I Can Do All Things - in 2021

I started 2020 like most of you - upbeat, optimistic, enthusiastic about the year ahead. Excited about the upcoming graduation for 2 of my kids. Looking forward to a trip to the Dominican Republic with my 4 teenagers and the church youth group.  I just finished reading Urgent by David Platt and had a renewed zeal to see God work in my life and that of my family.

We then suffered the same changes most of you did when the virus hit – trips cancelled, working and schooling from home, social distancing, toilet paper shortages.  All our lives were changed practically overnight.  

One of the things I held to during this time was my running.  My alone, stress relief time.  I was working on a 100 mile/month streak.  In May I finished my 46th month – on my way to 60 months before my 60th birthday. But in June – due to what I thought was a hamstring pull - I had to end it.  Though I was able to do some running in June and July and I was never able to fully recover.  Towards the end of August, I ended up in the ER due to exhaustion, almost passing out before I got there.  Due to my family history with heart disease, I underwent a heart catheterization.  My heart was fine, my arteries not so much.  I was diagnosed with high blood pressure that has probably been an undiagnosed issue for some time.  I was put on BP meds and blood thinners to help control and sent home after a 2-day hospital stay.  But things didn’t get better.  At first, I thought it was just needing to adjust to the meds and get the right mix.  But in early November – after adding numbness in my right ankle to the mix I decided to go see what else might be going on.  That’s when we discovered the brain tumor.  Five days later I was in surgery to have it removed - a surgery that took 12 hours.

Now before continuing I need to acknowledge the great support provided to me and my family during this time from friends, family, and my church.  I wouldn’t be surprised if I was one of the most prayed for people on the planet.  A meal train was set up for my family and we had no lack of meals and gift cards.  We got to experience the body of Christ at its best in action.

As I mentioned earlier, the surgery lasted 12 hours.  The recovery continues.  I spent 2 more weeks in the hospital and then 2 more at a rehab center.  I can honestly say that I totally underestimated the recovery process. The biggest challenge is that I lost the ability to speak (audibly) and to swallow.  One of my vocal cords is paralyzed.  With the help of an injection my voice has returned to where I can be heard and understood.  I have an ng tube through my nose to my stomach so I can be fed. I have not had a normal meal since November 10th.

10  I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.   11  Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.   12  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.   13  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

 - Philippians 4:10-13

Philippians 4:13 is probably one of the most out-of-context quoted verses in the Bible.  So I’ve included context in verses 10-12.  I believe that Paul is claiming that it does not matter what circumstances he finds himself in,  good or bad, he is able, through Christ’s strength, to accomplish what God wills to be done.

Since my surgery I’ve found myself in circumstances that I have found less than desirable.  Among other things, my speech has been impaired, I can’t swallow, my balance has been shaky and my strength has been zapped. It’s easy to just feel useless. It's humbling to have to rely on others for help.  I’ve prayed numerous times for God to intervene and restore me to full health but He has chosen not to.  But what He has shown me is that Philippians 4:13 actually does apply to me.  In my current circumstances, if I rely on His strength, I can do all things – I can be used by Him to accomplish his purposes.  But the strength comes from Him, not from me.

Or as Paul also wrote:

9  But he said to me,  “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   10   For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

 - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

So that’s where I find myself entering into 2021, relying on Christ’s strength and not my own, surrendering (or at least trying) to His will and plans and not my own. And I’ll still be praying to be restored to full health – which will happen – in His timing not mine.

By the way, my tumor was a schwannoma. They managed to remove 95% of it, but left 5% to try to avoid any permanent nerve damage. It was benign. It probably had been growing for some time and was pressing down on my brain effecting certain nerve functions – including those which effect my vocal cords and ability to swallow. It should not grow back but I will have an MRI in early February to make sure. The loss of swallowing ability should be temporary- just don’t know for how long.  Therapy, including swallowing exercises should help in getting that ability back.

