Tis the Season

Tis the Season to remember why we celebrate the season.

We sing, “tis the season to be jolly” in the familiar Christmas tune, “Deck the Halls."  I love the joy that can come with this time of the year.  Although I don’t get into Christmas as much as I used to I still love the singing, the lights, the hope.  Yet this isn’t the case for everyone.  For many this season brings stress, sadness, and struggle.  The financial pressures and the lament of loved ones are enough to bring a heaviness over this season that is said to be jolly.  Yet beyond the pain and joy this season has a way of bringing us together.  It joins us with people.  Whether we celebrate with sadness or joy there is a togetherness of this season that remains true.  May the presents and the pain never keep us from enjoying those we are with this season.  Tis the season to be together.  

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

Matthew 1:23 ESV

He is the “with us” God.  Jesus came to be with us.  That’s the whole reason we celebrate.  We have a God that left heaven to come to our broken earth because He wanted to be with us.  It’s in His name.  Immanuel, means God with us.  It’s who He is and who His presence longs for us to know.  His desire has always been to be with us.  It was always His plan, always His heart.  It lines up with our greatest need to have intimacy with Him.  He meets our greatest need with His greatest desire.  This is why we can celebrate this season.  It’s the remembering of our Immanuel, With us God, who came to make a way for our greatest need.  We need His presence.  Whether you find yourself singing with joy or with tears of longing this Christmas know that God is with you.  That’s what this season is about.  We celebrate the birth of our God who came to be with us.  Look around for all the ways He is with you this season.  Tis the Season to see the reality of our God with us.  

THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY

I'm enjoying this from Raleigh Tillman's collections…

THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY

There is always a way. Believe it.

When the road is rocky and full of obstacles; 

When the wind blows like a fierce hurricane;

When the driving rains on’t let up for a minute; 

When the sun beats down and there is no shade; 

When there is barely a glimmer of hope you find

The way to walk among the boulders and thorns:

So carry on, you stout hearted.  Believe it. 

There is always a way for you to walk, a good, right way.

There are always full, new mercies with the morning sun,

And there is always light to illuminate what’s been dark.

There is clarity that will outrun the inhering confusion;

And there is joy for each day, strength in hard moments,

And a great, glorious hope to keep you walking, always.

You can see read more of her writing by purchasing her book or viewing her blog: http://raleightillman.com

The Greatest Hope of Our Best Dreams: A Collection of Writings, available in print and Kindle at Amazon.com.   I have the book and highly recommend it!!!

The Way Out

“There is a way out but it is the way through.”

Loren Thornburg

It’s normal to want a way out when things get hard.  In the midst of deep pain running way often seems the best option.  The problem however is that this is not a way out, but rather simply time away.  When we leave the pain goes with us.  Although it may bring some relief for a time what we find is that the pain does not leave just because we do, instead the pain leaves when we work it through.  The best way out is when we work through that which brings the pain.  When we work through the pain at its source, then we find a way out of it.  Keep pushing through.  It’s your best way out.  

“I’m hurting, Lord—will you forget me forever? How much longer, Lord? Will you look the other way when I’m in need? How much longer must I cling to this constant grief? I’ve endured this shaking of my soul…I will sing my song of joy to you, the Most High, For in all of this you have strengthened my soul. My enemies say that I have no Savior, But I know that I have one in you!”

Psalm 13:1-2,6  Excerpt From: Brian Simmons. “Psalms Poetry on Fire.”

God loves to give us a way out.  Yet, often it is in the midst of pain that He provides.  He doesn’t promise us avoidance of the pain, but that He will bring us through it.  I love David’s example throughout the Psalms to cling to God’s promises in the midst of great trial and danger.  We see here that David trusts and prays his way through.  He starts with thoughts of feeling totally forgotten by the Lord but ends in proclamation of His trust in the Lord.  He even says, “in all of this you have strengthened my soul.”  Not only does God deliver us but He uses the very trial we find ourselves in to bring us strength.  The thing that seems to be breaking us can in fact be used by Him.  I want to follow David and let my prayer turn me from despairing to declaring my trust in the Lord.  David prayed his way through and I want to do the same.  Let’s join David in honestly approaching the Father with our pain and then declaring with what is true.  Let us sing our song of joy to Him, our Most High God, who is using this very season to bring us strength.  

