If the backstage doesn’t function, the piece doesn’t work. The backstage is the well-oiled machine that keeps a show running. Yes, your actors can be phenomenal. And your director can be visionary. And your writing can win awards. But if your backstage isn’t organized enough to bring all the pieces together, nothing will work.

Juan, Andres and Jay backstage at a puppet show - Peten, Guatemala

Today’s verses are Matthew 6:2-4.

When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

When I read today’s verses, I thought of the backstage.

No one ever talks about the backstage. No one ever talks about the people in the trenches on movie sets. The stage managers, the prop masters, the grunts who do the difficult work usually fade into obscurity. They are the ones listed in the end of the credits in small type that few pay attention to. They are the ones who make the movie or the play happen, and no one will ever see them. If someone ever sees them, especially during the movie or the play, that means they’re not doing their job.

Backstage is invisible. Like shadows. You’re never supposed to see them. Backstage is designed to help the actors and the directors and the writers shine, while they receive little to no credit at all. And the irony is that I don’t think they mind.

Maybe this is a bad example. But I think Christians are supposed to live like they work backstage at a theatrical production. That’s what this statement from Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount says to me.

People who help others in order to draw attention to their good works are hypocrites. That’s what the religious people of Jesus’ day did. They wanted to make sure everyone knew that they were sacrificing to help people around them. But what Jesus is saying here is that when you help someone, you shouldn’t make a big deal out of it. You should keep it private. You should keep it between you and God.

I love what Jesus said that those who call attention to their good deeds have received all the reward they will get. When we help others just to show off how compassionate we are, all we do is demonstrate that we crave attention and adulation and praise from our peers. And, yes, you may be helping others. But if you only help others to obtain the credit for it? Those good works don’t mean anything.

But if you help someone in secret–if you help someone quietly, without fanfare and without expecting praise–that’s different. That says you care more about the person you’re helping than what you can get out of helping them. And that kind of humility is something that God will bless.

Granted, we are supposed to give God credit for everything. We’re supposed to be ready with an answer if anyone asks us why we live the way we live. So don’t be a backstage Christian when it comes to explaining your faith. That’s not what I’m talking about.

When it comes to helping others, stay in the shadows. Don’t desire adulation or credit, and don’t seek after the spotlight. God knows what’s going on in your heart, and He will make sure you receive the reward you deserve for your actions, either in this life or the life to come.

Stick to the backstage. You can get all the action you can stand without having to make a fool of yourself in front of millions of people. Sounds like a good trade off to me.

Farmers wait for their crops to grow. Business people wait for opportunities to shine. Actors wait for a script where they can pour their heart into. Teachers wait for their students to bring back their homework to show that they actually learned the lesson. Doctors wait for the next medical breakthrough. Everyone waits. It’s part of life, no matter if you follow Christ or not.

Soybeans vs. Wheat - Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS

Today’s verse is Psalm 62:5-8.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
      for my hope is in him. 
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
      my fortress where I will not be shaken. 
My victory and honor come from God alone.
      He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. 
O my people, trust in him at all times.
      Pour out your heart to him,
      for God is our refuge.

Waiting on God is a concept that is mentioned over and over again throughout the Bible. I think God brings it up so many times because people like me insist on forging ahead independently. And I don’t suppose there’s anything wrong with that. After all, we are supposed to be bold and courageous, and we’re not supposed to live life in fear. But there’s a big difference between living life in fear and running ahead when you can’t see your feet in the dark.

Sometimes you have to wait. Sometimes the choices you make mean you have to wait longer.

My neighbors across the street planted two separate crops. They both tilled up their land at the same time, but one planted winter wheat and the other planted soybeans later in the year. So when June rolled around, the wheat was ready to be harvested (it was actually cut down the day after that photo was taken). But the soybeans were just beginning to sprout because they were planted later. So the wheat was cut and stored away in June. The soybeans weren’t harvested until many months later.

So why is it important to wait?

Practically, that’s a simple answer. If you try to eat hot soup straight out of the pot, you’ll burn your tongue. But in regards to living life? Waiting is important because you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I’m not saying you have to wait before you make a decision, especially if you know it’s the right decision to make. But I have a hard time letting it go at that. I can make decisions all day long. I can choose to act in a certain situation. But then I don’t want to stop acting. I want to keep going.

It would be tantamount to harvesting that whole field of wheat and not wanting to stop before I harvested the soybeans too, even though they weren’t ready.

