God Insomnia - Martin Wiles

I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night. Psalm 63:6 NLT

I can’t remember the last time I did for an entire night.

Sleepless nights began when I turned fifty. Nothing had changed. I wasn’t under any stress. No physical ailments presented themselves. For some unknown reason, I simply stopped sleeping all night. I fell asleep quickly … but couldn’t stay asleep. Since then, I find myself waking up several times, visiting the bathroom, and returning to bed. When I get up in the morning, I often feel as if I haven’t been to bed, and by nine in the evening I’m ready for bed.

I’ve tried several remedies, such as staying up later, taking allergy medicine to make me drowsy, reading, and not looking at screens before bedtime. Nothing works. I considered asking the doctor for medicine, but decided against it, not wanting to add another prescription to my already growing list.

When I awake during the night, I’m aware of what my mind does while I’m asleep. It seems to race from one thought to another. I try to make myself think of nothing, but I can’t stop my mind from doing what God designed it to do during our sleep periods.

Since I’m awake, I do something productive. Like, think about what I’m going to write the next morning. Or if I’ve already thought about writing, I think about how I can refine it or add to it. And since I write about godly things, I reflect on God.

I suppose doing this puts me in good company, for the psalmist said he did the same. I don’t know what kept him awake, but while he was, he meditated on God. He must have had insomnia, too. But if I’m going to have insomnia, why not have God insomnia?

What we meditate on leads to what we act on. Meditating on God and His principles at night—or anytime—leads us to act on them during the day. Even during the sleepless nights, we can train our minds for righteousness. And I don’t have to get up when I awake during the night and read His word, get something to eat, or any other activity to go back to sleep. I simply lie there and meditate.

Connecting with God is important, and we can do this even during the night in those moments when we lie awake—regardless of how long those moments are. Those moments of insomnia can turn into worship times when we praise God for His goodness, ask for His guidance during the next day, and thank Him for His mercy and grace.

Let your moments of insomnia be moments of God insomnia.

Prayer: Father, when we lie awake at night, direct our minds toward You.

Tell us how you handle the sleepless nights?

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Flashback Friday - Looking Back - Martin Wiles

Hindsight can be 20/20.

But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Genesis 19:26 NLT

A recent article detailed 37 things dying people said they regretted not doing. Among them were traveling abroad, learning another language, leaving a bad relationship, seeing their favorite musician, overcoming fear, taking care of themselves physically, leaving an unpleasant job, saying “I love you” enough, listening to what their parents told them, ignoring what other thought, releasing grudges, volunteering enough, putting work in a proper perspective, spending enough time with loved ones, and letting go of worry.

Life can be filled with look backs, but there is one type that is spiritually devastating. Lot’s wife experienced it. She and her husband lived in the city of wicked Sodom. When news arrived that God was about to destroy their hometown, they ran for their lives. While on the escape route, however, Lot’s wife looked back longingly at the immorality she was leaving behind. The penalty was death…or in this case salt.

I am a product of my past but don’t have to be its prisoner. One counselor suggests 90 percent of our responses in relationships relate to a former rather than present time. But my past is a good instructor when I allow the wrong turns in it to prompt right turns in the present.

Skeletons haunt my past. When I allow unwise decisions and actions of my past to affect my present and future, I become a prisoner of misplaced focus. God gives many second chances, so my future is as bright as I allow it to be. Lot’s wife relived in her mind the sordid past she was leaving behind. If I long for what God has forgiven, it reveals a lack of full commitment to him.

My future is in God’s hands. He won’t erase my past, but he can use the events from it, combine them with my present experiences, and then use me to help others who are struggling on their spiritual journey. Are you learning from and using your past or letting it ruin your present and future?

Prayer: Merciful God of second chances, we thank You that our pasts don’t have to control our presents or futures.

Don't forget to share how you've learned to look forward rather than backward. 

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Just Do It - Martin Wiles

But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” Judges 14:3 NLT

I tired of the rules—and wanted to break them.

From my earliest memories, I knew the rules. Mom and Dad taught them to me on a regular basis, and grandparents, along with teachers at school and at church, reinforced them. Don’t lie, steal, curse, smoke, drink, chew, or hang around with those who do. Don’t sass your parents. Keep Sunday holy. Overall, just be a good boy. Love God and do what the Bible says. That seemed like a lot of rules. And don’t question them. Just do them.

That philosophy worked well until I reached fourteen years of age, by which time I had tired of the rules governing my life. Some of them I had no problem with, but some I wanted to buck. Well, outright throw out the window. And I did. Before long, I found myself disobeying the ones I initially had no problem with. Somewhat like a domino effect.

