Throw a stone into a pond or lake and watch the ripples go out from the point of impact.  The bigger the stone, the bigger and more far reaching the ripples.  We call it the ripple effect and it applies to our lives.  The decisions you make and the actions you take affect those around you.

In The Story, Rehoboam learned that lesson the hard way.  Rehoboam followed his father Solomon to the throne of Israel.  Solomon had exacted harsh labor on the people.  A delegation, led by Jeroboam, went to the new king and asked him to take away the harshness.

In private, Rehoboam asked his elder council what he should do.  They advised that he become a servant to the people, lighten their load, and the people would always be faithful servants to the king.  His circle of younger friends gave him just the opposite advice.  They told him to work the people harder.  He liked that idea, told the delegation his plans, and wound up with a divided kingdom.

At one time or another all of us are impacted by someone else’s decisions or actions.  When we suffer the negative consequences of another’s decision, God can still redeem the situation.  Although Rehoboam wound up ruling only two tribes—Judah and Benjamin (as opposed to Jeroboam’s rule over ten tribes)—it was through Judah that Jesus came to us.  Thankfully God works in situations that seem the most difficult, in spite of how man messes things up.

We should always consider how our decisions and actions affect those around us.  You are more influential than you think you are––no matter your place in life.

Clint Eastwood’s film Invictus tells the story of Nelson Mandela’s use of the South African rugby team to help heal a nation divided by apartheid. In one scene of the movie he explains to a team member; “Reconciliation starts here. Forgiveness starts here.”  He knew his actions would have a ripple effect on those around him.  Eventually the blessing of that “ripple” washed across the nation.

Rehoboam made a bad decision, but it was really his father Solomon’s actions that divided the kingdom. He forsook the one true God and chased after other “gods.” He neglected to serve the people and instead forced them to work harder, and he was focused on himself, as reflected in his accumulation of wives, gold, and horses in direct disobedience to God’s counsel.  His son Rehoboam was merely living out consequence of those decisions and actions.

We can learn from Solomon’s mistake. Love God first. Love others second.  And serve those that do not yet know God.  You will be surprised to see how far your ripple will travel.  Just as your negative actions and choices can have a damaging effect on those around you, so your good choices and godly actions can have positive ripple effects all around you. 

So, choose wisely what kind of stones you are throwing into your pond.

Have you ever had those moments or episodes in your life that you wish you could hit the rewind button, pause at that point in time, and then erase the whole thing?

Maybe it was something you said that caused someone great pain. Perhaps it was a choice that led to immorality and trapped you in a place you really didn’t want to be. Or maybe you did something that damaged a relationship, your career, or your reputation as a follower of Jesus.

You would give anything to undo what had already been done, but you cannot undo it yourself.

We discover in The Story that David had one of those moments. One day when the army was at war, David, who was the commander of the nation’s military, neglected his duties and stayed behind. He saw Bathsheba bathing on her rooftop, seduced her, got her pregnant, murdered her husband, and tried to cover up his actions by deceiving his general and soldiers.  Then he married Bathsheba and she bore their child.

It looked like David would get away with all of this. But he didn’t. God sent his prophet Nathan to confront David by telling him a story about a poor man with one lamb. David knew something about sheep and shepherds, so he listened. Nathan said that the poor man has a rich neighbor who needed to slaughter a lamb to feed a guest, but instead of taking one of his many sheep he stole the poor man’s one lamb.

David was incensed and said that man should be put to death. Nathan then declared, “You are the man!” At that moment David must have wished he could rewind everything and undo what he had done.

He may have wanted to make excuses. Explain things away. Blame it on Bathsheba for taking a bath where he could see. But instead of making excuses, David confessed. “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Sam. 12:13).

And while David could do nothing to undo the sin he had done, God could undo it by forgiving him and restoring him.  There were still consequences that David had to deal with, but he was given a fresh start, a new beginning – the slate was wiped clean.  God did with David’s sin what he will do with yours and mine. He put it away (Psalm 103:12-13).

What made David a “man after God’s own heart” is not the fact that he was perfect but the fact that when confronted with his sin, he humbled himself, turned away from his sin, and turned to God asking God, in his mercy, to renew and restore him.

How good it is to know that at the beginning of a new year, while we can’t rewind our lives, we can pause and ask God to wipe the slate clean and erase all of our regrets, disappointments and hurts, giving us a fresh start.