Be Full

“Be mindful, to be thankful for God is faithful”

Loren Thornburg

In the definition of thanksgiving no where does it say to eat or drink.  It mentions not being full of food, but rather of thanks.  It is a prayer, act, acknowledgement, celebration, and expression of thanks and goodness.  Yet so often in the busyness and the preparation we miss the holiday.  We become consumed with the filling that we miss the giving.  So eat, gather, enjoy the day, but don’t miss the holiday.  Remember to be thankful…pray it, express it, acknowledge it, celebrate it.  Let’s be full…of thanks!  What are you full of thanks for?

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”

Hebrews 12:28

Let us be thankful!  Thanks that lives from the inside out, that causes us to live lives of thanksgiving that worship God.  Let us not stop at simply being thankful but living thankful.  We have so much to be thankful for if we are only mindful to remember all that we have to be thankful for.  And let us begin with the truth that “we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken!”  That is reason enough to be thankful, for that remains when all of our world shakes us away from seeing reason for earthly thanks.  We have a reason, now let us respond, in our hearts and in our lives!  Live Full…Mindful to be Thankful for He IS FAITHFUL!  

Enough Without

“We are looking, striving for the thing that will make us whole only to find that we are enough without.”

Loren Thornburg

We’ve all done it.  It usually starts with the words, “If only.”  Somehow we think that when “if only” we get the job, find a spouse, or get out of debt life will be complete and we will feel enough.  Yet, the problem is that enough is a concept of the inside more than the outside.  Wholeness is not a matter of our status but rather it means to be complete in itself.  That means that we don’t need anything else to make us complete but that we are complete without that thing.  Whether or not things ever change on the outside we can find we are complete.  You are enough…just as you are…right here.  You are enough without that things you’ve been waiting to find.  Stop looking and start enjoying.  

“And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.”

Genesis 29:35 NASB

There is a story of a girl named Leah.  She was the undesired older sister.  In ancient times when marriage functioned much differently she was married to the same man as her younger sister.  It was her younger sister that the man loved.  All she wanted was to be loved.  She hoped that giving him a son would make him love her more.  But after three sons and no sign of change she changed her tune.  Instead, she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” I love this picture.  Leah stops trying and stops waiting for something to bring about her desired change.  Instead she starts praising God, knowing whether or not her husband, Jacob, responds in the way she is longing for that God is still enough.  He is still good, sovereign and worthy to be praised.  He is enough to trust when it seems we fall short.  The One who makes us whole and calls us enough is more than enough to praise even when our longings are left unmet.  So this time, whatever your 'this time' is, praise the Lord.   

Free Expression

“Lives are for free expression not good impression.”

Loren Thornburg (adapted from magazine)

I read something in a magazine once that said “homes are for free expression not good impression.”  We don’t live like that most of the times.  Instead we want to impress so we make sure to straighten up before guests come over and we apologize if unexpected guests see our home in disarray.  I’m not saying we shouldn’t do that.  I’m simply pointing out our tendencies to make everything look nice and I can’t say we live the rest of our lives much differently.  We put on a smiling face even when things feel like they are falling apart.  Again I’m not saying this is wrong.  Sometimes it’s the only way we know how to make it through the day.  Yet, do we also have the freedom to fall apart, to invite people into our homes when they’re messy and allow people access to our hearts when it feels like chaos?  The key here is that we have freedom for both.  Freedom to keep our house nice because it doesn’t define us and freedom to look a mess because we aren’t trying to impress.  What if we could live free?  You are free!  You are free to express, you don’t have to impress.  

“Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others.  Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.”

Philippians 2.3

We are not called to live lives that make a good impression on others.  No where does it say to focus on making a good impression.  Instead, we are called to love God, love others, and be holy.   Now, hopefully in the midst of living lives that reflect the life of Jesus we will make a good impression on others.  Yet, the truth is that sometimes they will have the opposite response.  Here in Philippians Paul is talking about our call to love by humility, thinking of others before ourselves.  Living humbly is based on our actions and living to impress is based on the reactions of others.  We don’t have to live based on the responses and reactions of others.  Rather we are called to be so free that we can humbly give regardless of how others respond.  That is true freedom and true expression of Christ.  You are free to express.  You are free not to impress.  He makes you free.  

Language of the Heart

“What the heart doesn’t have words for, comes out in tears.” 

Loren Thornburg

It seems one of the deepest expressions of the heart doesn’t come in words, but rather through tears.  They come in times of deepest pain and deepest joy to express what words can’t express.  Sometimes they are so deep we don’t know where they are coming from.  Yet often they are so true that a good cry brings more peace than sharing with words.  There is truth in tears.  I used to think that tears were a sign of weakness.  I’ve changed my mind.  I now think tears are a sign of strength.  There is such strength in letting our hearts be seen and the deepest parts of us be known.  There is strength when we invite others into our deepest places.  So let your strength be known and let the tears fall down.  

