Unseen Dangers

“Let us not fear the unseen dangers but let us learn to trust the One who Sees.”

I don’t like mosquitoes or most bugs for that matter.  It doesn’t seem fair that often you can’t see them and yet they can bite you.  That one bite can cause days of discomfort.  So much of life’s dangers are unseen.  The virus, bacteria, and toxins can all go undetected to the naked eye, yet they can have devastating and even deadly effects.  We are at risk of many unseen dangers, not only physically but emotionally as well. You can’t see the toll of grief, fear of the unknown and devastation of unmet longings.  Often we can see their effects, but much like the bite we can’t see it happening to us.  So then what?!  How do we see something that can’t be seen?  While there is nothing I can do to guarantee I never get bit again or sad again I can learn how to care for those things well both before and after.  I can use bug spray when I go in bug infested areas or make sure I’m getting rest and my life has margin so when other turmoil comes I have space to care for it.  I can learn not to see it as a failure on my part but as a part of the journey of life. So while I can’t ever expect to avoid all dangers I can learn to expect that they will come and when they do I can know how to care for those places.  

“But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice.  He redeems my soul in safety from the battle that I wage, for many are arrayed against me.”

Psalm 55:16-18 ESV

God never promised that battles wouldn’t wage against us.  It is very clear in scripture that we will face difficulties.  Yet what He does promise is that He will be there with us and He will help us through it.  The hard part is that sometimes the ways that God saves me is not the way I want to be saved.  I want Him to save me by making everything easy and removing the struggle.  Instead, He saves us through the struggle, not out of it.  He walks with us, guiding us, teaching us, holding us, but not always removing us from it.  He knows removing us from it doesn’t help us for the next time we face something.  As He walks with me through it I learn to trust Him and I grow the faith I need to walk through it again.  Oh I still ask for that removing but the more I see how He is redeeming me through the struggle the more I want to learn to let Him help me in His ways and not my own.  He hears, He saves, He redeems.  May we trust His ways to see how He will do it. The dangers may feel unseen but God sees us through it all. 

Until I Sit

It’s when I take time to sit that I know how to stand.

Sometimes I find the creativity just flows off the page as I write, but other seasons it seems I feel I have nothing to say.  Yet, there are other times, which I find is most times, that it’s not until I sit down to write that I realize there are words there waiting behind the noise of the day.  I’m reminded in these places how much I’m missing because I’m not sitting.  Well it’s more than the sitting but the stillness that comes when I stop.  If I go too long without sitting I find I can no longer stand.  It’s the sitting that gives me space to realign myself with all that I desire to stand for and the ways I want to live.  I have to find some stillness or I get misdirected by the waves of busyness.  I have to remember what’s important or else it’s decided for me by the demands of the day.  Until I sit I forget how to stand.  

“…Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching…but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:39,42 ESV

Luke tells the story of the sisters Mary and Martha.  I love the picture of how Mary sits with Jesus.  I don’t want to get into Mary versus Martha but I want to look at how Jesus affirms Mary’s time sitting with Him.  He says it will not be taken away from her.  Sometimes we can see being still as a waste of time or be more inclined to be doing something that seems more productive.  Yet, in the words of Jesus this time that Mary sat with Him is the good portion.  It’s good to sit with Jesus.  When we take time to sit with Him we can hear His voice teaching us in the way we should go.  Jesus says to Martha in the midst of her troubling about many things that this one thing is necessary.  The one thing is to sit with Him.  How can we stand for Him if we don’t first sit with Him?!  

In the shadows

“Where life brings you shadows remember that means there is light.”

I recently did some off-roading in search of the yellow aspens of Colorado.  As much as I love shade on a hot day I found the shadows to be the hardest roads to navigate because they were the hardest to see what the road conditions were like.  It was those shadowed spots that required slower speeds and lots of trust for the unknown of what the tires might find beneath the shadows.  It’s interesting that something so refreshing in other circumstances can also be the most unsettling and blinding.  So many things in life feel shadowed and unknown.  They require slower speeds and more trust.  While the road I drove was hard to see at spots I had seen other cars coming and going and so I knew that I could trust the road.  Whatever shadows life brings we can trust the road is taking us somewhere for behind every shadow there is light.  Slow down, trust the light, and enjoy the ride.  

