Author: Paul Nordman

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Blessed Are the Middle Borns?

My brother Eric is two years older than me, and my sister Lisa is five years younger. Where does this place me? Smack dab in the middle — this has been my birth order hangout for over 60 years. Middle-borns tend to be relatively less biased and more levelheaded; they tend also to be more easygoing. But perhaps the chief characteristic among my ilk is this: disliking conflict, we tend to mediate among others for win-win solutions and amiable relationships. Blessed are the middle borns (or at least their group-hug tendencies).

There is a downside to being an easygoing, levelheaded peacemaker, however: we are especially burdened by discord and contentiousness. How ironic that we who seek peace among others lose our own peace in the process. But it can happen, so what do we do? Here are a few thoughts that might prove helpful . . . 

Start in your heart. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all,”1 wrote Paul to believers in Rome. He likewise urged the Ephesian church to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”2


Don’t quit. Strive for peace, even among those less inclined toward it. “Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding,”3 wrote Paul, and in Hebrews we read, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”4

Don’t try to do what only God can do. We are called to be vessels of peace and intercessors for peace, but true peace — both in and among us — is of God, not us. Paul encouraged the Philippians, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”5 The apostle likewise pointed the Corinthians to our source of peace: “Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.6

Remember, obedience today yields fruit tomorrow. “A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace”7

Keep going, peacemakers! The world needs you “sons of God.”8

Father, there is so much strife around us and within us, but Jesus himself is our peace.9 In the liberty of this truth and grace, send us forward as peacemakers, whatever that entails today. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Romans 12:18 ESV
2 Ephesians 4:2-3 ESV
3 Romans 14:19 ESV
4 Hebrews 12:14 ESV
5 Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
6 2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV
7 James 3:18 ESV
8 Matthew 5:9 ESV
9 Ephesians 2:14 NIV

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The Other Fruit

It was the beginning of the school year, and our International Friendships (IFI) leader, Rich, invited new students to introduce themselves to our Friday night Bible study group. This is always a fun time and a fascinating gathering of the nations. When came her turn, one young woman stood up and said, “My name is Patience, and I am from Ghana.” Rich lightheartedly replied, “I’ve met people named Joy, Faith, and now Patience, but I’ve never met anyone named Self-control.” We all had a good chuckle, yet his comment made a point, though perhaps unintentionally so: self-control seems to get the short shrift among Spiritual fruit. We celebrate love, joy, peace, goodness, and faithfulness, for instance, but self-control? Hardly a mention.

But self-control is important. For we are at ground zero in a battle between our sin nature, or our “flesh,” and the Spirit who lives in us through faith in Christ, and our choices matter. “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”1 So Paul calls us to exercise self-control: “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”2 Again, we have a choice between good and evil, the sound selection of which requires self-control.

But how do we live in self-control while, if we’ve proven anything over the years, it is that our self-will regrettably leads us to self-centered choices? Answer: let the Spirit lead us.3 Jesus promised His followers, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak.”4 And as we offer ourselves to God as people who have been raised to life, and every part of ourselves to Him as instruments of righteousness, we will be walking in self-control. For the Spirit who leads us in truth empowers us to follow in obedience. Go in His guidance.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. — Galatians 5:25

Father, thank You for sending Your Spirit of truth. Open our hearts that we would know His presence, trust His words, and follow His lead in self-control. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Galatians 5:17 ESV
2 Romans 6:13 NIV, emphasis added)
3 Galatians 5:18
4 John 16:13 ESV

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Rest Area Open

The highway sign read, “Rest Area Closed.” The State had torn down the old facility and was replacing it completely — building, utilities, and pavement. “That’s OK,” I thought, “there’s another one 35 miles up the road.” But as I approached, this second pull-off likewise greeted me with the familiar unwelcome sign, “Rest Area Closed.” It, too, was under complete reconstruction! Clearly, these master planners had failed to consider old men’s bladders, so without any place to stop, I became increasingly “restless,” until finding a third roadside facility another 40 minutes later. This one was open. And there I . . . er, rested.

God has a passion for our rest. We are most familiar with the seventh day Sabbath, when God calls us to rest from our functional toil, though we are tempted not to. God also offers respite from situational strife, though we can reject that, also. For instance, when God led the Hebrew people to the Promised Land — a place of protection and provision — they faithlessly refused to go in. Vowed God to them, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Calab. . . and Joshua.”1 Centuries later, God recalled their refusal: “I was angry with that generation . . . So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”2 Rest Area Closed.

Yet every day, God compassionately calls us to another kind of rest, a life-giving rest. “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.”3 Here the author speaks not of “work” in the manual labor sense, rather, he calls us to rest from the pursuit of “works” as a means of earning eternal life. In Christ, God has done the work of salvation for us, as only He could, and He now rests from this work. We must not harden our hearts4 against Him by pursuing in our own effort the rest He provides through His grace; we rest from our works by resting in His.

Then do we pursue works at all? Yes, we are called to “good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”5 We pursue them not as means of gaining rest with God, however, but as people who have found our rest in Christ. Rest Area Open.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” — Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Father, our rest is in You, as is our strength. In your rest, may we pursue the works you have prepared for us today. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 Numbers 14:30 NIV
2 Psalm 95:10-11 NIV
3 Hebrews 4:9-10 NIV
4 Hebrews 3:8
5 Ephesians 2:10 ESV