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.
Psalm 56:8 NLT

All throughout scripture we see tears.  Women and men alike express themselves through tears, Jesus included.  There is no mention of this being something of weakness.  No where does God respond for them to stop their crying.  Instead we see that He cares deeply for us in those places.  Here in the Psalm David is being chased by his enemies, running for his life and He recalls the goodness of our God in those places.  He speaks of the ways that God keeps track of our sorrows and collects our tears, recording each of them.  It’s hard to imagine that the God who created earth and sea would care so intimately for the sorrows of our hearts, but He does.  He is walking so closely with you that He can collect your tears.  Tears have always been important to Him.  Sometimes they are our best prayers.  Cry it out!  He hears you, He sees you, He is with you!

Say It Again

“Some things are worth being said again and again.”
Loren Thornburg

With some people the conversation doesn’t seem complete without those three words, “I love you.”  Sometimes I have thought it seemed unnecessary to keep saying it.  Doesn’t the person know?  Do they think the other person forgot from when they told them the day before?  Yet the more I see my need to keep what’s true at the forefront of my mind and thoughts the more I realize the importance of each, “I love you.”  It’s not because we didn’t know, but because it’s important to bring to the front of our minds.  Often it is not a matter of telling the person something that they didn’t know, but of reminding them of what is true.  We need to remember and yet we are prone to forget.  Some things we need to hear over and over again.  Some things we need to say over and over again. So say it again and hear it again, really hear it, that you would remember not to forget what’s true.  

“…then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
Deuteronomy 6:12 NASB

One thing you see throughout the Old Testament, especially in Deuteronomy, is the call to remember not to forget.  The Lord says it over and over again.  It seems the people must have needed lots of reminders.  We are just like these people.  We need lots of reminders of what’s true.  We need to be reminded of who God is and what He has already done.  If I don’t remember then I forget.  It’s when I lose sight of this that I begin to wander from the only One who can bring me hope, life and joy.  There is so much that our days require from us that it’s easy to forget to remember Him.  Responsibilities, people, pain, and circumstances all beg for our attention.  So then we must watch ourselves, that we don’t forget the Lord.  Let us remember not to forget the truth of who He is and who He says you are in Him.  

Surrendered Design

“When you are free to be all that you were created to be then you are really free.”

Loren Thornburg

The rains come down and the curls come out. No matter how much I straighten my hair or use products my naturally curly hair returns to curly when it gets wet.  It is naturally curly and so it will always return to its natural form.  In more ways than our hair we all have a natural design.  No matter how much we want it to be different or try to make it look different our natural design will eventually surface.  It’s how we were created.  It was an intentional design.  Just as I’ve come to embrace my curly hair so too we must embrace our natural design.  It’s beautiful when it happens.  For there we find freedom to be who we were created to be and it just comes naturally.  Not only does it come naturally but it's needed.  It’s time to surrender to your design.  

“For it was You who created my inward parts;  You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

Psalm 139:13 HCSB

You were created by the Creator of the Universe with a particular design in mind.  It was not an accident, it was on purpose.  So often all we can see is the hard parts of how we were created.  The parts we don’t like and the ways we wish we looked different both inside and out.  Yet, God created you.  I don’t always understand God and all of His ways but one thing that is clear throughout scripture is that He is intentional and He has a bigger picture in mind than what we see.  So what if we started seeing the other side of those hard parts?  What if we started seeing the good in them? Now what do you see?  God created you on purpose for a greater purpose.  In order to enjoy the greater purpose we have to embrace every intricacy of our design and our Designer.  Surrender to Him and His design of you and your life.  Start seeing what He sees.  Start seeing His great design.  

Welcome the Process

“Sometimes it’s more than where we are going, but what we find on the way.”

Loren Thornburg

Although there are many seasons of life I would rather not repeat it is often those same seasons that I don’t want to delete.  I did not enjoy the process of figuring out what I was going to do after grad school.  It felt so purposeless and confusing.  I wasn’t sure I would ever find anything I enjoyed.  Although it sounds nice to have been able to fast forward past the waiting to the part where I find a job I love, I learned so much in that season that I wouldn’t want to miss.  I found the hard is what allowed me to enter into what I love.  It was in that season that I learned to wait and persevere.  It was also there that I learned more about what I love.  All of those things were essential for what came next.  This is how life goes with seasons of necessary hard in ways we couldn’t imagine.