Some of you will remember the TV commercial from the 70s for Heinz ketchup.  Carly Simon’s song “Anticipation” played while the person waited for the ketchup to slowly come out of the bottle.  The idea was that some things are worth waiting for.

For most of us waiting is not a pleasant prospect.  But when waiting becomes anticipation it can be a wondrous thing – the expectation for something we look forward to; the building of excitement as the moment draws closer.  We can envision what lies ahead and each day builds more and more hope as the day draws near.

As a kid, that is the way Christmas was for me.  Sure, there were times when I impatiently waited for that day to arrive, but mostly it was this building expectation for Christmas morning.  We couldn’t wait for the day to come, and all of the Christmas traditions and special occasions just added to the longing for Christmas day.  Still today, as a fifty-two year old kid, the month of December holds a special sense of anticipation.

I think about all of those saints who lived prior to the birth of Christ – how they lived with the anticipation and expectation that the Messiah would come, their Savior and King.  The promises of God and the words of the prophets stirred that expectation and longing.  But most of those people, generation after generation, died without seeing the fulfillment of the promise.

The gospel writer, Luke, tells us about two exceptions.  An old man named Simeon had been waiting for years for the promise of the coming One who would be the comfort and consolation of Israel.  He saw that day come and got to hold the child, Jesus, in his arms.  His words are moving; “Lord, now I can die in peace!  As you promised me, I have seen the Savior you have given to all people.”

Anna was a devout lady who dedicated herself to prayer and service in God’s temple.  She had been a widow for many years and had been waiting for the promised deliverer who would bring salvation.  After all those years, she finally got to witness this huge moment in history.  All that she had longed for and anticipated was there in Jesus, and she saw Him with her own eyes.

Since the time Christ left this earth, leaving the promise that He would return, generation after generation of faithful believers have lived and died with the anticipation of His return.  And so today we still live with that anticipation. 

Sometimes it feels like we are waiting impatiently, especially when life gets hard.  But mostly, for me, it is this deep longing for the time when the King of the universe returns to set all things right, to judge evil, to establish justice and lasting peace; and ultimately to make all things new.  I anticipate the new heaven and new earth where God will be very present among us and we will be at home with God.  I live in expectation of the time when there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.  Until that time – I keep on hoping, anticipating, longing for Home.

One of the greatest pressures we face in life is the pressure to conform and be like everybody else.  Sometimes it is hard to be the unique person we were created to be, and so instead we cave in to peer pressure on a lot of different levels – whether it be the way we dress, the music we listen to, our social activities, or jumping on board the latest internet trends.  We don’t want to be different – don’t want to stand out too much.  We want to be “in.”  Just think how many millions of people pander to be “accepted” as a “friend” on Facebook by people they barely know.

We’re big on image and we work to create persona – an image that will fit in and be accepted by people.  Our identity gets all wrapped up in the wrong things and we put a ton of energy into looking good to other people.

Even the non-conformists among us often conform to the latest image of the “non-conformists” in our culture.  When you meet a true non-conformist you realize that it really has nothing to do with image but with how the person lives their life and how they relate to the prevailing culture around them.  Those people are rare and beautiful, and usually convict us of our shallowness.

In The Story of Israel, Samuel the prophet was one of those non-conformists who lived a different story and remained a faithful voice for God in the midst of the spiritual corruption and hypocrisy that was part of his environment.

By contrast the people of Israel wanted to be like everyone else around them.  Rather than being content being a truly unique chosen people and allowing God to rule over them and speak to them through His prophets, they wanted a king like everyone else.  After Samuel warned them how the political thing of a king would turn out, they insisted: “Even so, we still want a king. We want to be like the nations around us.”

And they got a king, Saul, who turned out to care more about his own image and reputation than following God and obeying him.  After disobeying God and even building a monument to himself; Saul was rejected by God who told him the kingdom of Israel would be taken from him.  Later when Saul pleads with Samuel for forgiveness, he asks Samuel to go with him to the Tabernacle to worship the Lord.  But his motives aren’t really to worship God.  Listen to what he says: “I know I have sinned.  But please, at least honor me before the leaders and before my people by going with me to worship the Lord your God.”

Did you catch it?  Saul was only concerned about looking good in front of all the people.  He was worried about his image.  Instead of being authentic and humble enough to confess his sin and failure to obey God, he tried desperately to protect his reputation.

We need to be people who are less concerned about our image and reputation than we are about our character and faithfulness.  Forget about being like everybody else or worrying about what everyone else thinks.  What matters is the image of Christ being shaped in you.

