I just recently returned from a youth retreat and the theme for our weekend was: Who's got your back? When you hear the phrase, I've got your back, It leads us to a place of confidence, companionship, security, relationship. It’s hilarious, in the last 2 weeks, I’ve heard that phrase come up so many different times. I was down at our theater with my family watching Ice Age 3. (Which BTW is hilarious!) There was a scene where the saber tooth tiger says to his new friend, I’ve got your back. Then a couple weeks ago, I was playing short stop at a church softball game and I overheard our right center-fielder tell our left center-fielder, I got your back.
Those words bring life! Each of us have a longing to be loved. When we know that someone has our backs, it makes us feel loved. There is nothing more encouraging. There is nothing that propels you to greater things. There is nothing that energizes us more. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that someone has our back.
Now, as an associate pastor, I have many roles in our church. I’m the youth pastor. I oversee Christian Education. I preach on occasions. I run the Anchor (our Christian youth center). I visit people in the hospital. I meet with people for counseling. I’m officiating a wedding next month. These are all important roles. But, in addition to knowing Christ, my primary role is to support our senior pastor. As his associate, it is my primary role to support him. No matter what, I need to be loyal, I need to pray for him, I need to be there for him. I have his back no matter what!
Unfortunately, too many people in this world will turn our back on us. We may have a best friend who loves us one day and then leaves us the next. When storms come into our lives, we need to know that we have someone who will support us, love us, be there for us no matter what. We may receive this from our parents, we may receive this from our children, we may receive this from our spouces, we even may receive this from friends. However, there is a love that exists that is far greater and more sufficient than any human love and that is the love that we receive from our Heavenly Father.
Check out these verses:
Proverbs 18:24 “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5-6 "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.”
John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
My desire is for you to know beyond a shadow of doubt that Jesus has your back. That no matter what you do, what happens to you, no matter where life takes you, Jesus has your back! He loves you, He died for you and He lives today to be your best friend!
From the Heart of Hartley
Friday, August 10, 2012
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Can you hear me now?
My favorite human being on the face of the earth is my wife. I better be careful or I might just score some brownie points. In all seriousness, she is the most inspiring individual I have ever met.
Let me explain. Joanna was born with severe hearing loss and profoundly deaf in both ears. She has worn hearing aids since she was a toddler to help increase her ability to hear. She is a phenomenal lip reader and relies on that skill to help her communicate. However, it is still frustrating for her. She's not able to sit in a group and follow every word that is shared. She's not able to enjoy music the way a hearing person does. She won't hear you if you're talking behind her back. If you have a long mustache and a soft voice, she wouldn't even know you're talking. The sounds that a hearing person takes for granted, she will miss most of them.
With this being said, I hardly ever hear Joanna complain. Joanna has an incredible ability to listen with her heart. Yes her ears don't work well, and her eyes work pretty well, but her heart is a treasure full of gold. She has a genuine love for people and God's creation. Because she sees life through a different lens due to her deafness, she has a God-given ability to see the needs of people more than the average person. She takes me to school all the time with lessons in compassion. When one of our children gets stung by a bee, they know who to go to for comfort. Joanna's level of concern will warm the heart of anyone.
Joanna has embraced who God has created her to be. The Bible says in Psalm 139 that we are each fearfully and wonderfully made. Joanna has embraced her inability to hear. She realizes that there is nothing she can do and that God has a reason for her being deaf. There have been times when she has been frustrated because she can't hear, or she'll come home tired from trying to follow a busy conversation. But at the end of the day, she knows that she is God's special creation.
For the last two years, we have been praying more persistently that Joanna would be healed. In Mark 7, we read of a man who was deaf and was healed. We believe that Jesus is in the process of healing Joanna. In moving to Minnesota this last year, we found out that we only live 4 hours from Mayo Clinic, which has one of the premier Cochlear Implant departments in the country. Last Friday, Joanna underwent this surgery to improve her capacity to hear. As she heals and awaits the activation, we are waiting with much anticipation to experience the changes this will bring to Joanna's ability to hear. During surgery, the doctor ran a test to make sure the device was stimulating her hearing nerves and all the tests were passed. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us! These are exciting days ahead for our family with the prospects of Joanna hearing better.
