Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Guide me in your truth and teach me,
    for you are God my Savior,
    and my hope is in you all day long.

• Psalm 25:5

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

• Hebrews 12:1-2

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

• John 9:1-7

Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Savior,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.

• Psalm 51:1-15

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

• Romans 5:1-4

You are my hiding place;
    you will protect me from trouble
    and surround me with songs of deliverance.

• Psalm 32:7

“While his story and his blessings are unique to him, rest assured when you are chosen for suffering, you are chosen for the blessing of displaying the works of God as well. What if the worst parts of your life are actually gateways to the very best parts you’d never want to do without?
“Okay. I very much realize some of you want to throw this book across the room right now. Because being chosen for suffering feels like God is causing bad things to happen to you. It’s a lot of pain with no up-front reward. But remember, God isn’t causing this; He’s allowing it. God isn’t picking on us. He’s handpicked us to be a display of His good works here on earth. And trust me, in eternity you will want to be chosen for this. (… know that your reward is coming!)
“If only we could see the full picture that God sees. If only we could see all the good God will surely do through us and for us. If we could even catch a glimpse of God’s perspective, I don’t think we would want to throw the book. Hang our heads. Shake our fists. Stomp our feet. Or continue logging all of those past hurts. I think we would simply say, ‘Okay, God chose me for this. And I can trust Him to lead me to it, through it, and past it. What feels horrible this day will be so very honorable that day’. ”

• Lysa TerKeurst, It’s Not Supposed to be this Way

Lysa TerKeurst is telling us to let go of the parts that hold us back.  The “his story” at the beginning of the quote is the story of the suffering of Jesus.  But as Jesus tells Peter at the end of John, it is not up to us whether one person suffers as Jesus did while another suffers in other ways, and maybe not as much physically.  But I talked with my mother-in-law who outlived all her friends and wondered why she had not been taken.  My wife who died about eight months ago wondered why she was still around because she was unable to serve God in the way she was accustomed.  But my mother-in-law was a prayer warrior who spent all day praying, and my wife could warm any room by having me roll in her wheelchair and she would smile at everyone she met.  We all suffer, but we suffer in different ways.  And it is above my paygrade to make that decision.

Lysa TerKeurst breaks down Psalm 51 into the confession, the cleansing, the creating, and the calling.  The process of sanctification is rarely a painless process.  Whether we are overtly sinning against God, having our mind wander into unproductive areas, or avoiding what God wants us to do we must confess that our relationship has not grown and that it might be a little rusty.  In confessing our sin and trusting that God is our Lord and Savior, we know that God has forgiven our sins.  Now with a clean palette God can create in us something better, but what is that better thing?  That better thing is something that is now useful to be called into God’s service.  That service could be anything from dropping a box of canned food off at the food bank to a mission trip to the far side of the world.  But it all started with suffering of sorts.

But sometimes, God wants us to jettison the baggage that we think we need.  Okay, maybe not need, but I worked really hard on that project.  Or was it that I worked really hard for that mission, that family, the company?  I will spend more time on “change” tomorrow, but when we have to let go of those things that we hold dear, there is suffering that accompanies it.

Have you ever had a one car two-car garage?  Enough room for a car on one side and boxes of stuff on the other?  What is in those boxes?  How long has it been since you last saw that stuff?  Other people have asked me that for years and I still have a few of those boxes.  There is no logical reason that I can think of to keep those boxes.  Okay, I might need the boxes for other stuff, but there is no logical reason to keep what is in the box.  They are my keepsakes, but with my wife gone and my children and grandchildren totally disinterested, maybe it is time to turn that garage into a true two-car garage.  And I am using the garage as a metaphor.  This house has no garage, but I hope you get the idea.

How often did my wife and I talk about moving closer to the grandchildren, but we would have to either rid ourselves of the “stuff” or move the stuff.  Either thought was unthinkable.

What is it that keeps you from doing what God is calling you to do?

It might be painful, but you may need to let go, in order to let God do wonders within you for His glory.

Lord, guide me. Help us to let go of the things that hinder us.  We know that there will always be those sins in our lives, but as we grow closer to You, those will fade.  Help us find those impediments that are in our lives, things we can let go in order to be closer to You and prepared to do something for Your glory.  We might see the end of an era, but You see what is to come.  In Your name I pray.  Amen.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.