Editors

    Have you ever written something that requires editing? Whether you have created an article for a church publication or a report when you were in school, you've probably experienced the work of an editor at one point or another. 

    When I first started sharing my writing, I found it difficult to appreciate the work of an editor. Once when I sent a poem to a friend, she immediately drew my attention to what was, in my opinion, one of the most poignant stanzas and asked, "What is that in there for?" I didn't know how to answer her. To me, it was something that had just written itself in and it belonged, but I didn't know why. Slowly, I have begun to appreciate more and more the wonderful people that are willing to give ideas focused on improvement. Usually I find that their advice does improve my work.

    While the writer is the artist and the dreamer, the editor is the one that keeps the venture based in reason and tries to make it the best version it can be, even though the writer doesn't always understand why or appreciate the critiquing. An editor really can be a writer's best friend, even though the editor does seem to have a built in device that identifies the writer's favorite phrases as ones that need removing.

    Our relationship with God is somewhat the same. While we write the book of life we submit it chapter by chapter to Him to peruse. Even after we've reread our own work many times and improved it to the best of our ability, it often seems He still has many changes for us to make. Sometimes He takes the things dearest to our hearts and says "that's got to go."

    Although He doesn't always explain right away why, it is important that we learn to trust in His recommendations. We need to see Him as our reason, grounding our lives when they would get too carried away with things that are not a profit to His kingdom. We should understand that the storylines in our lives are not about what we think we want to happen, but more about where God is asking us to serve. Although for a writer editing can be painful as favorite lines get discarded, the result is a better, polished version.

    We, too, can become an improved version. Although you and I may always remain a bit rough about the edges, with the help of the Master Editor we will become closer to the book He has meant us to be as we allow His storyline to become the central focus of our lives instead of our own.

Angels

    Sadness abounds in the world around us. As the earth decays, morality crumbles, and tragedies occur, it is almost more than we sometimes feel we can bear. We fail to recognize the true scope of the glory of God and His power and love. Not only did God send His Son to die for us and His Spirit to dwell within us, He has also surrounded us with angels.
    Angels were the topic of a recent Bible study evening. Perhaps we are sometimes tempted to imagine angels are some sort of myth. Yet the Bible Doctrine and Practice says we can understand from Scripture that there are thousands times thousands and thousands upon thousands of angels. These beings are wonderful, awe-inspiring creations of God. We do not understand all of the work of angels, but we do know that they are interested in man and that God sometimes uses them to care for us. Who among us hasn't thrilled to hear a story where the conclusion of the matter is, "It must have been an angel!"?
    So often we get wrapped up in the negatives. Revelations speaks of the war in Heaven where Satan rose up in pride in an attempt to claim the highest throne for himself. In poetical language, chapter twelve, verse four, says that "his tail drew the third part of the stars of Heaven, and did cast them to the earth."
    Our minds stop on that number, appalled that so many would have been caught in Satan's web and cast out with him. There must have been much sorrow that day. 
    I'm not much one for math, but I can do simple fractions, and a new thought suddenly hit me. If one-third of the Heavenly beings chose darkness, that leaves two-thirds that chose light, exactly double the number of the falling away. 
    With the realization that good outweighs evil two to one, my hope is restored. Why do I fear the evil spirits lurking and tormenting? For we have it in the Bible that they are outnumbered. Good abounds. Joy is possible. Peace is plausible. God did not leave us outnumbered by the foe. It is not an impossibility to survive the darkness in this weary world. We need not fear the sadness, trouble, and turmoil that we see about us.
    God has set angels about His people. Let us thank Him for sending this source of protection, these warriors, already experienced on the battlefield, that likely know more than we do of the sheer cunning of the enemy. In the darkest nights and the worst storms, it is a blessing to imagine God directing His angels to stand guard.
    Although we are still required to step up and do our part, it is a relief and comfort to know that God has promised to leave us never alone. Recognizing the Holy Spirit as our Everlasting Comforter, and God as the greatest power ever to exist, I believe He has sent His angels outnumbering the enemy, as well. It is no accident. May we ever praise His name.

I feel like my understanding of angels is very small, but I was encouraged after our Bible study. Please feel free to correct any misconceptions I have. I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on angels, too!

Choices

     I first heard this story a couple years ago at a school meeting. The speaker did an outstanding job in his telling, which I can in no way replicate here. I am thankful for the inspiration he was given and his willingness to share. It is not the intention to glorify war in any way.

    Choices. We all have an incredible number of choices to make every day. What we often fail to remember is that our choices are often made by our actions beforehand. Are we preparing ourselves in our daily lives to be ready for the responsibility of choice when it comes? One young man was.

    This event took place on November 26, 1943. It was night near the Gilbert Islands. The United States Navy was preparing for their first-ever attack launched from an aircraft carrier. The planes left the ship one by one, and begin their flight across the ocean. A young commander, Edward (Butch) O'Hare, was leading the formation when they were set upon by several Japanese torpedo bombers. O'Hare never hesitated and did not flee. Instead, he wheeled about and begin a counter-attack which resulted in five of the nine enemy planes being shot down before his own F6F Hellcat spiraled out of the sky, never to be found. O'Hare was the first naval recipient of the Medal of Honor of World War II. When his choice came, he did not hesitate. He was ready.