“It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where we was going…They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it…” Hebrews 11:8-13 NLT

Abraham never saw the things God promised would happen.  Yet it seems what he found on the way to those promises was more than enough.  He found God, a faithful God he could put faith in regardless of what he saw.  Abraham obeyed without knowing where he was headed.  Does that sound familiar?  God often calls His people to step out in faith without knowing what’s coming next.  Abraham didn’t even ever see exactly what God was doing and where he was taking him, yet he still held onto faith.  He could welcome it from a distance without reaching the goal he set out towards because of his faithful God.  This is our same faithful God that calls us out into the unknown and asks that we trust and let Him be enough regardless of where He takes us.  God has places He wants to take us, but what’s more He wants us to find Him on the way.  For Him it’s always been about relationship with Him.  God knows that at our core that is more than we could have ever imagined.  

Different Kind of Freedom

“True freedom is not when I get where I want to be.  No, true freedom is when I don’t need to be anywhere else than where I am.”

Loren Thornburg

The illusion is that we will feel more free once certain circumstances align.  There is nothing wrong with desiring things to look different.  It’s so good to have dreams and goals and to work towards them.  Yet, what I am finding as I reach my goals is that those things won’t set me free.  I didn’t even know that I thought they would, until I’m disappointed when they don’t.  It seems the only true freedom is when I don’t need those things to be free.  Circumstances will constantly change.  Even if I reach my goal, sooner or later there will be another one.  Freedom will always be one step away.  So then, the only true freedom is when right now is enough.  When where I am at is enough, then I find I am free.

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”

Matthew 1:23 NLT

It’s in His name.  Immanuel means God is with us.  This seems to be God’s greatest desire: to be with us.  He wants to be with you.  Often times I desire to be fixed.  I think this will bring me the freedom I desire.  Yet, no where does God say He needs me to be fixed.  No where does it say that freedom comes when I have it all together or when I’ve overcome all the obstacles.  The truth sets us free.  The truth is that God is with us.  At this very moment God is with you.  He’s not waiting for you to be fixed and so neither should you.  He is waiting for you to let Him be enough.  He is waiting for you to let Him be with you, all of you.  He is waiting, inviting you to freedom, right now in this very moment.  It’s a different kind of freedom than what we once thought.  It’s one that invites you to let Him be the “with you” God. He may not fix you but He will join you.  When that’s enough, then we are truly free.  

Space for Sorrow

“Sorrow is the bridge out of despair.”

Loren Thornburg

We avoid pain at all costs.  Whatever it takes to feel good, unless of course it takes pain.  The problem is that the relief from the pain that we desire requires pain itself.  Sorrow is required.  Time won’t heal it, avoiding won’t heal it, and pretending won’t heal it either.  While these things may distance us from the pain they have no power to heal the pain.  It is the thing we avoid most, sorrow, that leads us out of pain.  Give yourself space for sorrow.  It just might be the bridge to the joy you’ve been longing to find.  

“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me?…I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

Psalm 13: 1,8 ESV

David is a man of great sorrow.  All throughout the psalms we hear his sorrow and pain.  He doesn’t hide it, or pretend that he is okay, or apologize for feeling mad.  What David does is go to the Lord with his sorrow.  It is in the process of lamenting to the Lord that he finds his way to truth.  David goes from feeling forgotten by the Lord to praising the Lord.  He finds his way back to praise through the space of sorrow.  God invites us to do the same.  Share your sorrow with Him.  He loves to relate with you in your joy and in your pain.  No level of anger, frustration, grieving or sorrow is too great for Him.  Follow David into the pain and back to the truth.  

Invisible Movement

“It’s your handle on what you can’t see that helps you make sense of what you do see.”

Loren Thornburg

It’s happening all around us but we can’t see it: Light traveling from the sun to earth, sound waves vibrating through the air, gasses flowing creating wind.   We don’t see the movements happening but none of us would argue of the reality of light, sound and wind.  So much of life exists in these invisible movements.  The connection in relationships, the change of someone’s heart, the passion and drive within one’s spirit.  We see the effects of these things but we can’t see them, they can’t be held.  What we see or understand does not tell us the full story.  So then we are left to conclude that there is more going on than what is visible. These invisible movements are all around us.  It seems then we must trust in the things which we cannot see or understand.  It is not about how we handle what we see but how we trust in what we don’t know and can’t see.

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.  It’s our handle on what we can’t see.”