“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

James 1:17 NASB

Even in scripture shadows have conflicting representation.  While we can find rest in the shadows it is also the shadows that bring deception and trials.  James is encouraging believers to persevere in trials knowing the goodness of our God.  He is the Father of light, except in His Light there is no shifting shadow.  He won’t deceive us.  He is constant and true in His goodness.  So then no matter what shadows we walk through, no matter how many pot holes lie unseen in the shadows we can trust His goodness to see us through.  We can trust Him to show us the way through every shadowed road knowing He is a good God, giving good gifts to His children.  If you can’t see any gifts remember that behind the shadow there is light, His light there to guide you through every shadow.    

Check out this song, Hidden by United Pursuit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqa8O1ktxk8

“Now I am hidden, in the safety of Your love

I trust Your heart and Your intentions

Trust You completely, I’m listening intently

You’ll guide me through these many shadows”

What Really Matters

“Sometimes you have to look past the things on top to see what really matters.”

A day after the shooting at Charleston I was watching the news and they were interviewing a state politician about his thoughts on gun laws and flags at half mast.  I just kept thinking, ‘that’s not what really matters right now.’  I’ve been pleased to hear many other stories of people responding with what does really matter.  Stories of forgiveness and standing together remind me of what really matters.  While I agree there is a time and place to discuss many different things, I also find sometimes we miss what really matters.  It’s harder to look past the surface into the heart.  Yet, it is there that lies what really matters.  Many things matter like jobs, finances, health, belongings.  Yet, what really matters are the people.  Don’t miss the people in the midst of all the other things.  Don’t miss your heart in the midst of all that pulls on it.  Don’t miss what really matters in the midst of all the chaos.  

“For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”

Phil 1:10 NLT

Paul is applauding the people of Philippi for the ways they have shared Christ and praying this would continue to be true.  His prayer is that they would continue to grow in knowledge and understanding, loving well.  He wants them to understand what really matters.  Paul says this while in prison.  Paul is the first to be able to look past his circumstances and see that it’s not his circumstances that really matter.  What really matters is that we know Christ and make Him known and that’s exactly what he is doing from prison.  He wants those who love him to see the same.  I wish I was more like Paul, yet as I struggle to see past my circumstances I cling to this prayer for you and for me.  May we follow the prayers of Paul and understand what really matters, knowing it’s not our circumstances.  It’s not based on a job, relationship, finances or health.  What really matters is loving God and loving people.  May that truly be what really matters in our lives.  

More than Dabble

Change requires a full immersion of who you are and the patience to keep doing it. 

Dabble means to take part casually or partially. It’s fun to dabble and try new things to see what you like.  The problem is that often times I dabble expecting lasting change.  Change isn’t likely to come when we dabble, but rather when we immerse ourselves and give ourselves fully to a direction.  I recently listened to a health practitioner talk about this idea with his patients.  He stated the biggest obstacle to change was this idea of dabbling as opposed to training.  I see this so often when I’m teaching but unfortunately I see it most often in myself.  I complain that something didn’t work realizing that I only tried it a few times.  We want the quick fix but the real change takes time.  What if we gave ourselves fully to the change we want to see?  What if we took that dabbling a step further?  What if instead of partial we gave all of ourselves?  Let’s do more than dabble, let’s immerse ourselves.  

“…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience…”

Colossians 1:11

I love this part of Paul’s prayer to the Colossians.  He prays they would have great endurance and patience, but first he prays for the Lord’s might.  It’s the only way we can endure the things of this life.  We want things to happen now.  We want the fast road to change.  Unfortunately most of the lasting change we’re after doesn’t happen like that.  It happens slow.  This requires great patience and endurance on our part, which does not come naturally for us.  So then we too must ask that we would be "strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that we might have great endurance and patience."  For the change is worth the wait, it just takes time.  What I find as I wait is that I get more of Him, which is the greater change as I wait for change.  

Love Moves Slow

The journey of the heart is best if you let it move slow.