So, let’s hear it.  Three cheers for the non-conformists who dare to live God’s way.

Everybody needs to belong; to be accepted; and to have a place that is home.  We need that on the human relational level.  But more so, we need it on the spiritual level.  In a very real sense, apart from God’s grace, we are all spiritually homeless and bankrupt.

In the story of Ruth we discover a young widow who left her home country to travel with her mother-in-law back to Bethlehem. She came from a background of unbelief and hostility toward God, and yet she chose to believe.  Her faith played out in her faithfulness to mother-in-law.   Her words are classic. “Where you go I will go; where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

In that day and age, being a widow and an immigrant, Ruth had no prospects for a hopeful future.  She faced a future of poverty and potential homelessness.  The likelihood that she would ever find a place to belong and raise a family of her own was slim.  Her mother-in-law, Naomi, had lost everything and had little hope that her land and home would ever be restored.

Into the story steps Boaz – a man who had the position, the means and the compassion to change the whole situation for Ruth and Naomi.  He, it turned out, was their kinsman who could redeem Naomi’s property by paying the price and redeem Ruth’s life by taking her under his wing as his wife – giving her a new life, a place to belong, and a hope for the future.  Boaz gives us a picture of God’s grace.  He is a picture of God as our redeemer.

What does it mean to say God redeems us?  He buys us back out of slavery and sets us free.  He releases us from the chains of an old life.  He exchanges His life of goodness, holiness, beauty and love for our life of sin, brokenness, ugliness and conflict.  He transfers us out of a kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light.  He delivers us from a life that is less than God intended and rescues us from a future of hopelessness.  He converts us from a life worth nothing to a life as an heir to the King of the universe.  He takes us as His own, and puts us under the covering of His grace – accepted and brought into his family.  He restores us to a standing as His children with all the promises of life eternal, both in quality and duration.

God sees our worth as people created in his image.  He also sees how we are fallen from that ideal.  He sees in us a longing for home – a longing to be restored to the relationship for which we were made.  He sees our inability to get back home on our own.  He knows we are spiritually orphaned.  But He looks on us with love and He acts in grace, willing to pay the price to restore us to where we belong.  And indeed He has already paid the price and extends the offer of redemption to us.

There is a way back home.  There is a way out of an empty life devoid of hope.  God redeems our life and brings us home to a place of belonging and acceptance.  All a free gift of grace – but grace that cost him everything.

So, what was the cost of this redemption?  For Boaz to redeem Ruth it cost him the price of Naomi’s property and inheritance.  For God to redeem us, it cost him the life of His only Son, Jesus.  He is our Redeemer who gave his life to purchase our salvation, bring us back to God and restore us to the place where we belong as God’s children.

There are times in all of our lives when we face challenges, problems or battles that seem insurmountable and too big to handle.  Maybe it is a task that is demanding more than you think you have to give.  Or perhaps there is one too many things on your “to do” list, and you don’t have the energy to do it.  Unemployment might be staring you down.  Bills may have raided your bank account and left it empty.  An illness wears you down or a doctor’s diagnosis brings fear.  We could go on and on.

Those times come and sometimes life feels like a threatening storm.  Feelings of depression may creep in and you feel like running – hoping to somehow escape it all. 

The bigger the problem, the smaller you feel.  And that is not a bad place to be, provided that you can get your eyes off of yourself and onto God.  In those moments we need to hear God’s words; “Be strong and courageous.”  Repeatedly He told the Israelites that when they came back to the frontier of the Promised Land, forty years after their parents turned away in unbelief.  That first generation couldn’t see beyond the problems.  They were frightened over the potential battles that faced them.  They had “grasshopper faith” and only saw their own smallness rather than God’s greatness.

Joshua led the way into battle for the next generation of the children of Israel, confident that God was with them wherever they went.  In our lives we have the spiritual equivalent of a Joshua.  The New Testament equivalent of the name Joshua is “Jesus.”  He is our Savior and Deliverer.  He has promised to be with us always.  (Matthew 28:20)

Jesus knows how to lead us through battles because He has been through them himself while He was on earth.  His enemies attacked him with all kinds of accusations. (Mark 3:22)  He had no home or bed of his own. (Luke 9:58)  He had crowds with lots of expectations pressing in on him. (Luke 8:45) And, the religious leaders of his day eventually insured that he was sentenced to a brutal death. (Mark 15:14)

The writer of Hebrews says about Jesus; “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)  Later Jesus is referred to as our “High Priest.”  But He is not one who is far removed from the realities of our lives.  Rather, Hebrews 4:15 says; “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

God’s Son went through all the suffering and testing of human life when he became one of us.  And so because of Jesus we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)

So whatever you are going through, look to Jesus for courage and strength.  And in his name, go to the Father in prayer and find his all-sufficient grace for all that you need to face the battles of life.