Hebrews 11:1 Message

While God is invisible His effects are not.  He is like the wind that we can’t always see but we also can’t deny the evidence of His presence.  Creation begs us to acknowledge Him, our changed lives scream of Him,  and the complexity of our bodies plead for us to marvel at Him.  We may not see His hand but we sure can see the works of His hand.  With all of this evidence of the God we can’t see we can move forward through times that feel hard to see.  He is a God of invisible movements and yet He is a God we can trust.  We can trust when we see no answer or resolution in sight.  We can trust Him, the One who is trustworthy, because He is our firm foundation when nothing else is firm.  Even when life doesn’t make sense…He does.  

Price of Worth

“Things of greatest worth require from us things of greatest price.”

Loren Thornburg

Worth can be defined as anything successful to repay any effort, trouble or expense.  This means that anything of worth requires, effort, trouble or expense.  We often want one without the other.  We want the things of worth but we don’t want it to require too much effort and certainly not much trouble.  So often times we give up and give in to that which the process requires of us.  Yet, what if those hard places are not only reaching us towards our goals but also forming us into the people we need to be in order to maintain it?  So then, the hard places are never wasted, they are never not worth it for they are attaining for us something so much bigger than we ever thought.  Things of greatest worth will repay us for all that they required from us.  It may not be the way we thought, but it will never be wasted.

“…he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” 

Hebrews 11:6 NKJV

God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.  Sometimes seeking God requires more from me than I want to give.  Yet, what I forget is that God is after something so much greater than my comfort, He is after my freedom.  Freedom isn’t true freedom until it’s total.  It requires all of me which is often painful.  This pain is not punishment, it’s pursuit.  You’re being pursued because you’re worth it.  He sees you: every effort, every tear, every heartache.  Nothing gets missed.  He sees it and He rewards it. Nothing is wasted.  Every time you seek Him it’s worth it.  For it’s always worth it to diligently seek the One of greatest worth who says, ‘You are worth it.’

Glory in Reality

“Everything in your life can be used as an ingredient for something beautiful.”

Loren Thornburg

Glory is something that is magnificent, beautiful, or distinctively special.  This summer I walked up the Great Wall, jumped off the base of the Gaza Pyramids and stood underneath the Eiffel Tower.  One thought prevailed throughout, “I never dreamed I would be here…”  It wasn’t ever a thought for what I wanted to do or who I wanted to become. These moments make it easy to see the glory that is my reality.  Yet, what about when our lives aren’t in these moments of awe.  What about when we are walking through sickness, grieving in heartache and loss, disappointed in unfulfilled longings?  It’s hard to see any glory in those realities.  Yet, the truth is that glory remains.  For the beauty of glory is also found in these hard places if you’re willing to see it.  Something beautiful can certainly come out of pain, sorrow and disappointment.  Even now, there is glory in your reality.  See the beauty, see the glory in where you are now.  

“…It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

John 9:3 NASB

It’s the story where the disciples asked Jesus who is to blame, what sin is responsible for the man’s blindness.  Jesus’ response brings such freedom, but also something hard to understand.  What freedom in knowing that often our struggles are not a result of our own sin, but something quite the opposite.  The hard things we walk through our often so that God can be seen and known.  I love how The Message says it, “You’re asking the wrong question…Look instead for what God can do...For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light.  I am the world’s Light” (John 9:3-5).   We too are often missing the point.  We desire comfort and happiness but God desires something so much bigger.  He desires our wholeness, our intimacy and His glory. It's hard to understand the ways that He does this and hard to see Him through all of the pain. However, we can trust that He is making something beautiful out of us.  Yes, He is making something beautiful out of you.  There is truly glory in your current reality.  Let the works of God be displayed in your life.  

May your life echo this cry:  "I give it all to you God, trusting that You'll make something beautiful out of me." (Nothing I Hold On To/Climb by Will Reagan)

One More

“The key to enduring hard places is one: One step a time, one moment at a time, one thing at a time.”

Loren Thornburg

At the beginning of each semester in school the teacher gives you a syllabus outlining all that will be due throughout the course.  It always feels so overwhelming in that moment, yet broken down one day at a time it was much more manageable.  I have to remind myself of that when life gives me an overwhelming syllabus-like task.  It is by the persistence of one more that we are able to overcome.  One more day working on the task brings us closer to the goal.  You get up the mountain one step at a time if only you just keep stepping.  So take one more step towards your goal.  It’s the key to victory.  

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.  Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

Hebrews 10:36 NLT

We see the call to endure throughout the Scriptures.  Here in Hebrews there has been much temptation to leave the truth.  The call here is to remember the reward that comes when you keep holding onto what’s true.  We can all relate to the temptation to want out.  The call to patiently endure is a difficult journey.  Yet, the reason for the call is one we will not regret enduring.  God’s promises are great.  You won’t want to miss all that He has in store for you.  Let us patiently endure.  Let us keep taking one more step towards Him.  Look to Him, taking one moment at a time.  That’s how we patiently endure.  

