How’s Your Summer Looking?

Summer’s here! For most of us that means vacations, graduations and weddings. It’s a busy but enjoyable season. But I also know that for the brokenhearted, June isn’t about “fun.” For some, this month isn’t about happy beginnings . . . instead, it’s a month that marks disappointing and heartbreaking endings . . . the wedding anniversary that was supposed to be, or the vacation time that is instead spent at the bedside of a critically-ill loved one.

Heartache and disappointment is a reality of life, and as I join Dennis Rainey on FamilyLife Today this coming week, I’m thinking about hurting individuals across the country. And I’m asking Jesus for the opportunity to encourage them some through my own journey . . . will you join me in prayer that they will be encouraged?

In this 3-part radio series, I’ll share about when I was first diagnosed with a rare lymphoma and how the intense pain and agony of the disease brought me to such a low point that I told my wife I was finished with praying. Personal suffering has a way of challenging our faith . . . even if you’re a pastor. And yet, a revelation from God’s Word changed my heart and life forever.

If you or someone you know is going through their own valley right now, listen to FamilyLife Today this week on June 10th, 11th and 12th. I believe it will comfort your broken heart, inspire you to ask Jesus for the impossible, and discover a God whose heart breaks with yours.

Click here to listen on-line or to find a radio station in your area that airs FamilyLife Today: http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.3469313/k.93D4/Find_a_station.htm

My Daily Battle

Most of the time I’m fine with the “big” temptations like stealing and murder. I’ve felt like murdering a few petty, controlling, divisive, and mean Christians over the years, but never actually contemplated the act. The last time I actually stole something I was 18. So I’ve been doing pretty good in the murder/stealing category of sins for over forty years.

Yet hardly a day goes by that I don’t struggle with the sins of dissatisfaction and disappointment. Suddenly I realize that here I am again, dissatisfied with God’s provision or disappointed in His plan. The realization usually comes through one of my famous “if-only” thoughts or sentences.

The “If-Only” Sins

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Doesn’t He Care?

In my book, When God Breaks Your Heart, I tell how Jesus’ reaction to Mary’s tears helped me. Look at what Mary’s grief did to Jesus.

Tearful Rage!

The depth of Jesus’ friendship with Mary brought on a display of emotion so profound that many Christians feel a need to explain it away. Uncomfortable with John’s vivid description of Jesus’ emotions, they ascribe cosmic theological motives to the Son of God.

I have a better explanation, the same explanation offered by those who were there that day: “See how He loved him [Lazarus]!” (John 11:36) Jesus could not hide his feelings when he saw the pain of this family he loved.

“Therefore, when Jesus saw her [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.” (John 11:33)

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Looking for a friend?

If you’re looking for that friendship that is totally fulfilling, you need to know that you won’t find it this side of heaven.

On the other side of that barrier is the only One who will not disappoint you, the only One who is always thinking about you and never of Himself, the only One who doesn’t need you.

His name is Jesus.

Friendship:

Since no one thinks about you much,

Unless they need you.

Relate deeply to Jesus;

Expect Him alone to meet your deepest needs.

I’m spending a lot of time in airports this week and all of the talking heads on the 24/7 “news” channels are droning on about the newest scare-a flu pandemic. It seems that we all have just a few days to live and that the sky, once again chicken-little, is falling.

When I see a few fellow travelers hurrying along to the next gate wearing a surgical mask, I can’t help but wonder if I should get one. I mean, “just in case.”

It takes about three minutes online to google “surgical masks” and discover that the answer to that question for most of us is, “No.” The experts generally agree that wearing a surgical mask is a bad idea:

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That’s the lead-in from my friend Charles Morris of Haven Today as he shares with listeners about our upcoming program. Next Monday and Tuesday (March 23rd and 24th), Haven Today will broadcast the program Judy and I recorded last month. Go to: http://www.haventoday.org/radio-stations.php to find a radio station in your area or to download the Podcast.

If someone in your life is struggling with a “why” situation right now, I encourage you to invite them to visit my Blog, listen to Haven Today and/or to give them a copy of my book, When God Breaks Your Heart.  But most of all, pray for them (right now!) and let them know you did!  You may be the person in their life whom God uses to remind them that they are not alone–the person to remind them that Jesus is near to the broken-hearted.

When the pastor who married us thirty-eight years ago read When God Breaks Your Heart, he called me with this summary insight: Ed, this is a very moving book. But the star of the book isn’t you; it’s Judy!

I couldn’t agree more. She’s not only the star of the book; she’s the star of my life.

And being the star of my life isn’t easy for a girl from Bakersfield who hates to fly and feels uncomfortable in front of big crowds. Our life together has forced her out of her comfort zone many times–trips to missions stations in the bush of Africa, the jungle of Thailand, the streets of Hanoi, Singapore, Nairobi, and Amsterdam, or spontaneous invitations to “join Ed” up front at a conference or big event.

Recently though, I asked her to do something we’d never done together–be interviewed for national radio! What a privilege to sit next to her in the recording studio of our good friends at Ambassador Advertising where we were interviewed by Charles Morris, speaker of “Haven Today” (and also a good friend to Judy and I). Even I have to admit to being a little nervous…it’s not always easy sharing vulnerably about your life knowing that thousands will end up listening…yet we’re so thankful for the opportunity to share the message of our book, When God Breaks Your Heart. We’re passionately committed to seeing God use it to reach broken hearts, and looking forward to hearing how He will use the radio broadcast to comfort the hurting–especially during these difficult financial days.

Well, I’m happy to admit that the star of my book was the star of the program! (Check back for an update on when the interview will air!)

Here’s a picture of the four of us, me, Judy, our friend at Ambassador, Lee Ann Jackson, and of course, Charles Morris.

If my audience were elitist media types and political liberals, I would tell them honestly that there are some things about them that bother me.

After I finished my book, When God Breaks Your Heart, detailing my journey of faith living with a deadly disease, I thought I had said it all.

Four days before Christmas, 2001. I should be talking with my son and his wife about their life, their dreams, and the joy of the holidays. That’s what we usually do when they fly home from their military duty station from somewhere in the world. Any other year our conversation this morning would revolve around the soon arrival of his sister’s family from Oregon and how great it’s going to be to spend Christmas just being together with the extended family

But not this year.