A new year

Happy New Year! Looking back, it’s hard to believe a whole year has passed since we last said that. It seems like 2011 just started yesterday. Thinking back to everything that’s happened this last year, it almost feels like several years have elapsed instead of just one.

Towards the end of 2011, my family knew that 2012 was going to be a challenging year full of changes and decisions and would need a lot of family cooperation to make things work. By the last week of 2011, we received news that made challenging sound like an understatement. Things fall apart. Life is full of unpredictabilities and hurts. Yet through it all, God is always the same. He is always faithful. Hebrews 13:5b-8 says, "For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’ Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." A few verses later, the writer asked the recipients to pray for him. Pray for us; for we are confident that we have a good conscience, in all things desiring to live honorably (Hebrews 13:18). I was thinking about these verses as lots of things have been going on, and I wanted to share these words with you since they are a great comfort and challenge for all of us as we face a new year. None of us are going to have a "perfect" year; we’re all going to experience times when we want fall into anxiety and fear. But the correct reaction is to see that we’re not alone because we have God with us. Last year, this year, next year–He never changes. He will always be with us. As we begin a new year, we look to Him for the strength to live honorably with a good conscience and without fear.

Cooking lessons

I love when the seasons change...leaves turning colors, crisp fall breezes, fires flaming in the fireplace...and, best of all, pumpkin pie. My family loves pumpkin pie. So the first cool week in September, my mom and I made a double recipe of pumpkin pie. She rolled out crusts on one end of the kitchen while I mixed the filling on the other. It brought back memories of when we made the pies last September, and I carelessly flipped open the can of pureed pumpkin. My mom ended up finishing that pie since I promptly wrapped my finger in lots of band-aids. It wasn’t a big cut, but it was deep–deep enough for me to see a scar on my knuckle when I opened the can this year.

Ever since that pie last year, I have been very careful to follow my mom’s instructions when I’m cooking. Instead of opening and dumping cans as if I was competing in the international Rubik’s cube championship, I very carefully pry the lid open. That scar is enough to remind me not to be careless with sharp edges. I used to think my mom’s warnings were a little too cautious...after all, you can slide a finger over the sharp edge of a can without getting cut, so why waste time opening a can so slowly? But once I actually felt the consequences of being careless, I understood the importance of slowly working with sharp objects.

Isn’t it funny how we are so prone to thinking that we’re the ultimate authority on everything? Like Liesel said in Sound of Music: "I’m sixteen years old and I don’t need a governess!" Even respectful Christian teenagers can unintentionally get that attitude. It’s not that we’re trying to be disobedient, but we just assume we know more than our moms and dads do. And, what’s worse, we sometimes act–not that we would ever say this–like we know more than God does. No, we’re not out murdering and stealing in our free time, but what about getting angry at siblings or thinking we inherently deserve the biggest slice of pie? Our anger is not righteous indignation, and if you think you deserve anything–! We just don’t get it. When God gives us commandments, it’s for our own good! He doesn’t make up rules for the sake of rules; God gave us commandments that our for our good and His glory. But then, when we act like we’re smarter than He is, God sends us a reminder that He is infinitely wiser than our little finite minds. He sends us pain as the consequences of our foolishness. Now we remember that He knows better. As C. S. Lewis said once said in The Problem of Pain, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

Pain is God’s megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

If we would only listen to those whispers in the pleasant times, we could avoid so much pain! But God is sovereign, and He plans our pains to make us grow.

Revelation 3:19–As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.

A Christian's praises

O God, my exceeding joy,
singing Thy praises uplifts my heart,

for Thou art a fountain of delight,

and dost bless the soul that joys in Thee.

But because of my heart’s rebellion

I cannot always praise Thee as I ought;

Yet I will at all times rest myself

in Thy excellencies, goodness, and loving-kindness.

Thou art in Jesus the object of inexpressible joy,

and I take exceeding pleasure in the thought of Thee.

But LORD, I am sometimes Thy enemy;

my nature revolts and wanders from Thee.

Though Thou hast renewed me,

yet evil corruptions urge me still to oppose Thee.

Help me to extol Thee with entire heart-submission,

to be diligent in self examination,

to ask myself

whether I am truly born again,

whether my spirit is of Thy children,

whether my griefs are those that tear repenting hearts,

whether my joys are the joys of faith,

whether my confidence in Christ works by love

and purifies the soul.

Give me the sweet results of faith,

in my secret character, and in my public life.

Cast cords of love around my heart,

then hold me and never let me go.

May the Savior’s wounds sway me more than the scepter of princes.

Let me love Thee in a love that covers and swallows up all,

that I may not violate my chaste union with the beloved;

There is so much unconquered territory in my nature,

scourge out the buyers and sellers of my soul’s temple,

and give me in return pure desires,

and longing after perfect holiness.

