Category: Perseverance

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Balancing God and Self-Sufficiency

I often advocate for a balanced approach to life. People get a little dizzy when their lives get out of balance. Humans have a tendency to lean to the extremes. We can obsess over anything.

I have been pondering about being sufficient in God versus self-sufficiency. As Christians, there needs to be an overriding reliance upon God without becoming child-beggars. The things we can do with our hands and minds are only possible because of God. He gives us health, strength, knowledge, and the ability to reason and create.

When my children were small, they loved the frozen waffles Eggo®. At first, I cut them up with a fork and knife. Then I tried to teach them to use the utensils, but they were not coordinated enough. So, I made them tear them into pieces with their hands before we poured on the syrup. Just a wee lesson on being self-sufficient.

Good parents teach their children to grow up to be responsible adults with reasonable self-sufficiency.

God loves to see His children solve problems, build things, create, paint beautiful pictures, and play beautiful music. He is glorified when we see our own work and give Him the thanks for the ability we have. I’m sure your picture is on God’s refrigerator, but He has one of my coloring sheets on it.

God created us to create. God worked six days to make a place for us and to make us in His image. An aspect of that image is to create as He created. He made everything from nothing. We get to re-purpose pallets into all sorts of cool things.

When we were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, God told mankind that man would eat by the sufficiency of his work. “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:19 NKJV).

“Much food is in the fallow [un-cultivated] ground of the poor” (Proverbs 13:23 NKJV). Many folks are sitting on potential.

Yes, our sufficiency is in God. Our next breath is in His hand. Our next logical thought is in His hand. Our very lives and our next day are in His hand. Yet, He loves to see His children be self-sufficient in life to the degree of being productive adults.

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5 NKJV).

Make God smile, get up and go do something!

Yours on the Journey,
Harry L. Whitt

You might enjoy a related blog I wrote years ago, “I Shine My Own Shoes.” You can read it here.

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Good Intentions

I remember in the late 1990’s having good intentions about door-to-door visitation. I, along with some fellow ministry workers, knocked on every door of a nearby city’s government housing projects. We had good intentions but nothing tangible resulted from it. Maybe one person visited our church but no new converts. I know we encouraged a few people, but we never saw a harvest of our efforts.

I learned that building relationships is more effective than cold-calling.

Churches and mission organizations are full of good intentions. We have to be honest and ask ourselves the question. Are our good intentions bearing fruit or do they just make us feel better about ourselves? We often learn by trial and error.

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Christian Martyrdom

Most of us have read accounts of religious martyrdom in historical books and the Bible. Few of us have witnessed it with our own eyes. Recently, we saw Charlie Kirk killed at one of his events. Some would argue that this was a political hit, not a religious one. Whether you loved or hated him, he was an adamant Christian who never minced his words.

The original Greek New Testament word for martyr is the word ‘martus’ pronounced [mar’-toos]. Its basic meaning is witness. A martyr is a person killed for his witness.

It is estimated that over 70 million Christians have been martyred since Jesus Christ himself was martyred on the cross. Most of those have been in the 1900s under fascist and communist rulers. Depending on the historian, some estimates say that since 2000 there has been an average of 100,000 per year. Martyrdom is not just in biblical times but also in relative modern times.

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Murder Grows from the Seed of Hate

Most of us watched in horror as Charlie Kirk was assassinated before our eyes. Many of us viewed the footage where Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee was stabbed to death on a Charlotte train with no provocation. Those of us with any sense of morality or common sense, ask the question, “Why?”

I am relieved to know that so many of us can’t fathom how these things can happen. It seems such a senseless act to destroy another human being—a being made in the very image of God. Our hearts cry and our reasoning minds can’t comprehend the depths of hate.

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Faith Over Fear: Pursuing God’s Calling

The calling of God’s work must be greater than our strength or it is only the work of a man. If it can be accomplished outside of God’s power, it is the mere work of man. The work of God’s kingdom is accomplished only by the strength and power of God.

Jesus said it very plainly in John 15:4-5 (NKJV). “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

When a person believes he has a God-given calling in His kingdom, he must see something beyond himself. With such a calling or dream, there are two possible outcomes. One, it is a miracle only God can do. Secondly, we look foolish. The fear of failure or looking foolish causes many to not pursue the work of God.

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Stuck in the Doldrums? The Wind is Coming!

Doldrums is a word that sounds like what it is. It just sounds boring, stale, and listless.

Geographically, the Doldrums is an area around the equator, about five degrees latitude north and south. It is an area where the trade winds converge and rise, reducing the surface winds. It was a dreaded place for sailors because they would be stuck for a long time until enough winds blew. If their ship stayed too long, food and water supplies would run out. Many old-time sailors died in the doldrums.

Many times, I have felt like I was in spiritual doldrums. I had moved along by a hearty gust of the Spirit of God and suddenly slammed to a stop. There was no wind in my sails. I prayed, read my Bible, and went to church but still no wind was blowing.

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Understanding God’s Plan in a Troubling World

The randomness of life keeps many people on edge, indifferent, completely checked out of life, or deeply troubled. Life can be difficult, and those difficulties can send us looking for the answers to why. Problems cause us to deal with immediate needs and then the lasting aftermath of making sense of it all.

Some resign themselves to fatalism. This is a belief that whatever happens is predetermined. They think, so what’s the use to even try? This would be like someone getting a hurricane warning and taking no action either in preparation or evacuation.

Other folks are overcome by fear. This fear is coupled with hopelessness. They fall into the pit of despondency. This spoils any part of their lives that have moments of joy.

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How to Live; How to Die

There are thousands of self-help books promising how to be successful or how to be effective. The Bible, by far, is the most powerful book and instructive book ever written. It tells us how to live. It also shows us how to die.

I have made the Word of God a part of my daily life for many decades. It is one of the most important things I have ever done. The Word of God was delivered into our hands by His servants who penned them thousands of years ago. It is an ancient book that speaks strongly to us today. There are none like it nor shall there ever be.

Learn with me from a few verses from the Apostle Paul to his spiritual son Timothy.

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Understanding God: Insights from a Lifelong Journey

I will soon cross over into my seventh decade of life. There are a few things I know now. I did not know them when my hair was brown and my energy was like the battery bunny. The main morsel of knowledge I now realize is how much I do not know. The body of knowledge seems to be as vast as the ocean and I am in a row boat.

I have read the entire Bible each year for close to thirty years. I understand many truths of the Bible but I still scratch my head about some things. It is the Word of God. How can a mere mortal like me understand the vastness and the depth of it? The short answer, I cannot. Yet, I keep studying and praying for more understanding of the Word of Life.

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