Several years ago, my daughter Hope came stomping through the living room visibly upset. Her mom asked, “Hope, what’s wrong?” Hope stopped, turned and yelled, “Dad’s being a jerk!” (I probably was.) When I heard her say this, I followed her to her room and had a one sided discussion that went something like this; “You have a right to feel whatever you feel about the things I decide. You have a right to express your feelings and to argue your point. You have my permission to say ANYTHING you need to say to express your feelings. But you DO NOT have the right to be rude or disrespectful while doing it. Are we clear?”

While Hope clearly has a flawed father to deal and reason with, I’m wondering what is the right way to approach our Father, God? Oh I don’t mean when life is wonderful and we are feeling all the love our tiny souls can muster for Him, I’m talking about the other days. The days when the bills out pace the pay, the days when the car, washing machine and the vacuum all stop working, and then the dog throws up on the floor. I’m talking about when we pray and ask Him for simple things like, “Let me pass my test, or get the job, or find my keys or make the cut” and none of those simple things goes in our favor. I’m talking about when we ask the big ones too, “Save my marriage, heal my child, let the scan be clean, let the test results come back negative” and the silence from the one who loves us most is thunderous. What is the right way to approach God in those moments?

Rich Mullins, wrote a song shortly before his death called, Hard to Get, in the song he pours out his frustration with God.

“Do you remember when You lived down here

Where we all scrape to find the faith to ask for daily bread

Did you forget about us after You had flown away

Well I memorized every word You said

Still I’m so scared, I’m holding my breath

While You’re up there just playing hard to get”

I can’t prove it, but I think He allows us to be as bold in approaching Him as our love extends toward Him. Jesus Christ made it possible for us to go directly to God. To go “behind the curtain” to step into the throne room and say exactly how we feel, to pour out our hearts and yes, even be angry at Him. He does not live in time and sees our lives in the context of eternity rather than the snap shot of our years.

I guess what I’m saying is that I think He can handle our attempts at saying how we feel, even when it is raw and pain driven. They key, it seems to me, is to let love lead—we can have angry and pain-filled words, but when those words need to be expressed, have your Love for God hold the leash and lead the way so the Pit bull of your pain is restrained and led by love.

telemicus out

The boldness of righteousness intrigues me. I don’t mean the morally faultless; I mean the pure of heart. I’m amazed at the way God treats boldness in his servants. Abraham recognized it was a bold move to bargain with the Lord for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The prophet Jonah, when asked by the Lord, “Do you have a right to be angry?” shot back, “I do! I am angry enough to die!” Very bold. David, spoke boldly of his own righteousness and called on God to do all manner of harm to his enemies. Beyond that, he boldly declares his trust in the Lord to support him against his enemies. Fascinating.

Let’s consider two aspects of this, the boldness of righteousness and boldness in approaching God. In recent weeks, Miss California captured more than her fifteen minutes of fame because she answered a loaded question from an agenda driven miscreant judge concerning gay marriage. Without prejudice, she said boldly that she believed in the traditional view of marriage. For her boldness, she is both honored and vilified.

Being bold is not being willing to argue with everyone we meet about our view of righteousness. Boldness is being without fear when we face an enemy. It’s also standing firm when we are afraid. It is speaking the truth regardless of the consequence. It is walking with integrity of the soul that will not compromise our faith. It is standing with and defending the cause of the oppressed when we have no power to wield. It is confidence in cause over capability and it is risk with no certainty of reward.

In the Old Book David says, “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted” (Psalm 138:3). In the movie, Return of the King, as they made plans for a diversion to give Frodo a chance to complete his mission, Gimli said, “Certainty of death, small chance of success… What are we waiting for?”

The Lord makes us bold and stouthearted. To be honest, I’ve been more stout-headed than stouthearted in my life. I want to be bolder for the Lord—not in my convictions, but in my actions. I think we need more boldness for the cause of righteousness. I suppose we will need a greater hunger for it in our lives. Boldness is not arrogance or confidence in ourselves, boldness is a reckless confidence in the Lord and His Presence in our lives—“you made me bold and stouthearted” well then, what are we waiting for?

telemicus out