The Next Step

“When the future ahead seems dark, let the next step guide you.”

Loren Thornburg

It’s the picture of walking in the dark with only a head lamp to light the way.  All I can see is that one step in front of me.  I’m tempted to lift my light to try to see what’s coming further up ahead but the light isn’t strong enough for that.  It can only cover the one step in front of me.  I couldn’t help but think that as much as I wanted the light to give me a heads up on what was to come, it was all that I needed.  I only needed that next step to guide me.  This isn’t to say that we don’t need to plan, or dream or look ahead.  For it was planning that got me on the trail with a headlamp to begin with, yet it could only take me so far.  At some point we have to go with what we’ve got, even when it’s only the next step.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Matthew 6:34 Message

God gets it.  He created us and He knows our capacity and our tendencies.  He knows how easy for us it is to get wrapped up and taken away by worry.  That is what He is speaking about here at the end of Matthew 6.  Jesus encourages us to focus on today instead of tomorrow.  He knows how easy it is to let worry come and take us from today.  It’s not that we shouldn’t ever think about tomorrow.  He doesn’t say that, but He does say to focus on what is going on right now as a way to protect us from the trouble that comes when we get worrying about tomorrow.  Whether we are focused on today or planning for tomorrow the key is to KNOW that God will help us deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.  So if our light only shines to let us see the next step, we can trust that God will help us with that next step.  And when the next step seems too hard, God will help us.  When it looks dark up ahead trust God to take you the next step. 

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Grounded

Check out my story in the Growing Weisser blog.  If you go their website (http://www.growingweisser.com) before Friday you have a chance to win one of my devotional books.  

Grounded

“If we are going to stay grounded we must remember: Hard is hard, but it is always worth it.”

Loren Thornburg

As a softball player the extent of my basketball skills comes from shooting softballs into the bucket.  I noticed that in doing this I have a lot more wiggle room once I have made some into the bucket.  The balls in the bucket create grounding for the balls that hit the side of the bucket on their way in.  Otherwise even when I make it into the bucket, unless it goes straight in, the bucket gets knocked over.  I couldn’t help but see those balls in the bottom of the bucket that were keeping my bucket grounded as a picture of what experience provides in my life.  Every year around this time I begin to wonder if all of the work and all of the battles it takes to make the summer trips for my job happen are really worth it.  Yet experience tells me that two months from now I will be so thankful that I endured because it was indeed so worth it.  It is only from years of experience that I can stay grounded to push through knowing it will all be worth it.  The key to staying grounded when you feel like giving up is to remember previous times when the fight was worth the cost.  If we are going to stay grounded when things don’t seem to be worth it we must remember.  

“He’s God, our God, in charge of the whole earth.  And he remembers, remembers his Covenant- for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.”

Psalm 105:7-8 Message

In following Jesus remembering is key to staying grounded in Him.  Remembering how He has been faithful in the past helps us to trust Him again for the future.  Psalm 105 talks about remembering who He is and the amazing works He has done.  When things get tough it is important to remember who He is and what He has done for us.  It is also important to remember that He remembers.  The God of the whole earth remembers you.  He remembers where you have come from, where you are going and how to best care for you.  He remembers you!  Remember to remember all the ways He has been faithful in the past and remember that He remembers you.  

When It Doesn't Make Sense

“When it doesn’t make sense, hold onto hope.”

Loren Thornburg

I’m not usually one to follow all the ins and outs of a news headline but the news of Santa Barbara hits close to home.  I find myself reading article after article trying to make sense of it.  As a graduate of UC Santa Barbara there is something unnerving to know I walked those same streets.  It isn’t totally unfamiliar to me having been there during a similar killing by car rampage.  It’s hard to know what to do with events like these.  When the numbers become names it becomes more than another news story, but a real life tragedy.  It’s these moments that we are forced to look at what we do with life when it doesn’t make sense.  The thing I keep coming back to is that somehow hope remains.  I don’t know how it does it in the midst of such deep pain and suffering that continues to come at us on all sides.  Yet, somehow hope remains even when all seems lost.  So hold onto hope when nothing makes sense.  

