turning down help

When you’re doing almost any kind of work/project and someone offers to help, it’s very natural to accept. Of course, there are exceptions there–most notably when small children are involved. But when the project is something important, particularly something you are doing for God, it’s not wise to accept help without careful consideration.

In my experience, I’ve seen problems arise time and again when help has been offered by people:

• who aren’t really skilled in that area
• who aren’t really dedicated to the “cause”
• who are big on getting their way
• etc.

Today I was reading Ezra 4, which brought this all to mind. The Jews were ordered to go and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritans were opposed to this, and tried to get in on the project so they could sabotage it.

Ezra 4:1-2 (NIV)
When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the LORD, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

This made me think. If I were out there with this mammoth task of rebuilding the temple and folks came and offered to help, saying they were seeking God, how would I have reacted? My initial thought probably would have been “Wow. Great. More help, that’s wonderful.” I hope that I would have taken up that matter to God in some heavy-duty prayer before responding, though. I usually do in big matters like that. But, how tempting just to accept without talking it over with God?

Yet, it’s interesting that the heads of Israel didn’t even need to pray about this matter. They simply turned down the offer:

Ezra 4:3 (NIV)
But Zerubbabel, Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

To me that shows that they understood their mission and knew it was their job to do it. We can speculate whether that was out of faith in God or a strict adherence to the command of King Cyrus. Either way, they were firm in their commitment to building the temple and weren’t easily swayed by an offer of help simply to lighten their work load.

This is something I want to remind myself of next time I’m involved in some work for God. I think one thing I’ve noticed as a social trait in the churches/Christian groups I’ve been involved in is that we’re afraid to turn someone down: “oh, we don’t want to hurt their feelings” or “the more the merrier” or “maybe God can actually use this person in this situation.” Yes, we need to be careful not to hurt people’s feelings or be exclusive, etc. But, just welcoming the help without consideration and prayer–that’s just unwise.

In the case of the Israelites in Ezra 4, accepting this offer of help would have hurt their work. Obviously Satan was behind the deception there as he tried to oppose the work of rebuilding the temple. I’m not suggesting that Satan is behind every offer of help we get as we do our “Kingdom work” but, we should be careful. I know I want to be careful and take these situations to God.

God uses those who don’t even know Him

I’m reading the book of Ezra. I know, not on everyone’s top 10 list from the Bible. Heck, not that long ago, I had the woefully misconceived notion that “Wasn’t Ezra a woman? It sounds like a woman’s name.” Having gotten my facts a little more in order, I thought I should read the book.

The first chapter begins thusly:

Ezra 1:1-4 (NIV)
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:

2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:

‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. 3 Anyone of his people among you — may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the LORD, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 And the people of any place where survivors may now be living are to provide him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”

I found Matthew Henry’s commentary on these verses quite interesting (emphasis mine):

Whence this proclamation took its rise. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus. Note, The hearts of kings are in the hand of the Lord, and, like the rivulets of water, he turneth them which way soever he will. It is said of Cyrus that he knew not God, nor how to serve him; but God knew him, and how to serve himself by him, Isa 45:4. God governs the world by his influence on the spirits of men, and, whatever good is done at any time, it is God that stirs up the spirit to do it, puts thoughts into the mind, gives to the understanding to form a right judgment, and directs the will which way he pleases. Whatever good offices therefore are, at any time, done for the church of God, he must have the glory of them.
(from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1991 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

This, of course, prompted me to look up Isaiah 45:4 (emphasis mine):

Isa 45:1-6 (NIV)
1 This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armor, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: 2 I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places,so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. 4 For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, 6 so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.

God said he would work through Cyrus, even though Cyrus didn’t know Him. And, it wasn’t just for some random “hey, I’m God, and I can do whatever I want” thing–it was another instance where God decided to act to show that He is indeed God.

I’m sitting here thinking how awesome that is. But I’m also thinking: God, I don’t want to make it so You have to act in spite of me, I want You to act through my submission to you–but all for Your glory, not mine.

where have i been?

Nowhere really. I just haven’t felt like posting anything. Well, I’ve felt like it, I just haven’t had the motivation. I worked really hard at getting the nursery ready (hard because I’m such a perfectionist), all the new baby clothes washed and put away, and helping to take care of my wife who is now out of work and on bed rest. But for some reason I woke up at 5am today and couldn’t get back to sleep. So, I guess it’s time to do a little Bible Study and maybe post a couple random things before I start cleaning the house.

ugh, I look 23 weeks pregnant

I’m not a skinny guy and like most guys, I carry all my extra weight in my “pouch.” One of the things I’ve been joking with my wife about has been that with her being pregnant, she’d eventually get a bigger belly than me for the first time. Last week (at the end of week 21), I thought that “magical” moment had come. I pulled out a tape measure, only to find out that my belly was still a little bit bigger.

Ugh. That means I look 23 weeks pregnant. But, on the plus side, I don’t look as pregnant as I once did. 5 years ago I was 40 pounds heavier, and looked about 7 months pregnant. At least I’m moving the right direction…

kick for daddy

Friday night I got to feel our baby kick for the first time. For the past week or two, when my wife prepares for bed, I’ve been laying next to her with my hand on her belly since the baby often kicks when she’s still. But I had never managed to feel one of the kicks. We just finished week 19, so the baby is still pretty tiny in there.