Seven long years passed before I finally came around to seeing that doing it my way wasn’t the way to go after all.

Samson, one of Israel’s judges during their dark period in history, had the same problem. God instructed his mom to dedicate him as a Nazarite from birth. He could not cut his hair, drink alcohol, or touch dead bodies.

Nor was he supposed to marry foreign women who would influence him with their pagan lifestyles. When he found one he wanted to marry, he told his father he didn’t care about the vows any longer. He wanted the woman.

I had the same problem Samson had when it came to rules: I didn’t think before I acted. Not doing so always led to trouble for both of us. Thinking leads to emotions which lead to actions. And acting on emotions often brings unwanted consequences. Acting on what God says is right or wrong leads to a healthier lifestyle.

Just doing what we want leads to a reckless lifestyle, as it did with Samson—and me. I did what I wanted, regardless of whom it hurt, me included. Life became about me and doing what I wanted, not what God desired.

Just doing it—whatever it is—also ruins our example when the it runs counter to God’s commands. Telling someone God loves them proves difficult when our lives don’t align with His directives.

Just doing it might seem fun at the time, but in the end, disaster follows. Make up your mind to do what God wants. You will never regret the decision.

Prayer: Father, give us the fortitude to just do what You say.

Tell us about some things you made up your mind to do. 

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No Stupid Questions - Martin Wiles

Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 18:18 NLT

Although my wife and I discuss our bills together, she normally pays them. Not this time.

Occasionally, she’ll ask me to stop by the credit union on my way home from work to pay the car loan. I had cash, but not the exact amount. I handed the teller the cash, along with the bill. After what seemed like forever, she returned to the window with my receipt and said, “Thank you. Have a nice day.”

Confused about where my change was, I determined what she’d done: put the entire amount toward our loan. I didn’t tell her to and had never had a place to do this before.

“I didn’t want to apply the entire amount,” I said.

“Oh, that’s what we normally do unless a customer tells us otherwise,” she responded. Then with a confused look on her face, she asked, “What do you want me to do with the change?”

I wanted to be sarcastic, but knew I shouldn’t. So, I smiled and said, “Give it to me.” I wanted to say, “What do you normally do with change? Put it in your pocket? Throw it out the window? Add it to the bank’s funds?” But I held my tongue.

I’ve taught my children and the ones I teach at school that there are no stupid questions, but the woman’s question pushed the envelope. The one the religious leader asked Jesus, however, wasn’t. How to have eternal life ranks at the top of important questions. Jesus told him to obey the commandments. He claimed he had. So, Jesus told him to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor. He wasn’t interested; he was rich. He went away sad.

Everyone is born with eternal life. We’ll die, but our immortal souls—and later our resurrected bodies—won’t. We’ll spend eternity in one of two places: heaven or hell. The man wanted eternal life in heaven. But the eternal life he wanted comes with a choice and sacrifices. It entails choosing to believe in Christ and follow Him obediently, making Him the Lord of our lives.

Eternal life is also more than existing forever. It involves a quality of life now. We live with eternity in mind. Everything we do and every choice we make should be done and made with Christ in mind. What would He do? How would He think? Would He go here? Would He marry this person? Would He make this investment … or purchase?

Have you asked and answered life’s most important question?

Prayer: Father, help us to give the right answers to life’s most important questions.

Tell us about some questions you have. 

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Throwback Tuesday - Choosing to Forgive - Martin Wiles

Choosing to Forgive

And forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. Matthew 6:12 NLT

I shared my story, but, as they each began to share theirs, my offense suddenly seemed somewhat insignificant. 

The subject of our small group discussion was forgiveness. I’ve had my share of hurts—some more serious than others, so I began by revealing the most painful hurt I’d ever experienced. Heads nodded, and I assumed they’d been there—in one form or another. As they shared their stories, I knew they had. A mother whose spouse poured acid over her and her unborn child…scarring the child for life. Another who’d had an alcoholic grandmother spread a vicious rumor that she’d had an abortion when it was only a ruptured appendix. Still, another told of an unfaithful spouse who still didn’t have time for his child even though she was presently an adult. And finally a story of a child’s sexual harassment. Each one had a choice: forgive or hold onto the hurt. Read more...

Don't forget to tell us about your journey to forgive. 

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Serving as a Servant - Martin Wiles

In the same way, when you obey me you should say, “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.” Luke 17:9 NLT

The captain gave the command: “Charge for the guns.”