Because my heart and my head tell me I’m right and that I know what I’m doing and that I can handle any trial that comes my way, so I forge ahead without consulting God about it. And I expect to earn my victory in life on my own because I am a capable person and I don’t need help.

But that’s not what this Psalm says.

When people and situations rise up to challenge us, the first inclination is to strike back. When circumstances align where it seems that obtaining success will be easy for us, the first inclination is to seize that opportunity. And, yes, if you’re in a situation where the obvious answer is to do the right thing or choose the right thing, do it. Don’t wait for answers you already know. But we are rarely in that situation. We have a multitude of choices laid out before us and all of them can be good — but many of them give us the chance to run ahead of God seeking our own victory. And whenever we try to seek victory for ourselves by ourselves, we will fail. Because we’re not that good.

Choose a path. Stay on it. Do what you’re supposed to be doing. And wait for God to work out the details.

Sometimes you have to wait. Waiting doesn’t mean that you’ve done something wrong. And it doesn’t mean that God isn’t working. It could just mean that the crop you planted needs a little more time before you harvest it.

The 24 hours we get in each day, we never get again. They come and they go. Fast. As a child, 30 seemed ancient and far away. But I will be 30 this year. But what is 30 years compared to 60? What is 60 compared to 80 or 90? And what is 90 compared to eternity? I think 90 years is a long time to live, but in the grand scope of what our existence will truly be, 90 years is nothing.

Sun behind the clouds - Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS

Today’s verses are Psalm 39:4-7.

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;  at best, each of us is but a breath. We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it. And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?  My only hope is in you. 

We are so consumed with time, especially those of us in America. We all carry watches. We all have clocks, although most of my clocks are set wrong. We all have cell phones with the time displayed. Why? Because we don’t want to be late. Americans are the culture most controlled by the power of the clock. We rush from meeting to meeting, always listening to the tick-tock of time and rarely understanding its true significance.

We grasp and clutch and cling to our possessions because it took so long and we worked so hard to earn them. And in the brief time we are alive on earth, we scramble to accumulate as much wealth as possible so that we can live comfortably. Is that wrong?

Well, no. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live a comfortable life. And there’s nothing wrong with trying to provide for yourself and your family. There are biblical examples of how to run businesses successfully. God has nothing against making money. But the problem with wealth and money and comfort is that they so easily become our idols. When wealth and money and comfort become what we live for, our lives lose their significance. Because what good will it do you when you die? You can’t take it with you.

Life is more than possessions. I try to remember that money is a tool to be used. And I know I struggled with it when I first started working at my current job because I’d gotten so used to having so little that I didn’t know how to live when I had so much. When I could pay my bills and buy my groceries and still have money left over, it threw me. And there is something about having a surplus of money that makes you want to hold on to it. Maybe it doesn’t work that way with everyone, but that’s the way my mind is geared. My first inclination is to hoard. But what good will that do?

No, it’s not wrong to save, especially for someone in my position in life. But if I ever let my hope rest in that savings account, I stop hoping in God.

Verse 11 of this same chapter in The Message says: When you put us through the fire to purge us from our sin, our dearest idols go up in smoke. Are we also nothing but smoke?

God will allow punishment and testing into our lives when we do things that contradict His Word. When we allow money and comfort (or anything else) to take His place in our lives, He won’t let that go. And when the testing comes, those things that we cling to will burn away because they aren’t worth anything, in spite of what the world says.

Comfort. Money. Wealth. Fame. Power. Influence. Sex. None of it will last, and none of it will give you strength enough to face the next 24 hours, no matter how brief it might be in comparison to eternity. Because when God allows trouble into your life, you can try to rely on your idols but none of them will be able to withstand God’s testing.

Only God will remain.

So in our brief, temporary life on earth, it’s a good idea to put our hope in something that will last beyond it. Anything of earth is going to burn away. Everything we know down here is going to come to an end. We need to trust in God because when everything else comes crashing down, He will still be standing.

But here is a lesson I have learned from working in the corporate world: if you don’t nag someone, they won’t do it. That’s just the way it is. If you only have to ask someone for something once before they answer, either they don’t have enough work to do or you aren’t getting your work done (I’m exaggerating, of course . . . but only a little).

You have to ask people over and over and over again for something all the time, mainly to show them how important it is. If you only ask for it once and then you don’t bring it up again and they never respond, well, it must not be very important to you. I think that’s the general consensus. And if I understand today’s verse right, God is the same way.

Grainery Door - Haven, KS

Today’s verse is Matthew 7:7-8.

Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

When we want something or when we need something, we should ask. We have to ask and ask and keep on asking. It’s not pestering. It’s persistence. There’s a difference. Persistence is continuing steadfastly, according to Dictionary.com. Pestering is bothering persistently.

Do you get the difference?

Pestering is bothering someone. It’s approaching someone with a problem that is trivial or petty over and over and over again. Even after someone has told you not to bring it up anymore, if you keep bringing it up and it becomes annoying, then it is pestering.

But persistence is working toward something that matters. It’s asking for something that matters to you. It’s continuing to request something over and over again because it will change the quality of your life or of someone else’s life. It’s not a petty, annoying request.

Okay. So how do we know the difference between a request that matters and one that doesn’t?

Here’s the easy answer: There’s no petty request with God.

God cares about every instance in our lives. Even the things that we think (and that others think) are petty are huge to Him. Why? Because they matter to us.

I have good friends who have no children, not by their own desire but just because of the way life has worked. Their dog became really important to them because they had no children, and when their dog suddenly died, they both struggled with it. A lot. And it broke my heart because they didn’t feel comfortable talking about how sad they were around other Christians because “it was only a dog.” 

No. It was a pet they loved. And maybe other Christians callously thought it was petty to love an animal so much, but that’s not  fair. We shouldn’t judge someone else’s heart, and we have no place to tell someone what they can and can’t love (we do it all the time, though).

And maybe asking for comfort in a situation like that seemed petty to other Christians, but it wasn’t petty to God. God understands our grief. He understands the pain we go through. He understands our hearts and our dreams and our wishes, and He cares. He wants to be involved in our lives. He wants to give us good gifts. He wants to do great things through us.

But if we don’t ask, He might not. Because when you ask for something–and you really really want it–your attitude toward that request changes. When you ask for something over and over, your level of desire for that outcome increases. The more you ask for it, the more you want it. The more you want it, the more you’ll be willing to invest of yourself.

So ask God for what you want. Not just once. Not just twice. Constantly. Consistently. Let Him know that what you’re asking for is something you’re determined to finish, to see through to the end. Because if you’re only going to devote half your heart to it, do you really want it as badly as you think you do?

I’m not sure why that is. But I’ve noticed that the human brain tends to spend more time proportionately thinking about things we love than it does about things we hate or dislike . . . unless you’re just a miserable person in general. Then you focus on things you don’t like or the things that are wrong in your life. But that’s not the topic for this morning.

Stray milo at sunset - Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS

Today’s verses are Psalm 139:17-18. And this verse isn’t about our thoughts–it’s about God’s thoughts.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.  They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

I don’t know if this amazes anyone else, but it leaves me speechless to understand that God thinks about me. And not just passing thoughts. Enough thoughts about me that they outnumber the grains of sand on the beaches. That’s a lot of thoughts.

That God would take so much time to think about me is beyond my comprehension. It doesn’t really make sense. But that’s what this verse says. And the rest of the chapter talks about how God knows every inch of us, knows what we’re going to say before we say it, knows what we’re thinking before we think it, knows everything there is to know about us. So I don’t think I’m misunderstanding the concept here.

I can’t help but compare it to how many times I think about God in a day. I wouldn’t say my thoughts number into the grains-of-sand level. More like, having-to-count-on-fingers-and-toes level. And compared to how much God thinks about me, that’s pretty pitiful.

Most of the time, my thoughts are consumed with my busy schedule. If it’s not my schedule, the writing nerd in me is thinking about the book I’m working on or the next short story I need to finish or a skit that needs to be written. I’m doing better about leaving work at work, but it still pops up too. And, boy, do I spend a lot of time thinking about church, which isn’t the same thing as thinking about God by the way.

I get so busy. I am constantly running around like my hair is on fire. With all the responsibilities I have taken on, some days it’s like I can barely keep my head above water. There’s too much to do at work. There’s too much to do at home. There’s too much to write. There are too many people I need to communicate with. Too many and too much of everything. And all of them are jockeying for position in my head.

So in all that thinking about my life, when does that leave me time to think about God? My hour-long commute? Two hours, if you count the round trip? And that’s not really thinking about God. That’s my prayer time. When was the last time I just sat and thought about God? When was the last time I just sat at all?

I’m not really a thinker. I’m a doer. And I’m a fixer. So sitting and thinking is difficult for me. But taking some time to sit and think about what God means to me might help my perspective. Because if I can slow down and remember who my God is, I can do anything.

