This morning I read a proverb which says,

When arrogance comes, disgrace follows,
but with humility comes wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2 (CSB)

It is 2020, a presidential election year in the United States. Occasionally, my phone will notify me that there are Tweets to which I should pay attention. I am always frustrated when I do because of the tone of the political discourse that always seems to find its way into my feed.

The one thing that so much of the discussion on the internet and social media lacks is humility and if the proverb referenced above is true, it then also lacks wisdom.

I cringe at some of the things that get said by those in our highest office. My frustration is not limited to our current President. His predecessor, from the other party, was no better in this regard. And it is likely that whoever gets elected this fall will bring little, if any, improvement.

The lack of humility that we see displayed might be blamed on the nature of the process. One does not win debates, and sadly, perhaps does not win votes by deferring to others. The whole process is dependent upon self-promotion and defamation of one’s opponent. A survey of advertisements for candidates for both parties at all levels of government reveals that self-promotion and vicious attacks are the normal methods employed.

But, in the midst of all the rancor, I am reminded that one day, a King who will return and take over who was described this way during his first appearance:

“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.”

Matthew 21:5 (ESV)

May that day be soon . . .

One of the advantages of reading a different version of the Bible, one that you are not familiar with, is that a different reading can trigger an insight that you never saw before.

This happened to me this morning as I read Psalm 23 in the Christian Standard Bible. In that translation the verse 3 reads:

He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:3 (CSB)

I’m not enough of a Hebrew scholar to know if “right paths” or “paths of righteousness” is the better translation. But I am encouraged by the CSB translation.

It is easy to wonder sometimes if we missed a sign post along the way. Things don’t turn out the way we thought they would when we were in high school or college. The actuality may look very different than what we envisioned.

But, David reminds us in this Psalm that God remains the Good Shepherd who guides us and provides for us. If we continue to look to him, especially when circumstances are difficult, we can be assured that he will lead us onto the right path.

From Psalm 23:3, I surmise that the path that we’ve been on has been the right path. We may have needed rescuing after getting lost, but we can trust that God knew about it before hand and despite our foibles has kept us on the correct path.

I will again share my favorite verse in Scripture, Philippians 1:6:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)

If we follow the Good Shepherd we can’t get lost.

In Nehemiah 9, there is recorded a long prayer in which a brief history of the Nation of Israel is recorded. In the prayer, we can see, in Israel, the pattern of distress-repentance-renewal-decline repeated over and over again.

In considering this cycle, at first I was a bit dismayed. Any student of church history can see this repeatedly played out. We see great revivals take place and then within a generation or two, the church looks nothing like it did during the revival. As a result, I asked myself, “will we ever get it right?”

But then I am reminded that it is the Holy Spirit that moves and works to cause the revival. It is not something that we can manufacture on our own, even though church growth experts keep trying to do so.

The point is that all the striving, all the effort, all the marketing plans, and methodologies for church growth cannot change a single heart. Only God can do this.

The best we can do is admit our weakness and failure and look to God to grow us up individually. And, we see from Scripture that God will use those who submit to him to accomplish his purpose.

Even in Israel’s darkest moments, there was a remnant of people that remained faithful. Even in the darkest moments of church history, a similar remnant of faithful believers could be found.

I am encouraged by this, as strange as it may seem. Even though there is much to criticize in the American church of 2020, there is also a remnant of people that are fully devoted to God and are crying out to Him to bring revival.

May their prayers be answered soon . . .

This is a guest post by my daughter, Abby McIntyre, who is a recent graduate of Grand Canyon University. This post was originally published on the website for Living Streams Church where she works as a children’s ministry assistant.

“As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

Luke 19:37-40 

I have vivid childhood memories of those built-in water dispensers that you find on the doors of many refrigerators. My family never had one, but a lot of family friends did and a visit to their house meant water from the fridge door. The reason the memories are so vivid: it takes a long time for one of those dispensers to fill a cup. It’s probably different for a grown-up, but 10-15 seconds of watching water fall into a cup was a looong time for me as a thirsty elementary schooler. The anticipation was really killer. 

On a much grander scale than fridge water, life has been forcefully slow recently. Chances are you’ve recently found yourself with excess amounts of time to feel the anxious anticipation surrounding COVID-19. Maybe you’ve finished all the house projects that you had on the docket and caught up on the episodes of your show. Or maybe you’re just itching to get past this time of being home all the time. Ready for the waiting time to end. Businesses, churches, and families are right there with you—waiting, waiting, waiting to find out what the next few months will look like. 

My challenge: find something beautiful to look at while you wait. Step outside at night and notice the stars above your house. Go for a walk and watch families of quail, ducks, or ants looking for food together. Turn off your phone and focus your full attention on family game night. Maybe even pick up the dusty instrument that sits in the corner of your living room and listen to the notes ring out. Focus on the rhythm of your own breath. God made your lungs to do that, how great is He? 

When Jesus entered Jerusalem and his disciples cried out in praise, religious leaders told him that the disciples should be quiet. Jesus responded by saying that if the disciples were to stay quiet, the rocks on the ground would begin to cry out His praise. That if no one were to speak, the stones would still say “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

I believe that when we slow down and listen—even if the “slowing down” is imposed on us by a global pandemic and a stay-at-home order—the small and quiet things around us can become small and quiet ways of spending time with God. An anxious, “let’s get this over with already” moment becomes a beautiful and gentle time to reconnect to God, self, and breath. Then—it’s cool—we get to join in with the rocks and stars and ants as they sing their song of praise to Him. Look around you in the slowness and the quiet (and the anxiety!) and listen to the song that echoes in nature and in beauty: “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 

Now, since I’ve gotten older, when I use a fridge-door water dispenser at a friend’s house (pre-quarantine!), I have an easier time waiting through the 10-15 seconds of thirsty anticipation. I don’t tap my foot or think about how much I wish the waiting was over. Instead, I look at all the sweet pictures and thank you cards and wedding invites they’ve hung there, or I listen to the sound of the water falling into the cup. A waiting moment turned to a quiet observation of my surroundings and deep hope that the moment I’m anticipating will arrive soon enough. There is peace in Heaven and there are beautiful things to be noticed in the waiting time.