October 25, 1854. The Battle of Balaclava. The Crimean War. A lesser-known war seldom given much attention to in history books. With whom the blunder happened, historians disagree, but the captain gave the command for an ill-prepared English cavalry brigade to charge a Russian battery.

Men with only horses and sabers charged a fortress armed with cannons and guns. Anywhere from 600 to 670 soldiers made the charge. Only 150 to 160 of them returned, many wounded.

Poet laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote of the battle in his famous poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” Praising their honor, he said, “Theirs not to make reply/ Theirs not to reason why/ Theirs but to do and die.” And in the end, he asked Britons—and all people—to “Honour the charge they made!/ Honour the Light Brigade.” After all, they had only done their duty … their service.

In response to His apostles’ request for Him to show them how to increase their faith, Jesus told them a story about servants. When servants finish performing their duties, the master doesn’t ask them to sit with him and eat. Rather, he tells them to robe and serve him. They would eat later. They did what the master expected: serve.

Serving isn’t normally the way we measure greatness. We usually determine it by how many serve us. Not in Jesus’ Kingdom. Servanthood equals greatness.

Nor does serving come naturally for me—although I’ve known some who seem to have an easier time doing it than others. I have to retrain my way of thinking. Rather than life being about me and my selfish wants, I have to intentionally focus on the needs of others.

When the palm of our hands open, we can let God’s blessings flow from us to others. And when they do, Jesus grows our faith. We give with the faith that less equals more. Although we should have less because we’ve shared, we actually have more because God opens the floodgates of heaven and pours into our cups.

A servant attitude leads us to do exactly what the Light Brigade did. Their commander gave the order to charge … to serve their country … and they did. God gives us the same command. We should do no less. We owe Him this much for all He does and has done for us.

Ask God to give you opportunities to serve as Jesus did.

Prayer: Father, give us the desire—and the opportunities—to serve with a servant attitude.

Tell us about some ways you have served. 

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Advice, Advice, and More Advice - Martin Wiles

The plans of the godly are just; the advice of the wicked is treacherous. Proverbs 12:15 NLT

Advice is like armpits. Some smell good while some plain stinks.

I’ve received good and bad advice. And given some of both, too. Organize your debts. Pay off the smaller amounts first, and then take what I was paying to the smaller debtor and combine it with the payment I made to the next larger debtor. Debts disappear quicker and more efficiently, leading to a debt-free existence. Good advice.

Get married before you have sex. Good advice too. It aligns with the Bible’s teaching that sexual relationships are for married persons. God forbids sex before marriage—and sex with someone other than one’s spouse. Not advice anyone could follow without help from God, but good advice, nevertheless.

True love waits. I remember when my denomination promoted a campaign entitled, “True Love Waits.” Teachers taught students in a six- to eight-week course why they should wait until marriage to have sexual relationships. Good advice … especially in today’s world when this doesn’t appear as the norm.

Try this. It won’t hurt you. Bad advice given by a friend—one of my father’s deacon’s sons who wanted me to join him in smoking marijuana. He also wanted me to join him on a regular basis for some heavy drinking. Then, he threw in a little bit of cutting school. Bad advice. Unfortunately, I listened.

Disrespect your parents. After all, what do they know? They just want to make your life miserable. Bad advice. But I did a lot of following that bad advice too. Now, I wish I could take back all of what I thought and said, but I can’t.

The wise king said bad advice comes from wicked people and provides treachery for our souls. He was right when he wrote the advice, and he’s right now.

When seeking advice—or just listening to advice we haven’t asked for—we should ensure it aligns with scripture before considering it. Anything that contradicts scripture constitutes bad advice that will ruin our souls and steal our peace.

Getting biblical advice means hanging around godly people. They are the only ones who’ll give us principles from God’s Word.

Sometimes, others’ advice is good, but not timely. When this is true, we need to wait until another time to consider it.

I’ve also discovered good advice usually comes from experienced people—and that means older people. King Solomon’s son once took advice from the younger crowd as opposed to listening to the older folk’s advice. Doing so led to a rebellion in the ranks and eventually cost him the kingdom. People who’ve been around for a while have a lot of good stuff worth listening to.

I reminded a middle schooler of this once when I said, “I’m sorry my 59 years of experience is interfering with your 12 years of knowledge.” She took my advice, stopped talking, and listened.

Be careful where you get your advice from.

Prayer: Father, give us the wisdom to know which advice to listen to and which to reject.

Tweetable: What advice are you giving...or taking? 

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Flashback Friday - Bilingual Communication - Martin Wiles

Bilingual Communication

We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.  And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go. James 3:3-4 NLT

When in a marriage or serious relationship, learning your partner’s language is critical.