(This prayer was in my church bulletin; there is no name after it, but I think it is from the Valley of Vision or another Puritan prayer book)

Broken pieces

I guess you could say I have a bit of an obsession. If I’m happy, I solve a Rubik’s cube. If I’m bored, I solve a Rubik’s cube. If I’m nervous, I will definitely be solving a Rubik’s cube. Last time I counted, I had about six or seven on my dresser. Since I couldn’t bring any Bible Bee study materials to the local competition on Saturday, I brought–you guessed it–some Rubik’s cubes.

I brought my very favorite one: the 4x4. It’s harder than the 3x3, and it’s even more fun. I haven’t been able to solve it for a few months...I have a suspicion that a friend may have rigged it when I wasn’t looking. Anyway, no algorithm I tried would solve it, so I finally decided to flip the cubes manually. When they called me for my oral round, I left the cube in the waiting room. Well, when I came back after the oral round and everyone was gone, I found it...broken into 57 pieces. No two pieces were left together. Probably some other contestants saw it on the table and decided to play catch and it a hit the wall...hard. I carefully scooped up the pieces and brought them into the other room. After a few minutes, I gave up–it was a mess!!

When I got home that evening, I laid all the pieces on the floor and sorted them out into by their color and placement. Then, I flipped them over and tried seeing how everything fit together. The 4x4 Rubik’s "cube" doesn’t even have a cube base; it is a sphere with X’s etched through it. How on earth did 56 square faces fit into a sphere? I slid the pieces through the sphere X’s. Some stuck, some didn’t. Why wouldn’t they fit? A few slides and clicks later, the ridges fit like puzzle pieces. Within an hour, I rebuilt the cube. Only 56 pieces had been laid out on the table, so there is still a hole. Unless I can find the missing piece somewhere, it won’t ever be a whole cube again, but I learned some interesting things when I was solving the cube inside-out.

• First of all, a rigged cube can’t be solved from the outside. The problem wasn’t with the outside of the cube; it was with the internal structure. No matter what algorithm I used, I couldn’t solve it by manipulating patterns. It needed to be broken and changed on the inside before the outside could be changed.

• Every piece fit together. When you look at dozens of pieces of plastic with weird curves etched underneath, they really don’t look like they fit together. But when you look carefully, you begin to notice patterns and shapes. Then, as you piece the problem together, you see the connection points. The pieces were made to lock together to form a whole. Switch one piece the wrong direction and the whole cube gets jumbled. Put ever piece in the right place, and you end up with a complete Rubik’s cube.

• One of the more obvious things was that ever piece had a purpose. There weren’t any "extra" pieces. The puzzle is broken until every piece is in place...you can’t have a half-solved puzzle and say it’s done (as evidenced by the hole left in my cube by the missing piece). Mr. Rubik designed each piece to have a purpose in the whole; he created the cube to be one thing. Even when we scramble Rubik’s cubes up, they are still whole–they’re just convoluted wholes. In the beginning and the end, though, they are perfect.

You probably see where this is going now=) Our lives are just like that Rubik’s cube! Man started perfect and got "rigged" on the inside. No human manipulation can put us back together again. But, after God breaks us, we can be whole. It takes divine intervention–a renewed heart–to be perfect again. Our problems in life aren’t accidents; they are planned for a purpose. Our problems and struggles in life shape us into being conformed to the true image of what we should be. And finally, we serve a sovereign God. God created and designed us with a purpose. Everything that happens is for His purpose and His glory. Every piece fits together for His plan. Whether or not we like the design of the pieces, He has it right. Maybe I didn’t like that my cube was really a sphere and I wanted to change it. That’s too bad! I can’t change what it was meant to be! Maybe we don’t like what happened...perhaps we weren’t satisfied with a test score or competition. Well, God works all things for good, and He has a purpose for that! Remember, it takes breaking for wholeness! We’re just a bunch of broken pieces. God makes us whole. None of our twists and turns are going to make things better, but His working–no matter how hard it seems–will.

Philippians 2:13–for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

After Locals...

Congratulations EVERYONE!
No matter how Saturday went for you, if you did your best, you are a winner! I know you've heard that many times are starting to think of it as cliche, but it's true. 
If you are really doing this for the Lord, then the outcome is in His hands. As you breathlessly await the results to be posted on Wednesday, trust Him.
Maybe Saturday was a disappointing day for you, and you don't feel like you were able to represent what you really know. Trust Him.
Maybe you shone on Saturday, and you have already set your mind toward Nationals. Hold on a minute!  Revel in the Lord and what He has given you in His word. Trust Him!
Maybe you are more nervous now than before Locals, and you can hardly focus on anything without thinking about how you did. Trust Him!
God's way is perfect! His Word never returns void!  
Don't be so focused on the Bee that you forget the Bible!  
Enjoy God these next couple days, just spend time with Him, away from the memory cards and the Sword Study, tell Him you love Him. 

And here's a thought: Await His appearing with the same anticipation with which you await the posting of the scores.