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away…” 

1 Peter 1:3-4 NASB

God is a god of hope.  When nothing makes sense He is our reason that we can hope.  Peter is writing to a people in the midst of suffering and persecution, which he himself had endured.  So these words don’t come in the middle of good times but in the middle of really hard times.  They don’t come from someone unaware, but all too aware of the despair life brings.  Yet, that doesn’t change the reality of the hope of Jesus Christ.  Nothing can change the reality of our hope in Jesus.  We have such a real hope in Him that it is a living hope.  He is alive and so is our hope.  Our inheritance will not fade and neither will our hope.  God is unchanging and so is His promise of hope.  So we can hold onto Him, our hope, that never fades and never changes.  When nothing makes sense, even still, hope remains. 

Celebrating More

“The more you celebrate the more you find there is to celebrate.”
Loren Thornburg

I recently finished a protocol from my doctor which included a strict diet and powerful supplements.  It was quite a feat to complete.  At my follow up appointment the doctor said, “Congratulations!”.  Initially it caught me off guard that he would respond in that way.  Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized that congratulations and celebration were in order.  I completed a difficult task.  So yes, let’s celebrate. In fact why don’t we do this more?  To celebrate means to publicly acknowledge with a gathering or enjoyable event.  What if we started celebrated and congratulating ourselves and one another more?  We just might find how much there is to celebrate in life.  Have you done something hard that you’ve been putting off for a while?…Celebrate!  Did you overcome something you didn’t think you could?…Celebrate!  No matter how small there is reason to celebrate.  How can you celebrate today?

“Celebrate God all day, every day.  I mean, revel in him!”
Philippians 4:4 MSG

With God there is always something to celebrate or revel in.  Even if none of our circumstances seem to have His hand on them, still He remains and who He is and what He has done is worth our celebration.  To 'revel in' means to get great pleasure from.  We can revel in God and celebrate Him knowing He first reveled in us.  It’s true.  He is celebrating you, He revels in you and takes great pleasure in you.  Even when you don’t have it all together He celebrates you.  He disciplines and holds you accountable, but He also celebrates.  He is so for you that He is willing to do both.  More than anyone He knows how hard your struggles are and He more than anyone He celebrates when you are willing to step out to overcome those.  Join with Him, the One who is celebrating you.  He is worth our celebration, all day, every day.  

Timing is Key

“The key to good timing is the willingness to wait.”

Loren Thornburg

When I just miss a green light I can hear the words of my dad, ‘timing is everything.’  It’s true in much more than traffic lights.  I see the importance of timing everywhere especially in matters of waiting.  In cooking we have to wait for the right timing.  Even when I’m starving I wouldn’t eat raw meat because I know the possible negative effects that would have.  Yet, sometimes it seems I am not willing to wait in other areas of my life.  It takes patience and knowing it is worth the wait.  Timing is key in the words we speak to one another, in our healing, in our relationships, in so many things. It’s everywhere.  It matters.  Mostly we struggle to wait for the right timing.  We tend to want to jump ahead forgetting it’s worth the wait.  As ready as you are, be willing to wait.  Timing makes all the difference.  

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27:13-14 ESV

I love David’s cry in the middle of being sought by enemies he speaks to himself of the goodness of the Lord and the importance of waiting on Him.  It seems he must make note of this because it is not an easy thing to do.  Our temptation is to take matters into our own hands, forgetting we have a God that is worth waiting on.  The story of Abraham and Sarah is such a great example of the human tendency to want to provide even what God has said that he would provide.  Sarah had Abraham sleep with Hagar even though Sarah was promised a child.  It wasn’t until she was past childbearing years in her old age that God granted that promise.  I can see why David cried for his heart to take courage. It takes great courage to wait when there is no answer in sight.  It takes courage to wait for the Lord to fulfill His promises.  It takes courage so let your heart take courage for the waiting is worth it.  God’s timing is always good and He is always worth the wait.  

Life Comes In

“You have to take time to heal from the chaos of life.”

Loren Thornburg

Life brings unavoidable chaos and messes.  After having my roof redone I noticed the increased dirt and dust happening inside my house.  It seemed that we had been tracking in that which was around our home.  I see how we do this with life too.  We track into the inside of our hearts the things going on around us.  As much as we might like to believe we are unaffected we can’t deny the fact that to some degree our hearts are penetrable.  So then we must take time to clean our inside.  Although we can be careful where we walk, avoiding some of life’s unnecessary chaos and mess, there are some things that are unavoidable.  Either way life requires time to clean and restore the inside.  Give yourself space to get set right, before the mess accumulates and becomes too much to handle.  It takes time, it takes quiet and it takes all of you.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10 ESV