God loves me enough to think about me. And not just once or twice a day. Constantly. So am I constantly thinking about Him? Not really. So maybe that needs to change.

Sleeping with his eyes open? - Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, KS

The verse I read for today is Titus 3:14.

Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.

I was curious about this one so I did a little comparison on translations and context. It’s taken from the very end of the Book of Titus, which is a letter written by Paul to a young man named Titus (surprise!). And this last bit which encompasses verses 12 through 15, makes up the conclusion of the letter where Paul is giving specific instructions to specific people. But verse 14 isn’t specific. It says “our people,” meaning believers in general.

I decided to look it up in the Message too. The Message isn’t my first choice for deep Bible study, but it’s a good paraphrase in real modern language to understand the concept that the Scripture is trying to get across.

Our people have to learn to be diligent in their work so that all necessities are met (especially among the needy) and they don’t end up with nothing to show for their lives.

And there it was. Be Diligent. Our people must be diligent.

Christians, real believers, are to be diligent. Not indolent.

We’re supposed to work so that we can be ready when trouble comes. We’re supposed to work so that we can help other people who haven’t been as fortunate as we have. We’re supposed to be up and on our feet and moving. Not sitting.

It’s easy to spend your life sitting. In a way, sitting makes life easier sometimes. I know I can convince myself that I’m waiting on God so I can’t actually do anything. But what if God is waiting on me? Maybe I need to take the initiative sometimes.

So what does that mean? Does that mean I have to sleep with my eyes open? Does that mean I can’t get any rest or ever take a break? No. That’s not diligence. That’s perfectionism, and there’s nothing that will wear you down and burn you out faster than perfectionism.

The dictionary defines diligence as constant effort to achieve something. But I say, diligence is character. Diligence is getting up when you don’t feel like it. It’s taking the hard path instead of the easy road because you know it needs to be done.

That being said, diligence is never easy either. But diligence is always productive. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing. If you approach it with diligence, you will accomplish something, and you’ll have something to show for it, whether it be a completed novel or a clean house or projects completed at work. Maybe all you’ll accomplish is that you’ll learn something. But that’s something.

Diligence never goes unrewarded. It’s never easy, but it’s worth it. So get out of bed. And get busy. We all have tools and gifts and opportunities. Let’s do something with them.

So when I see all sorts of opportunities going past in things that I feel like I should be doing, I start wondering if I’m doing the right thing at all. And my first inclination is to drop everything I’m doing and chase after what I feel is right for me to be doing. But is that the right thing to do?

Grainery door at Safe Haven Farm - Haven, KS

Today’s verse isn’t a verse. Actually, it’s a whole book. I’ve been struggling with this for a while, the concept of being completely spontaneous versus being prepared. Even now, I don’t think I can tell you which one is better; I just know that God uses both. And what matters behind both of them is the heart and the motivation.

I never really paid much attention to the Book of Nehemiah. I knew what it was about: a Jewish cupbearer to the King of Babylon has a vision to see his people reunited and the walls of Jerusalem rebuilt. God works through him, and in spite of opposition from enemies and infighting between workers, Nehemiah and his team rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in 52 days.

Usually Nehemiah is a book that people usually use to study leadership. But it said something different to me in the last few days.

In the first chapter, when Nehemiah is told that Jerusalem has fallen into ruin, he is distraught. And in verses 5 through 9 of chapter 1, Nehemiah has a heart to heart with God:

“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned! We have sinned terribly by not obeying the commands, decrees, and regulations that you gave us through your servant Moses. Please remember what you told your servant Moses: ‘If you are unfaithful to me, I will scatter you among the nations. But if you return to me and obey my commands and live by them, then even if you are exiled to the ends of the earth, I will bring you back to the place I have chosen for my name to be honored.’ “

Nehemiah had a dream, something that God had put in his heart that he wanted to achieve in his lifetime.

I think everyone has dreams. Everyone has a vision for leaving a legacy or making their mark on history in some way. We all want to make a difference. And somehow we have this idea that dreams will come true as long as we’re good people and sincere in our beliefs and treat others the way we want to be treated. But that kind of Disney princess theology doesn’t really hold water. Because you can be good and sincere and compassionate and still never see your dreams come true.

What did Nehemiah do?

Well, he prayed about it. And he went about his everyday business until the king asked him why he was so sad (Neh. 2:2). So Nehemiah was able to explain the problem, and because he was a good servant (and because God had given him grace), the king offered to help. The king provided everything that Nehemiah would need, from supplies and personnel to protection on the road to Jerusalem.