After my recent trip to Asia I am reminded how real the effects of jet lag are on our bodies.  In the midst of my slow recovery a friend reminded me that we weren’t made to go that far that fast.  I can’t help but think that’s true for more than jet lag, but with our hearts as well.  I often find that I want my heart to move faster than it does.  I want healing faster than it comes.  The journey to freedom has no shortcuts and forgiveness takes longer than I want. So then I must wait.  I must go slow with my heart and let it take as long as it takes.  It’s not a race but a journey.  The journey of the heart is best if you let it move slow.       

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27:14 ESV

Wait!  You see this command many times throughout scripture.  It seems I’m not alone in my impatience for God to move.  I wanted Him to do things yesterday and yet He is in no hurry.  Sometimes it’s hard to trust that His timing is timely.  Sometimes He seems to move so slow.  Yet when I question His timing I can’t help but be reminded that He made time.  He is the author of time and the overseer of all times.  I’m reminded of all the times before where I saw His timing work out and was even thankful it didn’t happen as quick as I wanted.  He is so patient with me in my frequent slowness to turn to Him.  Yes, let me wait for Him!  Let our hearts take courage and wait for Him.  His timing is worth the wait.  His love moves slow, yet His love is always moving.  May it move you to wait and trust the Lord.  

Check out Audrey Assad’s song, Love Moves Slow…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F10nKgPp9o

Room for Hurdles

Make space for hurdles, give room for obstacles. 

As I prepare to leave for Southeast Asia for a month I’ve been thrown off by all of the unexpected obstacles.  (That’s my subtle way of letting you know that you won’t be receiving these emails for a few weeks. You can email me if you would like to be included on my updates) In driving school they advise you to leave distance between you and the car head of you.  This gives you time to react to unexpected stops and objects in the road.  As the road conditions decrease the advised distance increases.  So with rain the advised distance increases and then even more with more severe conditions like ice.  The same principles are needed in our daily lives.  Sometimes I pack my day so full that I leave no space for the unexpected.  Whether it’s a friend that stops by unexpectedly or the appliance that breaks life is full of things we didn’t plan.  When we already have space worked into our day we have room for these surprises.  Then they don’t take quite the same toll on us because we have made space for them.  The tricky part is learning to increase the space needed as conditions change.  If the conditions of your life are requiring more of you then greater space is required.  It doesn’t mean we aren’t capable of handling things it just means the conditions require more of us and that means more space.  Either way, whether it’s clear sailing or stormy we need to keep some space.  

“I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

John 16:33 The Message

Jesus is preparing His disciples for His departure.  Yet, not only for the actual event but for the years following.  He is also preparing us for that same reality of life.  He says that we will continue to experience difficulties.  So it seems that we should plan for that. This doesn’t mean we do this with a ‘woe is me’ attitude of pessimism but instead with the sober perspective of what is true.  For Jesus doesn’t say to go be upset because of the difficulties but instead to ‘take heart’ because the greater truth is that He has conquered the world.  So everything we are walking through has ultimately been conquered by Him.  Where does that leave us?  It means that yes we can expect life to be hard; Yes, we can anticipate hurdles along the way.  However, it’s also yes that we can be unshaken, assured and at peace when we remember God has conquered the world and everything in it.  

Worth the Wait

“The worth is in the wait

So put your wait in the worth.”

Feel like you’re dying…life is coming, feel like you’re suffering…joy is on its way, feel like nothing’s going your way…breakthrough will soon be yours if you are willing to wait.  Through death comes life, through suffering comes joy, through sorrow comes rejoicing, through chains comes freedom, through sacrifice comes redemption, through…the list goes on and on.   Those who have suffered much appreciate much and find greater joy in life.  It is only ‘through’ that we come to the other end.  It is only when we have waited that we experience the worth.  But while we are in the place of going through, that is all we can see.  It overwhelms us, unless we choose to keep the worth and the good in perspective.  When we are in it, it’s too close to see the big picture.  We have to take a step back or come to the other side in order to look back and see how the thing that seemed to be killing us was actually saving us.  The bad refines us to good if we are willing to wait.  It won’t be easy, but it’s worth the wait.  You are worth the wait.  And worthy of that which you are waiting.  So remember to keep waiting with your eyes on the worth…it’s worth the wait.  