As in the earlier years of her history, the United States is seeing a large influx of immigrants—presently Hispanic. Public opinion remains divided over immigration, but one thing is certain: we must learn each other’s language if we’re going to co-exist. Their children must learn the official language of America in order to attend school. Adults must learn at least a little English to be able to exist in our culture. Many businesses and service providers have made accommodations to make the transition easier. Spanish is printed on food substances, public signs, and is an option at most places where business transactions are made. America is making a valiant attempt to be bilingual. Read more...

Tweetable: What kind of language are you speaking to others?

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Keep Calm - Martin Wiles

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 NLT

The note gave one simple suggestion: “Keep Calm.”

Teaching challenges the best of us. Teaching middle schoolers presents a greater test, and teaching any students two weeks prior to summer vacation is yet more challenging. But I had the task, as I had had for the past six years.

One young student knew her class had pushed my buttons to the limit. Not her. She was a model student who always came in with a smile on her face, maintained a positive attitude even when her grades weren’t what she wanted, and did her best. 

Near the end of class, she asked for a sticky note. I handed her a small one, thinking she needed it for a bookmark. Class ended, and I didn’t see her again until the end of the day when she pranced into my room, handed me the note, smiled, and left.

The note wasn’t plain blue anymore. She had multicolored it. When finished with the coloring, she wrote the message, “Keep Calm,” in large letters. She gave me a big smile as she handed me the note. “I made this for you,” she beamed. I thanked her, and she went on her merry way.

Little did she know how much I needed the message. Not only because of the hectic scenarios that can arise when we near the end of a school year but also because of the challenges my wife and I faced at home.

I had been doing a lot of what the psalmist had done, but I hadn’t been freed from all my fears. Anxiety and worry dominated my thoughts. I was giving in to the messages of the enemy when I should have been listening to the verse … and the note.

Some days and life seasons make anxiety and worry easier to come by. Overcoming them means recognizing the perceived sources because the perceived sources are not the origins at all. For sure, some scenarios make it easier to be anxious, but no one or nothing can make me anxious, just as no one or nothing can make me angry. I choose anxiety and worry.

We can also choose the opposite: freedom from fears. God gives us the free will to do so, along with the promise that He controls our situations and can bring peace during them if we’ll face them with the correct mindset. The choice is ours, but so are the consequences. Fear and worry bring anxiety, while prayer and trust bring peace.

When you think you just can’t face one more day—or one more problem—keep calm.

Prayer: Father, help us to remain calm when it appears that everything is out of control.

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Connected by a String - Martin Wiles

And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. Ephesians 1:13 NLT

No matter where I tossed it, it returned.

In the land before computers, cell phones, and video games—the land I lived in as a child—there were yoyos. I had no income, only the allowance Mom and Dad gave me for doing chores around the house or the money I received from relatives for Christmas or my birthday, but I used what I received to buy yoyos.

Of course, in my mind, no yoyo existed except those imprinted with the name, Duncan. The Imperial and the Butterfly were my favorites. When the string wasn’t twisted, I could toss them down, and they’d return to my hand. Doesn’t seem like much fun now, but it was then.

But a mere toss down and back up didn’t suffice. I needed to know the main tricks, such as “Walking the Dog” and “Around the World.” To walk the dog, the yoyo string had to be completely untwisted. When tossed down, the yoyo would remain in a spinning position until I jerked the string, at which time it would return to my hand. Around the world involved tossing the yoyo around my shoulder as a softball pitcher does when pitching a ball.

The Imperial worked well for these and other tricks, but the Butterfly performed even better. The Butterfly had a wider girth, making it easier to catch when it came back to me. If my slip knot didn’t come undone or the string didn’t break, my yoyos always came back, no matter what trick I performed.

As the string and slipknot connected me to my yoyo, so God’s Spirit connects me to Him. Paul says we’re given—or sealed—with the Spirit the moment we trust Christ as our Savior.

I wasn’t a perfect yoyoer. I often messed up, but if the string held, I could retrieve my wayward yoyo, rewind the string, and toss it again. The same holds true in our walk with God. Sin makes us prone to mess up. Even though God gives us new nature and clothes us in the righteousness of Christ, we still live in an imperfect body and an imperfect world filled with temptations.

The good news is that we can keep going back to God’s hand. The connection will never break, and He will never sever it. Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Although we are not puppets on a string—God gives us free will—He is there for us to run back to when we fall into sin or travel down wayward paths.

When you feel completely unwound or twisted, remember God is there to draw You back to Himself.