We’ve probably all experienced it – that long road trip with the family.  You have everything planned and you hit the road with a full tank of gas, ready to go.  But twenty minutes down the highway you hear that voice from the backseat.  The questions start to come.  “Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we get something to eat?”  Pretty soon the questions become complaints and the complaints turn into whining, until you are trying to remember just why you are taking this trip.

Every parent has been there.  Questions from the backseat.  You come to expect them.  Every journey to a destination includes them.  In a way the same is true for the journey of faith.  Just like kids on a trip we get tired of the journey.  We want to know when we can stop.  We get tired of serving.  We get tired of waiting.  We get tired of the people we’re traveling with.

We don’t like the preaching or the music or the classes that are being offered.  And we grumble. The Israelites did. They complained about the food, about the place they were traveling, and about their ‘driver’ Moses.

Grumbling does not set well with God.  In fact, our grumbling can lead to our wandering.  When offered the chance to leave Kadesh and enter the Promised Land, the Israelites listened to the fear-filled report from ten spies instead of the faith-full report of Joshua and Caleb.

Kadesh means “Spring of Decision” and it was time for them to make one.  They were in the right place to make the right decision.  But the majority made the wrong one.  The people wished they had died in Egypt or in the desert instead of facing the challenges of the Promised Land.  So God told them they would get their wish.  They would wander in the desert until the unbelieving generation died out.

And they did.  They wandered in the Wilderness for forty years.  And their children were impacted by their decisions. Did you catch that?  Their choices impacted the next generation.

The decisions you make affect those around you, just like the decisions the Israelites made at Kadesh. You can decide to grumble or be thankful.  You can decide to turn away from God or turn toward God. You can decide to wander without purpose through life or follow God’s vision for your life.

Just don’t forget that those in the backseat will be affected by your decisions.

One of the great things about God’s Story is His desire to be with us.  He is not just a distant God, far removed from His creation.  We see that ultimately in Jesus – the Word who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us” – Emmanuel, “God with us.”

In the story of God forming a holy nation, God told Moses that he wanted to come to his people and dwell right in the middle of their camp.  Not on the outskirts.  But right in the middle of where they were living.

You might wonder, “What preparations would a people need to make for God to live in their midst?” Would it be like getting ready for weekend guests or someone special coming to dinner? Would you feel compelled to make sure your home looks as good as possible?   Would you want to make a good impression and you want your guest to feel welcome?

God told Moses what needed to be in place for his coming.  First, he wanted to be close to them but there was the problem of sin that created a breach between them.  So God provided Moses with instructions about the practice of sacrificing, offering a covering for the people’s sins before a Holy God.  Sin is serious, not to be taken lightly, and the sacrifice of unblemished animals was necessary to give the people a picture of sin and point them to God’s provision of forgiveness and cleansing.

Second, he wanted to stay close to them.  Moses was given the blueprints for the building of the Tabernacle.  It’s a big word for “tent” – a portable place of worship.  And he wanted to camp out right in the middle of where they were camping.  God wanted to be close to his people.

But he also wanted them to be close to each other.  So he declared a third thing to get ready.  He gave them Ten Commandments concerning relationships.  The first four commandments focus on how we are to demonstrate our love to God.  The second set of six have to do with how to show love to other people.

In seeing these relationships of love it was God’s desire that people would come to know Him too. Jesus said the same in John 13:34: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I ahve loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

God gave the Israelites guidelines so that, when they sought to live by them, other nations would see them as different and know that they were God’s people.  God gave us Jesus so that, when we live like him, others will know that we are his people.

For those who know him, God took care of our sin through the sacrifice of Jesus.   Through the Holy Spirit, He dwells in the hearts of those who have drawn near to him.  Could it be then that the degree to which we are obedient to him in this command to love each other is the degree of his presence we will find among us?

“God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.” – 1 John 4:16-17

Most of us know what it is like to feel trapped.  Some are trapped in a job they don’t like.  Some are trapped by financial problems.  Others feel trapped in an abusive relationship.  While yet others are trapped by some besetting sin that keeps them in bondage.