    Now let's travel back in time to the streets of Chicago. You could make good money there if you had the right connections, and Easy Eddie did. He was a lawyer working under the mob boss Al Capone. But there was a problem. He had a son, a very bright boy with the possibility of a good future. Easy Eddie knew that his son would have great difficulty living up to his potential when people realized to whom he was related. If only his son had a clean name! 

    Eddie recognized that there was a way for his son to get a clean name, but it would not be an easy one. In order for his son to have a chance in life, Eddie would have to make changes himself. He would have to quit the mob. 

    Quitting the mob was not something one did lightly. Eddie knew what happened to men who quit the mob. He had worked with Capone long enough to realize that. But what was worth more? His life, or the future of his son? He wrestled with the decision into the early hours of many nights. Finally, his choice was made. He gathered papers of incriminating evidence and handed them over to the authorities. Today, many people believe that without this important evidence Capone would likely never have been convicted of his many wrong-doings. Two days after Easy Eddie made his decision for the right irreversible, he was dead.

    This is the true story of the decision that gave Edward O'Hare the courage he needed to break up the attack of an enemy squadron. You see, the lawyer that chose to leave the mob? That was Edward's father.

    Let us strive to live our lives in such a way that we will be ready to make decisions for the right when those choices come our way. We cannot know how many people those decisions will impact. Choices in the things we say, in how we react to circumstances, in how we use our time, or choose to reach out to others. 

    Because we cannot predict what situations we will find ourselves in, we cannot plan every response. Nor are we always blessed with time to ponder before making a decision. But we can prepare. We can prepare ourselves by deciding every day to lean upon the everlasting arms of a Father in whom we can trust in any circumstance. In the words of of Joshua, we can prepare every day if we "Choose...this day whom ye will serve;...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

    If this is the earnest cry of our hearts, there will be grace to overcome. There will be courage to take a stand. There will be guidance to make the right decisions. May we live every day in preparation for the choices which we face.

Hiding Under Boxes

     Some years ago, my family owned and operated a small local store. One of our acquaintances, Lenora, needed a job, so we offered her a position. One day a customer came around a shelf and recognized her. Immediately there was a round of "Hello's!" and "How are you's?" and "So good to see you's!"
    As soon as the customer left the store, Lenora turned to the rest of us. "I cannot stand that woman!" she said. We were surprised. We would never have guessed it while the two of them were conversing!
    A few weeks later Lenora had a chance to prove to us just how much she really disliked the woman. She saw the familiar car pulling up near the storefront. "Quick!" she hissed to her friend, who happened to be by the counter. "Help me hide!" The rest of us watched in amazement as she crouched on the floor and her friend covered her inert form with a pile of clothes and boxes that lay nearby. 
    The customer approached the counter. It was difficult not to look toward the innocuous pile of clothes which was trembling slightly as the woman made her purchases and left the store. 
    Consistency. How honest are you? The Bible advises us to let our communication be, Yea, yea; nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil (Matthew 5:37). Have you ever been caught in the trap of acting like someone's friend to their face and then gossiping behind their back? Do you try to soothe your conscience by hiding under a box emblazoned with the words "Bless her heart?"
    There are other areas. Do I righteously agree that listening to secular music is a bad idea, but then have a private playlist I turn to at the hour of midnight? How about the times I know the right words to say to make myself look good to others, whether it be at a youth function or a staff visit? When we are asked questions we don't wish to dwell on and people get too close to our uncomfortable truths, many of us have a pile of boxes we burrow under in a hurry, excuses that we always turn to no matter how shaky they may be.
    Let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay. How confusing it must be to my students when I let something go one day, but then get onto them the next! My witness surely becomes muddled when I speak about obeying authority, then grumble wrathfully about some law or guideline I don't appreciate. 
    None of us are perfect, but we need to strive to be consistent in and out. What I say to one person needs to line up with what I tell someone else. Actions need to line up with my beliefs. Don't act friendly one day if you plan to hide under a pile of clothes tomorrow. No, you can't go around being rude to people, but you need to work on the root of the problem, not try to tell yourself you're doing the best you can by avoiding the problem.
    It's not easy. It can be embarrassing and vulnerable to remain open and honest, yet striving for consistency will help you keep to the path you wish to travel more than you think. You can't trick yourself into believing you are OK in your Christian life if you refuse to hide under the boxes and instead take an honest look at your discrepancies.
    I want to look clearly at my life and take consistency to heart. I want to learn to be open to the places where my path may lead if I commit whole-heartedly to letting my yea be yea and my nay be nay. Throw out the boxes. Toss the old clothes. Let's stand tall with nothing to hide, knowing that God himself blesses the heart that has the courage to be honest and consistent in all one does.