Maybe I’m stretching this. Maybe this isn’t what the Book of Nehemiah is about. I’m not a scholar and I don’t know a lot about Bible culture. But to me, Nehemiah’s story is about being prepared to achieve your dreams.

I know people who have dropped everything and run toward their dreams to achieve them. And God has called them to do that, I have no doubt. Because God has done amazing things through them and they have achieved the desires of their heart. And that’s something only God can help you do.

But what do you do if you have a dream but you know you can’t leave? What happens when you know you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing, but you know that God has called you to something bigger?

That was what happened to Nehemiah. He knew that God had given him a purpose, but he recognized that his purpose was far bigger than he was. And instead of dropping all his responsibilities, he waited for the right moment. He waited until God had arranged for everything to work out, and then all he had to do was say yes.

Did he still have trouble? Yes. Throughout the book, Nehemiah experiences all sorts of setbacks and dangers and opposition. But that never stopped him.

I guess the point of this thought today is that everyone has dreams, but we aren’t all called to accomplish them in the same way. While there is a large part of me that wants to run away from everything that I’m struggling through in my life right now, I know I’m not supposed to. Because everything I’m experiencing is helping me prepare for what is coming. It’s not wrong to be steady. It’s not wrong to wait. And it doesn’t mean that you’re not following God’s commands.

It just means you’re waiting for Him to open a door.

Wrong. I’ve met teenagers and young people with wisdom and experience and faith that trumps mine. So where does the idea that only the “old people” have wisdom come from? Why do people think that if you’re young, you can’t know what you’re talking about when it comes to matters of faith? It’s certainly not in Scripture.

Lamb at the Kansas State Fair - Hutchinson, KS

Today’s verse is 1 Timothy 4:12.

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.

Timothy was a man who Paul was writing to. That’s why these two letters are called 1 and 2 Timothy. But Timothy wasn’t an elderly fellow; he was young. And, if I remember right, he was a young leader of a church.

I can imagine that he ran into a lot of people who wanted to argue with him. The church of that era wasn’t just made up of young people. It was composed of people from all walks of life and all generations, and I’m sure there were some people attending who didn’t think Timothy was old enough to be leading.

But the Bible is full of references to young people who served God. Joseph. Samuel. David. King Josiah. Even up to the little boy who gave his little lunch to Jesus so he could feed thousands of people. The Bible has used young people as examples throughout history to demonstrate truth and faith to adults that don’t know how to grasp it.

The Bible encourages people to serve God while they’re young. Why? Well, to be honest, when you get older, you can’t work as well. I’m not old. Not at all, in spite of the amazing amount of gray that has been popping up in my hair. But I can tell you that there is a big difference in my energy level and my endurance from when I was 18. It was only 12 or so years ago, but I can tell a difference, mainly in how long it takes me to recover from physical exertion. When I was 18, I could move heavy furniture and climb stairs and work like mad all day long and be exhausted but be perfectly fine when I woke up the next morning. Now? Well, it takes me a day to really recover.

And when you’re young, you don’t just have energy–you have idealism. And I’m not talking about the polyannaish attitude that ignores reality and presses forward despite all rational thought. No. I’m talking about the belief that God can do anything. When you’re young, you haven’t usually experienced the ups and downs that adults have to go through, mainly because of their own poor choices. There’s still the thought that God is at work and God is working and God can use you and God can do the impossible.

Most adults don’t think like that. Life has smacked them down too hard too many times. Reality has crushed their dreams too many times. But young people have dreams, and young people who have an eternal perspective trust that God will help them achieve those dreams no matter what happens in between.

And the beautiful thing that I’ve discovered is that if you can serve God when you’re young and if you can let Him take control of your life from a young age, when you aren’t so young anymore, you’ll still have that perspective. You’ll still have your dreams. You’ll still understand that God can do anything no matter what life has done to you. You’ll have walked with God for so long that the ups and downs don’t bother you because you’ve seen Him work through worse circumstances before.

So if you’re a young believer, get your perspective straight and be an example to the “old people” around you, whether they think they need an example or not. You can make a bigger difference than you think.

And if you’re an “old believer,” open your eyes. Youth isn’t wasted on the young. It’s misdirected. Encourage the young believers around you to follow God. Don’t try to kill their dreams. Don’t think less of them because they have a positive outlook on life. And don’t discourage them from doing something crazy for God. Who knows? It just might work.