In times like that it seems like there is an insurmountable wall in front of you.  Beyond the wall awaits the promise of a new life.  But you’re not moving because there is this “wall.” You feel trapped.  No way out. This is just the sort of situation in which God want us to trust Him from a way through.

Think about the Israelites on their way out of years of bondage in Egypt. Behind them was a life of back-breaking work and slavery.  Ahead of them was a life in the land of Promise.  Behind them was the fierce army of a fanatical Pharaoh coming towards them.  Ahead of them was a wall. Their obstruction was made of water – the Red Sea.

Your “wall” may be a fear of failure.  Or maybe it’s a lack of confidence that has grinded your progress to halt.  Or it could merely be too many problems that have piled up in front of you at the same time.  And you have no clue which one to tackle first.

So you find yourself stopped, stuck.  And you aren’t sure if there is a way over, around, or under this imposing impediment.

At this point many people panic.  Anxiety takes over and you can’t even seem to take a step forward.  While once you could see ahead, now your focus is on the problem, the obstacle, the barrier.

In times like that it is easy to blame. The Israelites began to blame Moses.  Have you done the same? Blame the boss.  Blame a co-worker.  Blame your dog.  Blame God.  Maybe even blame yourself? We can play the blame game all we want but the wall remains.

Moses looked elsewhere.  He could have looked at the enemy’s army.  He could have looked at the ungrateful people he led.  He could have looked at the wall of water spread out before him, sat down, and given up.

Instead he looked to God.  And God opened an unlikely route through the wall of water.  Safely on the other side, the very wall that had halted their steps closed in on and covered the sources of their fears.

The very name of the book where we find this story serves as a reminder when we face our “walls.” “Exodus” is a compound Greek word meaning “the way out.”  And in case you might have missed it, the way out was not a better job, a different spouse, or a victim mentality.

No, the way out is God. Next time you find yourself up feeling trapped try looking to him.

"The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." - Psalm 34:17-18

People nearing mid-life often come to a realization that some of their dreams didn’t come true.  We all dreamed big dreams when we were younger.  But as we move through our twenties, thirties, and forties, we eventually slam head on into the realization that some of our dreams will never be realized.

That observation throws some people into a mid-life crisis.  Maybe we didn’t make it very far with our aspirations, having already given them up somewhere along the way.  Perhaps we run into conflict that makes us weary and we settle for less.  When those things happen we are tempted to give up, and the dreams get buried somewhere deep within us.

Joseph had some big dreams.  At seventeen he dreamed his ten older brothers would bow down to him. It’s enough he dreamed that dream.  What makes it worse is that he told his brothers about it.

The older brothers already had issues with the younger son.  Their father, Jacob, favored Joseph. He had even given him a valuable, multi-colored coat.  That’s the modern-day equivalent of a parent of four teenagers giving one an iPhone and the other three a stack of quarters each for a pay phone.  The brothers banded together and tossed the dreamer in a ditch, eventually selling him into slavery at the first opportunity. The next thing Joseph knew he was waking up in Egypt.  Things were not turning out like he thought.

His life was a rollercoaster ride.  One minute he was a slave; the next in charge of an Egyptian official’s house; the next in prison falsely accused of rape; the next in charge of the prison.  Then he found himself in front of Pharaoh, called upon to interpret the leader’s dreams.  With God’s help he was able to warn Pharaoh he would have seven years of abundant crops that he should be put in storehouses in anticipation of seven years of famine.  Recognizing his wisdom, Pharaoh put Joseph second in command of all of Egypt.

And because God was at work in Joseph’s life to accomplish His purposes, Joseph was able to save his family – the same family that God was building into a nation.  Joseph was in position to bring his family to Egypt and give them the most fertile land to work.  And it was definitely fertile.  In the time they were there they were “fruitful and increased greatly” (Exodus 1:7).  God preserved the family of Jacob (Israel) through Joseph.

What others intended for evil, God used for good in Joseph’s life, actually fulfilling his dreams in an unexpected way.  Things don’t always turn out as we hope and dream, but when we let God work in our life He gives us new dreams and writes a new storyline.

If your life’s dream has stalled, look to God.  If your dream now realized is not all you thought it would be, look to God.  He can give you another dream.   A better one, not according to the world’s standard but God’s criterion.  Just like Joseph’s.  God restores shattered dreams and when He does, then we have a story to tell.