by Jimmy McAfee | Nov 23, 2018 | Uncategorized
One of the reasons the Bible is so captivating is because it was written by people who were living out the stories they wrote. It was written by shepherds, tent makers, kings, and cupbearers. They simply told their stories.
Stories are most powerful when
the author’s genuine emotions flow out of the words. If you read my last post on the 23rd Psalm, you can feel David’s struggle in the lyrics of that beautiful song. The words are inspired by the spirit but spoken from the author’s heart.
Our stories may be different than David’s. He struggled with treachery, violence, and hunger. My circumstances are much safer and tend to involve a need for belonging and love. Psalms are born out of finding freedom, so as believers, we all have a song inside us.
Easy to say, but does it work? I decided to put myself to the test.
Would the 23rd Psalm be worthwhile if I had written it?
Not knowing how to start, I decided to follow David’s format. I broke it into four elements. Place of peace, emotional struggle, God’s response and vision of hope.
I am an engineer and love to follow a formula. That may not make for great literature but its a starting point.
My place of peace
When I am under stress, my dreams drift back to my childhood home in Nashville. I find myself once again standing in the large room that formed the kitchen and dining areas or with sunshine on my shoulders walking out in the yard. I was at peace then because my family loved and accepted me. I didn’t worry and with the faith fo a child, I trusted that all my needs would be met.
My emotional struggle
I struggle with feelings that nobody cares about me because I am not worth their attention. Even when people embrace me, I fear that tomorrow will bring loneliness again.
God’s response
God marks me as his own. When I need to be reminded that I am worthy, he gives me glimpses of how he sees me. By my faith and his design, people can see him in me.
My vision of hope
I want to be used by God and leave a legacy everywhere I go.
It is difficult to admit my weakness but more amazing that God loves me anyway. When I mix David’s elements with my images, my song pours out the same way that his must have.
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My Psalm
The Trinity has adopted me into their family, I found belonging.
Pictures of us together surround me as we relax and share stories about our day. They teach me the family business and bring peace to my soul.
Dark forces swirl, shining lights on my failures, hissing that I am nobody, but I know who I am.
The spirit rests on me, my brother stands at my side, and my Father tells the world that he is pleased with me. He grants me the authority of his name. Our family resemblance cannot be denied and my heart overflows.
Life and love forever mark my footprints as I walk through my Father’s kingdom.
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My Conclusion
Certainly, my psalm is no replacement for the 23rd Psalm. It doesn’t even look similar. That’s OK. My place of peace, struggles, and hopes are as unique as my fingerprint.
I found joy in speaking my fears out loud and praising God for lifting me above them.
I had never considered several of the images that came out. The concept of a “family resemblance” was new for me, but is encouraging.
I don’t expect everyone to love it, but I am as excited to show my Father as a child racing into the room with a crayon drawing for the refrigerator. And that pleases him.
The Bible isn’t a storybook. It is alive and intended to guide us. Psalms are awesome, but maybe they are intended as a guide to help us write our own.
When you are sad, or joyful, amazed or scared, try writing it down. Maybe a phrase or two will turn into something longer. Maybe the spirit will guide your words. You won’t know until you try.
by Jimmy McAfee | Nov 19, 2018 | Uncategorized
Life is full of ups and downs. Most of these are the minor fluctuations that keep us on our toes. But occasionally a profound tragedy or triumph stops us in our tracks and causes us to reevaluate our lives.
When circumstances seem impossible, the 23rd Psalm calls out to us. It is one of the Bible’s most encouraging passages. “The Lord is my shepherd…” has comforted people for three thousand years.
It is inspired and beautiful, but if that is all you know, get ready for the rest of the story.
King David wrote this psalm. He was born the youngest of eight sons and raised in the small village of Bethlehem. As the youngest, he inherited the unenviable task
of caring for his father’s flock of sheep. He spent many hours and days alone with the animals. Roaming the countryside, leading them to sources of food and water, he made sure they were protected from nature’s threats.
It was quiet, peaceful work, but
especially boring for an energetic child. I suspect he let his thoughts find freedom by singing as he played his small harp while the sheep rested in the sun.
He was a musical prodigy, and his gift was noticed by the king’s attendants. He was invited to the castle to play for the king. Instead of sheep, he was suddenly playing for royalty.
His musician’s life quickly transformed into that of a soldier. On a trip to visit his brothers in their battle camp, he volunteered to fight a death match with a man who was not just a giant, but also the champion of his nation’s army. That victory catapulted him into the spotlight – where his military and leadership genius were on full display. He rose quickly to general and the people of Israel would sing about the tens of thousands of enemies he had killed.
David’s success as a soldier transitioned smoothly into politics when Israel was in need of a new king. Under his rule, the kingdom expanded, and prosperity grew. He was fair to his subjects, even to the point that God called him a man after his own heart.
These successes came at a high cost. He spent years at a time away from home, living in harsh conditions with constant threats to his life. He was betrayed by those closest to him, and constant wars marked his lifetime.