As I have reflected on my wife's hearing in recent days, I am reminded of my need to hear the voice of God. How often does God have to ask us, Can you hear me now? In a world that severs our hearing nerves with the garbage of media, sin and busyness, we often block out the voice of God. My prayer has been, as recorded in Revelation, "Give me ears to hear what the Spirit is saying." In other words, God, give my heart a cochlear implant. I want to position myself in a place where I can hear the voice of God. As a husband, I must hear the voice of God. As a father, I must hear the voice of God. As a son, I must hear the voice of God. As a pastor, I must hear the voice of God. I can't be the man that God calls me to be unless I am spending time knowing and experiencing the presence of God. When I am still, then I can know God.
God has taught me a lot through my wife. These are just a few examples of that. I am blessed to have a wife who loves Jesus, who loves me and cares for me and allows me to be the man that God has created me to be. Joanna is a blessing and as we read in Proverbs 18, "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD." I thank God for my wife! I look forward to the end of this month when we go back to the hospital to have her hearing device activated, I may just ask her, Can you hear me now?
Let me explain. Joanna was born with severe hearing loss and profoundly deaf in both ears. She has worn hearing aids since she was a toddler to help increase her ability to hear. She is a phenomenal lip reader and relies on that skill to help her communicate. However, it is still frustrating for her. She's not able to sit in a group and follow every word that is shared. She's not able to enjoy music the way a hearing person does. She won't hear you if you're talking behind her back. If you have a long mustache and a soft voice, she wouldn't even know you're talking. The sounds that a hearing person takes for granted, she will miss most of them.
With this being said, I hardly ever hear Joanna complain. Joanna has an incredible ability to listen with her heart. Yes her ears don't work well, and her eyes work pretty well, but her heart is a treasure full of gold. She has a genuine love for people and God's creation. Because she sees life through a different lens due to her deafness, she has a God-given ability to see the needs of people more than the average person. She takes me to school all the time with lessons in compassion. When one of our children gets stung by a bee, they know who to go to for comfort. Joanna's level of concern will warm the heart of anyone.
Joanna has embraced who God has created her to be. The Bible says in Psalm 139 that we are each fearfully and wonderfully made. Joanna has embraced her inability to hear. She realizes that there is nothing she can do and that God has a reason for her being deaf. There have been times when she has been frustrated because she can't hear, or she'll come home tired from trying to follow a busy conversation. But at the end of the day, she knows that she is God's special creation.
For the last two years, we have been praying more persistently that Joanna would be healed. In Mark 7, we read of a man who was deaf and was healed. We believe that Jesus is in the process of healing Joanna. In moving to Minnesota this last year, we found out that we only live 4 hours from Mayo Clinic, which has one of the premier Cochlear Implant departments in the country. Last Friday, Joanna underwent this surgery to improve her capacity to hear. As she heals and awaits the activation, we are waiting with much anticipation to experience the changes this will bring to Joanna's ability to hear. During surgery, the doctor ran a test to make sure the device was stimulating her hearing nerves and all the tests were passed. We praise the Lord for His goodness to us! These are exciting days ahead for our family with the prospects of Joanna hearing better.
As I have reflected on my wife's hearing in recent days, I am reminded of my need to hear the voice of God. How often does God have to ask us, Can you hear me now? In a world that severs our hearing nerves with the garbage of media, sin and busyness, we often block out the voice of God. My prayer has been, as recorded in Revelation, "Give me ears to hear what the Spirit is saying." In other words, God, give my heart a cochlear implant. I want to position myself in a place where I can hear the voice of God. As a husband, I must hear the voice of God. As a father, I must hear the voice of God. As a son, I must hear the voice of God. As a pastor, I must hear the voice of God. I can't be the man that God calls me to be unless I am spending time knowing and experiencing the presence of God. When I am still, then I can know God.
God has taught me a lot through my wife. These are just a few examples of that. I am blessed to have a wife who loves Jesus, who loves me and cares for me and allows me to be the man that God has created me to be. Joanna is a blessing and as we read in Proverbs 18, "He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD." I thank God for my wife! I look forward to the end of this month when we go back to the hospital to have her hearing device activated, I may just ask her, Can you hear me now?
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