“God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what's coming to us - an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we're certainly going to go through the good times with him! That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. “

Romans 8:16-18, Message

I am so quick to forget, so let us together be reminded that Jesus is worthy and worth the wait.  He overcame death after a painful sacrifice (understatement of the century) so that we could be free and live.  People waited many years for Him to come, but it was worth the wait.  So now He calls us to wait even when it’s hard because He knows it will be worth it.  He has given us something worth waiting.  And He believes that you are worth the wait.  So He will keep coming to get your attention until you see that He has created you as His child through the hard and the good times.  You can trust the One through the waiting because He is worth the wait.  

Come Now

Stop waiting until you have it all together.  Come now and we can have it all…together.

We all love to be invited.  There is something about receiving that invitation that speaks to our desire to be wanted.  While I love getting dressed up for weddings and other events my favorite invitations are those that come with no requirements.  They don’t say ‘You’re Invited as long as you look just right’ or ‘You’re Invited as long as you have it all together.’  Instead they just say, ‘You’re Invited.’  This is the invitation, to come just as you are, to come now.  Yet, somehow we find reasons that we aren’t good enough to come.  What I’m starting to love about life is that so much of it is not black and white.  Things are not always all good or all bad but there is some of both.  There is hope in the midst of despair, there is joy in the midst of pain and there is brokenness in the midst of wholeness.  Often we think it’s one or the other and that one disqualifies us from the other.  Instead, we are broken and wounded and yet still loved and still invited.  So come now, brokenness aside and join together with those who are broken too.  

“I shall make mention of the lovingkindness of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has granted us,  And the great goodness toward the house of Israel,  Which He has granted them according to His Compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindness.”

Isaiah 63:7 NASB

This message comes in the midst of a book about the coming destruction.  I love that in the midst of such bad news from the prophet comes such words of hope.  It seems like it would be all one or all the other but that is not how God works.  While He is a God that brings discipline He also is a God that loves so deeply.  His compassion for you is so great and His lovingkindness is abundant.  There is no end to it.  So even in the midst of the coming pain there remains His great goodness.  Our brains don’t always know what to do with that truth.  Yet, still it remains true.  He is a God very familiar with brokenness and not having it all together.  That’s not a good reason to miss out on His compassion.  So come now.  Come now to His compassion though you find yourself wounded, frightened, angry lonely.  You’re still invited.  Nothing disqualifies you.  He loves you right in the midst of it.  So come now!

Don’t miss this from Brennan Manning, “…He loves you as you are, not as you should be, cause you’re never gonna be as you should be…”

Compassion - Brennan Manning Sermon Jam

by Refresh Ministries

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K56V86j2ng)

Not by Chance

Life is not by chance but by design.

Chance means the absence of any obvious design.  I recently have had a number of timely connections that remind me this life is not by chance.  There is purpose in the series of occurrences we find.  It’s not by chance that a friend calls just when we needed some encouragement.  It’s not by chance that you didn’t get the job you thought you wanted that sets you up for a better one.  It’s not by chance that you met that person who has a similar story as yours.  We often chalk things up to chance or coincidence.  But, what if we saw the design in all of it? You can only render so many things as chance before there’s no room for chance anymore.  What if even the things that have not shown any design yet are still purposeful.  Each season of our life is preparing us for something next.  This life is not by chance, your story is not by chance and who you are is not by chance.  No, who you are is a careful, purposeful design.  

“…declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’…I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

Isaiah 46:10-11 ESV

Isaiah prophesies of both the destruction and the glory of the days to come.  His prophesy reveals that both the judgment and the victories to come are not by coincidence, but rather by God’s design.  I recently found that the word coincidence is the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of the words: sun and kurios.  Sun means 'together with,' and kurious means 'supreme in authority.’ So when you put them together it means that  “what occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances.”” (gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html#ixzz3VRPI1gbb).  This sounds much different than our definition of coincidence which means to be without any connection.  God’s purposeful design is at work in your lives in the hard parts and the awesome parts.  We can trust the One who purposefully designed us to keep designing something purposefully beautiful with our lives.  He has spoken and He is faithful so He will do it.  