His intense focus on kingship distracted him from his duties as a husband and father. His relationships with both his wives and sons were strained.
His sons had all the curses of children born into wealth and privilege without discipline. None of them possessed his strong character and heart for God. David was unable to control them. His son Absalom went so far as to murder his own brother and later stage a bloody coup to seize control of the kingdom from his father. David barely escaped the castle with his life and retreated into the wilderness.
In the wilderness, he faced hunger, thirst and constant danger as his life hung by a thread. He was forced to choose between relinquishing a divinely anointed crown to an unlawful usurper or to raise an army to battle his own son.
As he agonized with his decision, he had no one to share it with. The loyal people who had fled with him from the castle had risked their own lives as well as that of their families. Because they were plagued with their own concerns, David would not have burdened them with his.
Isolated and alone in his contemplation, his heart must have longed for the peaceful days of his childhood, spent roaming green, grassy fields and wading in cool creeks. How simple it must have seemed when sheep were his only responsibility.
In these dark times, he did not blame God for his struggles. Instead, through faith, he knew he would survive. Hope still filled his heart, and he could see visions of tomorrow that strengthened him.
With no one to talk to and few ways to sort out his jumbled emotions, he began to write.
If you’ve read these words during turbulent times, you have felt the pain they were born from. You have also felt the comfort of a loving Father. In about one hundred words, this passage captures the very essence of our collective hope.
If you feel overwhelmed, do what David did. Start with speaking who God is and what he has done for you. Then describe your situation and speak victory and hope into it.
The 23rd Psalm is David’s story. And now you know the rest of the story.
Sources:
1 The Story Behind The Psalms by Jack Hyles http://www.fbbc.com/messages/hyles_psalms.htm
My 23rd Psalm
by Jimmy McAfee | Nov 8, 2018 | Uncategorized
The holidays are coming! I’m looking forward to having a full house again. Holiday traditions are probably my favorite ones.
Starting in November, our family regularly watches classic holiday movies and the new classics also. Before or after the big meals, we favor throwing frisbee instead of football. We skip Black Friday shopping in favor of Shootin’ and Pie Day and usually wear t-shirts emblazoned with a target and pie slice.
We grill steak and refer to it as our Christmas ham. We stage an annual, elaborate disagreement about whether to open presents on Christmas Eve or Day. Before opening the gifts, we remove all of them from under the tree then obsessively stack them into neat piles for each person.
We close out the year building a funeral pyre that floats in the pool and brightly burns lists of things we need to bury in the past. Then we make our list of wishes for the coming year.
When “outsiders” join us, we excitedly explain our traditions to a gallery of confused faces.
Everybody has their own, unique way of celebrating. Like the Peanuts characters in the holiday show, we hold tightly to the traditions that remind us where we come from. For a few magical days each year, we know that we belong together.
During family gatherings, we frequently revert to the roles we held in days gone by. The youngest child is treated carefully, no matter how old he or she may be. Mom and Dad still cast the deciding vote, even though generations may have multiplied. Some of these roles are healthy, others aren’t.
Whether we are sharing time with family, friends or coworkers, the results can be the same. Rivalries are too often rekindled and old hurts can feel new again. It’s hard to avoid.
This year I’m going to be different. I will pick my character.
The familiarity of the characters in holiday movies provide comfort, but their endless, unchanging loop shouldn’t apply to my life. This time I want to play a different role.
I love Buddy the Elf, but instead of conforming to the spirit of the holidays, I want to be intentional about connecting with each person.
One at a time, I want to celebrate the different people in my life by letting them know why they are special. Not just special to me, but special in all the glorious ways God created them.
Most years I relate to Cousin Eddie. I come off as awkward and don’t want people to find out how many problems I really have. Nobody should feel embarrassed about the challenges they have faced in the past year or worry about how other people will judge their responses. Instead, they should find acceptance and sympathy.
Scrooge was only consistently generous in handing out unwanted advice. My new character will be an encourager instead. My Christmas wish is that people would remember me for finding a spark within them and fanning it into a flame.
When things inevitably get crazy, I don’t want to wish everyone would disappear, like the Home Alone kid. Instead, I want to lean in. I want to be the person that you seek out when you want a spellbound audience. I want to be a friend who can see your success before it ever happens.
My favorite character is the lovably well-intentioned Clark Griswold, constantly worrying when traditions never play out quite right. Instead, I want to relax and remember that the best stories are born from the years that don’t work out as planned.
As my focus shifts to building other people up, some of our traditions probably won’t come off right either. If anyone is disappointed, I apologize in advance.
I love traditions. But more importantly, I love the people they are shared with, hope they can feel that love, and have faith in our future together.
Maybe Hollywood hasn’t created the perfect character meant just for me. That’s OK.
I’m going to write this story myself.
I hope you find your character, too.
Happy holidays, everybody.