Prayer: Father, thank You for never leaving us.

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Throwback Tuesday - Filling the Void - Martin Wiles

Filling the Void

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again.” John 4:15 NLT 

He left us suddenly on August 11, 2014. Robin Williams was one of my favorite actors. I suppose my first acquaintance with him was on the television show Mork and Mindy. His comedic abilities were transfixing and delightful. I often wondered if he had a script or just made up his jokes and comments on the fly. Smiles always decorated his face. In his movie, Good Morning Vietnam, he was able to bring a smile to those downtrodden over an unpopular war. But apparently, Williams’ smiles covered a deep-seated void. At some point, his void fillers failed him, and he decided to take his life. Read more...

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Lost and Found - Martin Wiles

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 NLT

I wondered how she could misplace a six-foot bulky chord.

“Have you seen the charging cord for my laptop,” my wife asked. I hadn’t, but knowing she always kept it close by her laptop on the kitchen table, I pondered what could have happened to it.

The search began. We racked our brains and ransacked the house, looking in every nook and cranny and in places it surely wouldn’t hide. Earlier in the day, my wife had plundered the kitchen table with craft items, making Mother’s Day gifts for our moms, our daughter, and the mother of the child my wife keeps. “Did you accidentally put the chord in one of the bags with the craft items?” I asked. We looked. Nothing.

By this time, my wife’s laptop had died. Not a good situation when she was in the middle of planning a wedding for a friend. Our friends joined in the search. The man, who sat on the love seat, looked under the furniture, and ran his hands down beside the cushions. All he found was three dinosaurs and a pair of woman’s underwear (We inherited the love seat from our daughter, who inherited it from a thrift store.). This brought a good laugh.

“I still think someone picked it up by mistake,” I commented again. But who? We taxed our brains, thinking of who had visited during the day. Then it dawned on us. Another friend had stopped by to pick up jewelry and a digital antenna she had let us borrow. Could she have picked up the chord with the antennae? A quick call brought a sigh of relief. She had.

Although finding the lost chord was important, doing so wasn’t nearly as important as fixing the lost state every one of us finds ourselves in when we come into this world. Paul classifies us as sinners—not a popular word, but a biblical one. Unless we’re found, the result of our lostness will be spiritual and eternal death (Romans 6:23).

Fortunately, God knows our location and wants us to know it as well. Being found entails admitting our sinfulness and turning to Christ as our Savior. Once found, we can live the life God intended for us to live when He created us. A simple confession of our sins, along with a plea for saving, is all God requires.

If you haven’t let yourself be found by God, why not do so today?

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Set Out for God - Martin Wiles

I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Psalm 16:8 NKJV

Some things I set before me regularly.

One is my computer. I lived without it more years than I have lived with it, but presently I can’t imagine doing life without it. It’s the first thing I set before me in the morning when I write, and it’s the first thing I put on my desk when I arrive at school to teach. I need it to take attendance, do lesson plans, research items for classroom discussion, and display information for the students on the overhead.

Two other items I position before me are my black and my red pens. Black for normal writing and red for grading. In a year, I use up several red pens.

Also put before me on my desk at school is my cup of coffee and my cup of water. I can’t imagine facing a day with no Java. One cup before I leave the house for work and another cup to sip on until around ten in the morning. Then, I gravitate to the water.

Yet another set of items positioned before me are my eye drops. To stave off glaucoma and to manage my dry-eye disease, I place three sets of eye drops in my eyes several times each day. They keep my eyes from blurring and my world from going black.

One other thing that rests before me—which I didn’t set there—are troubles. They seem to come on a regular basis throughout life. Just a part of the journey. Sometimes because of poor decisions. At other times because of living in a sin-decorated world.

The psalmist set a more important thing before him: the Lord. I’ve done that too. When I was nine, I made the decision to set the Lord before me. And with few exceptions, I’ve made it a practice to set Him before me regularly. When I don’t, life gets squirrely.

But how do I set someone I can’t see or tangibly interact with before me? When I read and meditate on Scripture, I set God before me. Those are His words, given to writers through the inspiration of God’s Spirit. This makes them important…life-giving.

I set God before me through my petitions. He knows what I need—and want—but He wants to hear the requests. This expresses my faith…and matures it.

Placing God before us consistently is essential. Doing it sporadically doesn’t give us the abundant life Jesus offers. Doing so requires intentionality, but it’s possible and results in the best life possible.

God’s storehouse is full of blessings He’s waiting to share with you. Set Him before you each day and experience them.

Prayer: Father, give us the faith to set You before us each day.

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