Standing With You

“Our strength to stand comes by those who stand with us.”

Loren Thornburg

As I stood as a bridesmaid in a wedding of a good friend I was reminded of the importance of those who stand with us.  I love that picture of people standing on both sides of the couple and the implied commitment to stand with them.  It is said that this tradition originated from Roman Law which required witnesses at a wedding to outsmart evil spirits.  Those attending dressed in identical clothing to the bride and groom so that evil spirits would not know who was getting married.  Although we don’t exercise this same practice or belief that we need to outsmart evil spirits there is still a great protection in those who stand with us.  We need people in our lives who are willing to stand with us through the big events and small challenges of our lives.  People can support us when we need it, point us straight when we’re off, encourage us when we feel hopeless, and pick us up when we can’t get up ourselves.  We all need people willing to stand with us and we all need to be people willing to stand with others.  Let’s stand.   

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.”

Ecc 4:12 NLT

We are most vulnerable when we stand alone.  God knew that and He knows that.  He created us to be in relationship with Him and with people.  He created us to stand with others and to allow others to stand with us as well.  It’s in our design.  We weren’t meant to stand alone.  We were meant to stand “back-to-back and conquer.”  God created you to stand with others and to have others stand with you so that we can point one another to Him.  It has always been first about leaning on Him, looking to Him, and relying on Him.  Yet it is also often people that He uses to help us do that.  He uses those around us to represent Him, to be His hand of provision, and to point us back to Him.  We need people standing with us pointing us to Him.  Lets be those people standing, pointing to Jesus.   

Aligned

“Our lives function best when they are aligned in the way they were created to function.”

Loren Thornburg

After going to the chiropractor I was reminded of something that I often experience after my spine is adjusted...I feel better.  I can’t explain it, but I find I have more energy and more life.  It doesn’t happen every time, but often enough that I can’t ignore the correlation.  I find I function better when I am aligned from the inside.  Our lives also function best when they are aligned and in line with the way we were created to function.   Beyond physical alignment your life works best and has the most life to it when it is in line with doing the thing you were created to do.  Aligned means to put things into correct or appropriate positions.  That means prioritizing and putting first things first.  It means using your strengths and gifts and making the most of how you have been created in your desires, gifts and personality.  To be aligned you have to get aligned.  Are you? 

“Search me thoroughly, O God, and know my heart!  Try me and know my thoughts!  And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified

David knew the importance of being spiritually aligned.  So much so that he sought after it and invited it in.  He knew that being aligned to the Lord and what the Spirit was doing in and through him would lead him in the way everlasting.  Our lives are the same.  When our hearts are put in the correct position with the Lord and one another we will indeed be led in the way of life, life and more life.  Now I didn’t say it would be painless.  Adjustments don’t come without some change which can be hard, but they put us in position to receive more life.  Invite Him in to put you in position to the way that He created you and designed you to live.  More than any doctor He knows exactly how to align your heart and life to more of His life.  

Beyond Ability

“You are not bound by your abilities, but rather by your ability to be willing to go beyond them.”

Loren Thornburg

A miracle is something that is highly improbable, surprising, or not easily explained by natural ways.  My parents would be the first to tell you that my life has held many obvious miracles.  I was the kid that never could get a handle on writing well.  I continued to struggle with it through college receiving low grades on papers even after the help of tutors.  Now...I continue to write and it has become a big part of my ministry.  I was also the kid that tried really hard in sports but was just never that good.  Now...I work with a softball ministry getting to use my many years of college competition and coaching to care for others.  These are two of the many miracles I have seen in my own life that remind me that we are not bound by our current abilities, situations, or realities.  What are yours? Your current reality does not bind you to what your future reality will be.  As you look back at your own miracles remember there are more to come.  

“This is my life work; helping people understand and respond to his Message.  It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details...I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.”

Ephesians 3:7-8 Message

Paul wasn’t kidding.  It was a huge surprise, a miracle, that God chose Him to preach his Message.  God called him from a life of persecuting to a life of preaching His Message.  You might join with him in thinking that he was the least qualified of any to be the one to be called by God to preach.  You might also join with him in thinking the same of yourselves.  Our tendency is to base our level of qualification on our perspective of our natural abilities, but as Paul has so clearly shown us, it has nothing to do with that.  God may use your natural abilities at times, yet don’t forget what God’s tendency is...to be the one to qualify you. Throughout the Bible we see Him do this over and over.  He calls people out of their weaknesses and uses them in those places.  It’s in those places that we can’t help but see God’s hand in it and not accredit it to ours.  Now is not any different than it has been throughout the ages.  God looks at you and your life and sees beyond your abilities into His ability to use you just as you are.  No need to determine whether you are qualified.  When God is calling it’s up to Him...not you.  

Courageous Waiting

“It takes courage to wait.”

Loren Thornburg

Waiting requires courage.  Waiting is something that we as a culture are not accustomed or trained to do well.  Although technology has made most things available instantaneously there are some things in life that have always and will always require time.  Growth, healing, relationships are among a few of them.  It’s no wonder that we get so impatient for things to change emotionally when in so many other aspects of our lives we don’t have to wait.  This is where courage comes in.  We need courage to believe that it’s worth waiting for healing, it’s worth waiting for personal growth, it’s worth waiting for the right relationship.  We need courage not to run away from the pain, not to take the easy way out, not to settle for something or someone that we know isn’t best.  Take courage as you wait.  It’s the only way you’ll stand the test of patience in a culture that requires so little.  

“Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.”
Psalm 27:14 NLT

Wait means to fix your hope on Him.  Not just wait, but wait patiently.  Fix your hope on Him through the suffering, trial and delay.  I love that David repeats this cry to wait for the Lord.  The repetition gets my attention.  Then sandwiched in between this call to wait and fix our hope on the Lord is the key needed...courage.  It takes courage to wait on the Lord.  It takes courage to believe He will be faithful when there is no sign of it.  It takes courage to trust the Lord will comfort, heal, and provide.  It takes courage when we see other ways to do it ourselves.  It takes courage when those around us are pointing us in the opposite direction.  It takes courage to wait on the Lord, but I’m so glad when I do and I regret it when I don’t.  Wait on the Lord, yes, wait on the Lord.  It’s worth it.  He is worth it.