Thoughts at Midnight

I usually don’t have trouble falling asleep, but last night I woke up before the midnight hour and was contemplating all the that was going on with the coronavirus and its impact on our country and on my family.  Our lives have been changed, seemingly overnight, as if some foreign power had invaded our land and turned it upside down.  Now, when the activities of tomorrow used to seem somewhat in our control, now not so much.  We don’t know how long this will last, and what that means to our lives going forward and the plans that we have made or have been making.  With two high school seniors and two juniors in the household – plus the changes occurring at my job – uncertainty abounds!

So God brought me to 2 Chronicles 20:10

“O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

Jehoshaphat, Judah’s king, faced not only uncertain times, but scary times.  The Moabites and the Ammonites, among others were staring them down in battle.  Judah was outnumbered.  These nations should have been destroyed long ago, probably when the Jewish people were beginning to enter the promised land.  But they were not – and now here they were on Judah’s doorstop.  I imagine all activities were cancelled as they contemplated how to handle this crisis, but all Jehoshaphat could do was to cry out to the Lord and say “We don’t know what to do.”  Therefor he did the only thing he could do – he focused his eyes upon God so that God could do what only God can do.

Psalm 147:5

Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.

There are many passages in the Bible that talk about God’s wisdom and knowledge.  Although Jehoshaphat did not know what to do – God did.  Although I don’t know what to do, God does.  And I need to look to Him in these times of uncertainty because as much as I would like to think I can figure it out, I can’t.  Sometimes things are, as they say, beyond my pay grade.  I think we are living in those times.

God is also abundant in power.  Not only does he know what to do – but He can do it!  He can get us through this. 

2 Chronicles 20:20-22

And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.” And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say,

"Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

And when they began to sing and praise, the LORD set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.

God came through for Judah.  Against impossible odds – because well, God is God.  He is all-knowing and able.

Which leads me to this conclusion -

Ephesians 3:20-22
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

We don’t always have the answers because we don’t have all the knowledge – and even if we did, we don’t have the power to carry it out.  But praise God – He does!

Now if I can only act accordingly.


All passages ESV.  Shared from PocketBible for Windows Store (http://www.laridian.com)

Finding Truth in 2020

I just finished teaching a 4 month study on Psalm 119 for the adult Sunday School class at my church.  Yes – you read that correctly;  4 months over 1 chapter in the Bible.  Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms and at 176 verses, is also the longest chapter of the Bible.

What is the focus of Psalm 119?  God’s Word, or as we know it today, the Bible.   I encourage you to read Psalm 119 for yourself.  In it you will see the psalmist’s delight for and dependence on God’s Word.  You’ll read about the trust he places in God’s Word, to keep him from stumbling, to help him in his battle against sin, and to find strength when faced with struggles – especially those caused by other people.  The psalmist talks about how God’s Word makes him wiser than his enemies – and more than that – it makes him wiser than his teachers and those who have been experience life for a long time.

Of all the 176 verses – verse 160 struck me most of all; 

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

The sum of God’s Word is truth.  Did you catch that?  For those that know me, you know I have been posted a daily Bible verse on social media for years.  Those verses are typically ones I came across in that day’s reading or have been meditating on.  But those postings can be dangerous.  Any one of those verses taken out of context can yield the wrong interpretation.  The Bible is a collection of 66 books written over a time period of 4,000 years yet containing one central theme – God’s plan of salvation for man.   It is meant to be taken in the context of the time periods it was written along with the style (or genre) of each individual book.  And in a time such as today, when the “truth” seems hard to find or is different for each person or groups of people it is comforting to know that we have a standard for truth.  But it’s not contained in any individual verse or passage, but in the sum of God’s Word.

Today, Bible verses are used by well-meaning (and in some cases not so well-meaning) individuals to instruct us on God’s views on things like climate change, immigration, gender issues, and so forth.  But if not viewed in the context of the whole Bible, where we learn of a loving, holy God who grieves overs us and cannot tolerate our sinful actions, yet provides a way for our sins to be dealt with so that we can experience an everlasting love relationship with Him, then these individual Bible verses and passages can lead us further away from the truth not towards it.

So this year, may it be your goal and your desire to know the God of the whole Bible and not just a part.  May you know and experience truth and may that truth set you free!