It starts with seeing that there’s a mess.  This psalm of David begins with him seeking God, seeing the mess that he is in.  When we see the mess we see our need for it to be clean.  It’s when we realize we are incapable of cleaning it ourselves that we can follow David and invite God into it.  It starts with an invitation, a desire to let God come and have His way.  As simple as it sounds it’s true.  We can simply say, “God I invite you into this…” and He comes.  Yet, as easy as it sounds, it doesn’t always feel that way.  We have to be willing to take space to look at the mess, humble ourselves to our sin in the mess, and recognize our need for God in it.  As hard as it is at times it is always worth it.  God is so gentle to come into our mess.  He sits with us in it and when we’re ready He restores us.  He wants to take your mess and gives you a clean heart and a right spirit.  It begins with an invitation.   

Dry Places

“When life gets dry, take time to soak.”

Loren Thornburg

I’ve noticed that when my hands are dry they are more easily cut.  Things that normally would not leave a mark cut through the skin.  My life is not much different.  When I am in a dry season of life, where I’m not getting filled with things that refresh me I get cut much easier.  Only this time it’s not my skin, but my heart and soul.  Just like my skin needs more hydration through lotion and water in dry seasons, so does my heart.  I can’t expect my heart to respond the same in these hard seasons.  It needs more springs of life.  If you find you are getting easily cut it might be time to find what brings you life and soak in it.  

“For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”

Psalm 107:9 ESV

God loves to satisfy the longing soul!  This psalm speaks over and over of His steadfast love for those who will turn to Him.  When we are walking through a dry place He knows exactly how to meet us and fill us with good things to revive our soul.    Life brings many hard spaces leaving us broken and dry.  Some days and some seasons require more soaking than others.  Let God restore you in the places life has cut you.  The more you can soak in Him, the more you will find the refreshing that keeps you full of life and not so easily cut.  It is Him that you need to soak in, letting His steadfast love pour over you.

Consider the Context

“Don’t forget there is a bigger story going on beyond this one event.”
Loren Thornburg

I’ve been learning about how to interpret literature and if I could sum it up in one thought it would be: Consider the context.  Context means to consider the circumstances that form the setting of which it can be fully understood.  You wouldn’t start in the middle of a letter or email and expect to understand the message and intent of the sender.  I am reminded that this principle applies to more than just literature, but is true for people as well.  Although I may not be able to know the whole story of many of the people around me, what if I took a bigger look than just the event at hand.  Often we are prone to judge people based on one event ignoring the bigger picture going on.  We make assumptions about people forgetting we have picked up in the middle of the letter of their life.  Even though we don’t always have the liberty of knowing the context of each person we come across we can always assume that there is a greater context than what we see.  Therefore let us not be so quick to judge but rather quick to ask questions and consider the context of each life.  May we have the same understanding with ourselves as well.  Consider the context of your life and see the bigger picture.  There is a story being written with your life.  

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
James 1:17 ESV

Like all literature we need to read the Bible in context.  One aspect of the context of the Bible is the context of God.  We see in the scriptures that He is good and that doesn’t change, so then we can trust that in each season of our lives that is still true.  James has been writing about the importance of enduring temptation, but yet not to assume that God is the one who is tempting.  He is reminding his readers of this truth that God is a good God who gives good Gifts and that doesn’t change.  So then, we must consider the context of our God.  When we are going through difficult times He doesn’t change and His goodness to you hasn’t changed either.  Let us not forget the context of our good God.  

Not by Sight

"Even when there seems to be no hope in sight...walk on in faith."

Loren Thornburg

There is always something more going on that I can’t see.  I was reminded of this when after a month under a new doctor’s care I wasn’t feeling any different.  However, both he and another doctor noted that my color was better.  I wasn’t able to see this difference but it indicates a change in my health on a deeper level.  I couldn’t have seen this on my own.  It reminds me how small and slow change happens and there is always more going on than I can see.  Even in your circumstance there is so much more going on than what you can see.  This gives us hope that the change we desire may be happening in ways so slow and small it’s hard to see.  We need help to see and we need patience to endure.  Even more, we need faith to believe when no change is in sight.  Even when it seems no change is in sight…walk on. 

“…for we walk by faith, not be sight…”

2 Corinthians 5:7

Following Jesus requires more than sight.  We see this spoken of all throughout scripture including here in 2 Corinthians when Paul is referring to our assurance of the resurrection.  With each opportunity to trust Jesus there is also the challenge to walk not by sight, but by faith.  It is the only way to follow Jesus.  So it seems we should expect to endure even when we can see no signs of hope.  We can walk on regardless of what we see for faith endures beyond what’s seen.