We usually read a devotion before going to sleep. Friday she suggested that I read louder and near her belly. The baby kicked a few times while I was reading but I was reading and didn’t have my hand on her belly to feel it. After reading, I was feeling for a kick but none came.

As I was about to get up (I usually tuck my wife into bed then get up for a few hours since I don’t require nearly as much sleep as she does), I leaned over and put my lips right against her belly and said loudly, “Kick for daddy!” The baby immediately complied with a rather forceful kick–enough for me to feel.

Amazing. My child is only 19 weeks and can follow directions. Well, that or I scared the poor child nearly to death.

careful what you ask a seven-year-old boy

This weekend we went on a family vacation. We went to a very nice state park in Delaware. My parents own a 28-foot camper. In addition to my folks, me, and my wife, my sister and her family (husband and 3 nephews: 7, 5, 2) came along. We had a great time.

The best part was during breakfast on Sunday morning. The adults had discussed that we would probably tell the boys about their new cousin this weekend. We got discussing some friend of the family when my sister said, “you know, [name of person] is a really nice name for a girl,” which lead to a few jokes about several possible baby names. After a minute or two of that, my sister asked her boys, “do you guys know why we’re talking about baby names?” They didn’t quite get it, so we told them to expect a new cousin early next year.

The best part was my sister asking her oldest boy (7), “don’t you have anything you want to say to your aunt and uncle?,” to which he immediately replied, “good luck!”

Everyone got a great laugh out of that.

so, when do I get my wife back?

I feel like I’ve been living alone for most of the past two months. There are times that I see evidence that there’s a zombie sharing my house and bed.

My wife is now almost 13 1/2 weeks into our pregnancy. I just keep hoping that she will hit this “energy boost” that I keep hearing about that’s supposed to kick in at the 2nd trimester. The weekends aren’t so bad. But, during the week, when she gets home from work, I can usually get about 3 sentences out of her before the eyes glaze over and “zombie-mode” kicks in. I just hope I get back the woman I love here at some point.

Dealing with the food aversions and crazed eating games hasn’t been too bad–more funny to watch: going from “I’m not hungry” to “I need to eat something right now” to preparing a huge plate of something (usually pasta or mashed potatoes) to “I can’t eat any more” (usually after 3 or 4 bites out of the huge plate). I knew my wife would be tired early on in pregnancy. I just didn’t know she’d sleep 12 hours and be barely communicative during her pseudo-waking hours.

I’ll survive… I just hope the zombie moves out and my wife returns… I miss her. I miss us.

photo of me and my wife

I just know everyone is really wanting to see what my wife and I look like. Here you go.

praying to free Eric Volz

I got this e-mail about Eric Volz. I hope you’ll join me in praying for this situation.

FREE ERIC VOLZ

What you can do now…

For the past almost eight months as people have heard
the story of Eric
Volz's arrest and unjust imprisonment, after the look
of disbelief, there
comes a question, "what can we do?"

We struggle to believe, still, that this situation is
as dire as it appears,
that the chance for Eric to be freed hangs by such
thin threads. After all, we understand justice to mean
that if mistakes are made they will be made right. We
wait together for this to become true.

There have been and are still available opportunities
to communicate with Eric and to contribute to the
costs of his defense. (go to www.freeericvolz.com)

But now as we wait, we have another timely and
important answer to the question, "what can we do?"

Between the dates of July 21st and 29th (the week that
marks the beginning of the 9th month since Eric's
arrest) the friends of Eric Volz are calling for all
concerned persons and groups to gather together in
whatever way you practice prayer.

We will join together during this week to garner the
powers of grace, mercy, forgiveness, justice and love.
We believe these powers to be stronger than any of the
systemic brokenness and evil that keeps innocent
persons imprisoned. This is a time for faithful
persons to lean toward the changing of processes and
persons who have the power to decide to protect Eric's
safety and to set him free.

If you are reading this and as a group or individual
wish to add your energy to hoping with many others
please let us know that you'll be setting aside time
as an individual or with a group for a hour, a day, or
spread out across this week of response.

Please email the name, email and physical address of
the person who will coordinate the effort for your
group to: skeenj@mail.belmont.edu. As is possible we
will provide materials electronically that can be
reproduced as you choose for use with your group. We
will also mail additional support materials to share
with those who participate. (Please include an
estimate of how many are needed in your response)

Thank you for your ongoing concern for Eric and his
family.

Melissa Campbell
www.friendsofericvolz.com

praise to God for my house, family, and job

This week I celebrated the 5-year “anniversary” of closing on my house. At the time, I was dating someone, though not convinced it would last–and it didn’t. Yet, as I went through the house shopping process (finally opting to have a new house built–and helping design the floor plan) I was confident God was confirming that I would eventually find the right woman to marry, there would be kids, and I would need a home office. When I told people that I was having a 4-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot house built, most would say, “All that just for you?” I told them that it wasn’t just for me, that eventually the house would be full with a family.

In those five years, God has chosen to bestow those blessings on me. I’m feeling really blessed and believe God is honored as I give Him praise for His gifts to me. He gave me a wonderful wife nearly three years ago. I have been working from home for the past year and just accepted a new job that will allow me to continue to work from home. And, we’re 7 weeks pregnant.

God is good. God has been good to me. God will continue to be good to me. Praise God, He is worthy!