Certain as Dawn

Truth never moves

Hope stays the same

Love still remains

As certain as the dawn

Life can be as ever changing as the weather.  For much of the country you never know what the weather will be, even in the most knowledgable predictions the weather never ceases to surprise us.  I’m finding this to be true here in Colorado.  What I love about the weather is that although it can be a bit all over the place going from 80 one day to 40 the next (yes that happened last week), the sun still rises every day.  Now I may not experience the warmth of the sun every day but that doesn’t change the truth that every single day the sun comes up.  I love that because it reminds me of the things in my life that are true although I experience them differently daily.  When my world is falling apart hope stays the same; When I feel alone love still remains; When things feel shaken truth never moves.  Truth, hope and love are just like the dawn…certain.  

"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth."

Hosea 6:3 NASB

Hosea paints a beautiful picture of God’s unconditional love for us.  It’s a love that keeps seeking even when we turn away.  Although Hosea’s wife continues to run after other lovers his love remains faithful, as does God’s love for us.  In light of God’s loyal love Hosea encourages the people to press on towards the Lord.  It was their lack of knowledge of God that destroyed them (Hosea 4:6).  Thus, he calls them back to knowledge.  In knowing God and His loyal, steadfast love we are compelled to know Him more.  When we know His presence is constant, His provision is timely and His restoration complete we can press on to know Him.  So let us know, yes let us press on to know Him, the One who is already madly pursuing you.  Even when nothing feels certain, He is always certain.  

You can also enjoy more insight from Spurgeon on this verse: 

“Notice, again, it is a repeated gift. He shall give the former rain and the latter rain. If you have had grace once the Lord has more for you. Did you have happy times when old Dr. So-and-so was your pastor? Well, the doctor is dead, but God is not. Were you very much delighted when you used to sit in such-and-such a church, in years gone by, and have you moved into the country now? Yes, but God has not moved. He is in the country as well as in the town. You tell me you had such happy times when you were young. Yes, but God is neither younger nor older. Go to him, for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Do you suppose that, because he gave you the former rain, he has emptied the bottles of heaven?” (Spurgeon)

Flip Flop

When life brings you flips and flops you must hold onto the truth that the flops can get flipped.  

I’m not talking about the sandals, although I do love my Rainbow flip flops.  Instead I’m looking at something that gets changed around. Flip means to cause to turn over with a sudden movement and flop means a total fail.  We all have those stories when something that you thought was a disaster gets flipped into something great.  It happens at levels large and small.  The cancelled appointment that gives you space for rest or the job you lost that sets you up for something more than you imagined.  This concept often reminds me of the job I didn’t get as a resident assistant.  I was devastated.  I thought I was a perfect fit for that job.  However, another job opened up in the leasing office that turned out to be a much better fit for me.  It felt like a flop, a total fail in that moment.  Yet, not getting that job allowed me to take the other job.  My flop got flipped and turned into something better.  While not all flops get flipped, it happens more than you might think.  The things that feel like a total fail in our lives can take on a whole new hope when we remember they could change into something great.  Let’s start flipping our flops into something great.  

“Come, let us return to the Lord.  For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.”

Hosea 6:1 NASB

One theme we see through the Bible is God flipping death into life.  When He steps into the story the Red Sea parts bringing life to doom; Saul the killer of Christians becomes Paul the one leading people to Jesus; the death of Jesus on the cross brings salvation to all.  Just when it looks like all is lost God reverses it.  He is the great flipper of our flops.  He is in the midst of both our flips and our flops longing to be the one to bring hope and life.  He loves to heal, bandage and restore us to life.  Even the biggest flops that seem unredeemable.  Yes, even those can be flipped.  Here in Hosea there is much impending doom due to the people of God continuing to turn away from Him.  Yet, even in their turning away God is ready to restore if they will only return.  Those are the places God loves to enter.  Just when it looks like all is lost, He revives.  Remember all those times He has restored in the past.  He is still the same God.  Yes, even here in the midst of desolation He can bring new hope and life.  

ideas taken from Old Testament survey teacher notes

A Different Question

Stop asking what you can’t do.  Start asking how you can thrive.

