Your words at the
            Core of my life, of my walk, of my words
                        My thoughts

Make Your precepts my lamp, Your words my
            Path, to walk, to run, to stop, and
                        Give encouragement

To guide others to You, away from destruction
            And wrath, to follow – learning to follow
                        Your cloud out of the desert

Draw me closer, into Your arms, to sit at Your         
            Throne, to trust in Your faithfulness
                        To make You my own

Ben lost his battle with cancer and died yesterday. He was only 35 years old and had a beautiful wife and two little children. He was a friend and a man of God who changed lives everyday. He gave all of himself to see God change the lives of those around him. His talents were for God’s glory, his hope was to see souls saved and restored to God by the blood of the Lamb and the word of his testimony. He fought the good fight. He won souls, he returned to God his talents with much increase.  He will be missed and mourned here on earth by many. He has entered into that rest that all who put their hope in Christ desire to enter someday. He is rejoicing in the presence of his Savior today. The party has started. True freedom has been reached. Ben, give Jesus a high five for all of us.