Kids seem focused on the rules and even more focused on how far they can go.  We don’t have to look much farther than a toddler to understand our inherent leaning towards breaking the rules.  Even once they’ve been told no they seem to want to see how strong that no will remain.  The problem is sometimes we don’t grow out of this desire.  We still want to push the limits.  While sometimes the limits need to be pushed, there are other times where we need to ask a different question.  Sometimes we are so focused on the limits that we miss the sweet spot where we can really thrive.  So the question is not as much about what is off limits to us but the question instead is where do I thrive.  Let’s keep asking questions.  Questions that are less focused on pushing the outside limits and more focused on expanding our internal limits.  

“Stop judging based on the superficial. First you must embrace the standards of mercy and truth.”

John 7:24, Passion Translation

Sometimes we like the Pharisees miss the point.  Here in John the religious rulers are focused on the rules and what the law says, but they miss the bigger picture.  The laws are to help us follow after truth and mercy and not the other way around. It is first about seeing Jesus and following Him.  Those rules and limits were put into place to help us along that path and to show us our need for Jesus.  So then we like the rulers need to change the questions we are asking.  The bigger question is not whether it’s right or wrong but does it help me follow Jesus.  Throughout history our tendency is to look to a list rather than to the Creator.  Glance first to your Creator when you ask your questions.  Stay there a while that He might show you what questions He wants you to ask.  Listen to His whispers to your questions.  Let Him lead you to that place not only free from sin but free to run free.  

Check out what Jon Piper has to say about the question, ‘Does it help me run?’: 

Running - John Piper Sermon Jam

by Refresh Ministries

Before the Ice Melts

There is beauty to be found if you’re willing to brave the storm.

I recently braved the cold of Michigan ice on the pier of Grand Haven.  With wind chills in the negative twenties it was definitely a feat for this Southern California raised girl.  While I generally avoid the wind and cold at all costs I found there is something beautiful that the cold creates, especially at extreme temperatures.  The way the ice forms on the water is amazing.  Normally I would say that I put up with the snow because it’s fire prevention for the summer months.  Yet I was reminded that even in the midst of the storm, and even before the ice melts, there is something beautiful to be found.  The same is true in the winters of our lives.  Usually I am waiting for the storms and the hard seasons of my life to pass while still knowing it is producing something good in me.  What if we also found beauty in the midst of the storm?  I wonder if we might find that even before the ice melts there is something beautiful happening in the midst of adverse conditions.  So while it feels cold, and the wind is blistering, look around and you might see, even here, even when there’s ice, there is beauty. 

“My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”

Job 42: 5 NIV

Job knew a few things about rough conditions.  He lost his family, possessions, health and hope.  After much venting from Job God speaks to Job with a long discourse putting him in His place with questions like ‘where were you when I created the earth’ and ‘who do you think creates all these marvels of weather.’  Job begins to see the beauty of God even in that place of loss.  Although God does restore his possessions and his health it’s before God brings any physical blessing that Job finds the greatest blessing in the midst of his current conditions.  For Job finds God in all His beauty.  He had heard and known of Him but now He sees and now He truly knows.  This is our greatest blessing that our eyes have seen the Lord.  Can you see Him?  Although the conditions are rough there is beauty in that place that you find Him.  

Life is Messy

The reality of life is that it’s messy and that’s what makes it beautiful.

It feels like I am constantly cleaning up messes.  The messes of daily life like dishes, laundry, and house cleaning keep me busy (and I don’t even have kids).  Even without technically making a “mess” there are continual messes.  Then it multiplies when you add in dropping the jar that breaks all over the floor, the crack in your windshield, or the appliance that stops working.  That still doesn’t count the real messes of our lives like the relationship that is broken, the finances that aren’t making ends meet, and the obstacle you just can’t seem to overcome.  Life is full of messes big and small.  So often we see the messes as an inconvenience.  We define it as dirty or difficult.  What if we could embrace the mess?  What if we saw the mess as a part of the journey of life?  Somehow we expect life to be clean and see the messes as getting in the way of the life that we want when in fact messes make you more you.  We are human.  We are messy.  And it’s a beautiful mess.  

“God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. “

Romans 8:3, Message

Very few stories throughout the Bible come without any messes involved. It is full of stories of pain, sorrow, loss, evil, enemies, lies, disobedience and more. Yet somehow the message we get is that we aren’t supposed to be messy.  Unfortunately the reality is that life is messy.  All throughout history we see this to be the case.  This is why we are in such desperate need of Jesus.  Here is Romans Paul is looking at the messy human condition that the laws and the rules were never made to fix, but rather they reveal how messy we really are in our humanity. Rather than staying far away from our mess Jesus entered into it so that He could set it right and set us right.  While, we still live in a messy world, we have the hope that one day it won’t feel quite so messy.  We have the peace that Jesus sits with us in our mess and loves us right there in the midst of it.  We have the truth that we have been made whole while we are still walking in brokenness.  We have Jesus who enters our mess and makes it beautiful.  

Hear more about how much He loves you in this mix...

How He Loves-David Crowder (w Matt Chandler John Piper)

by Dennis Lazau

More about Sheep

“While correction is never fun sometimes it’s the best kind of love.”

I continue to see how much I am like a sheep.  They are easily cast down and thrown off putting them in much danger.  While you can’t completely prevent this from happening one reason sheep are prone to this situation is an excess of wool.  The sheep however, do not like the process of being sheared, even though they find relief from the hot heavy coat that is often clogged with manure, mud, burrs and ticks.  We are so much like sheep.  We too don’t like the process of things being sheared from our lives.  It’s not until looking back, until we see all we’ve been carrying from the place of being free that we find we are glad for the shears.  So although the refining is painful, the freedom is worth it.  

“A refusal to correct is a refusal to love; love your children by disciplining them.”

Proverbs 13:24 MSG

We have a good good Father.  Sometimes we are like the sheep being sheared unable to see His goodness.  We don’t like the shearing and thus conclude that He isn’t good.  Like the sheep who can’t see all that has gotten in its wool neither can we see all that is keeping us from freedom.  Thus, we must trust our Good Shepherd and know that it is always in love that He brings out the shears.  Our Good Father is always for us and always with us, even when it’s impossible to see through the pain.  While not everything painful is His disciplining, He still remains a good Father in everything painful.  So whatever process you find yourself in with the Lord you can always go back to knowing that He is your Good Good Father who does everything, yes everything, truly everything in love.  

Adapted from A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller

For a little more on our “Good Good Father” check out this song by Housefires…

Good Good Father by HOUSEFIRES II with Lyrics

Cast Down

It’s not whether or not we will be cast down or even why we’ve been cast down, instead the question is will we find a way to see hope until we find it.

Downcast is that feeling of low spirits in loss of hope or courage (wiktionary).  It’s that place where we feel cast down; where our hope has been cast down.  I’ve been learning how we are like sheep.  When sheep have been cast down it means they have been turned on their backs and are unable to get back up on their own.  Furthermore, if the owner does not arrive in time to set it upright the sheep will die within days.  Now I don’t know the thoughts of a sheep but I’ve learned they battle much fear and can easily become frantic when lying cast down.  Yet, it is this panic that makes things worse for the sheep and for us.  So you see, we are like sheep.  We like the sheep are easily cast down.  We like sheep are in need of help.  We like sheep make things worse the further we delve into panic mode.  So whatever has you cast down, feeling like your legs are in the air unable to get up, remember there is hope.  

"Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."

Psalm 43:5

The thing about following God is that we have a Good Shepherd.  A good shepherd is always on the look out for cast down sheep.  They are constantly attentive to the condition of the flock and thus ready to pull any one of their sheep back to it’s feet.  This is our God.  So while it may seem helpless we too must remember to whom we belong.  This is what the psalmist is doing, he is remembering his God who brings hope and saving.  This is not a condemning question of why are you cast down but an invitation to remember that even though you may find yourself cast down you have a Good Shepherd who is always on the lookout for his sheep.  He sees you and will be faithful to you.  Keep your eyes always on Him, our hope and our help who has His eyes always on you.  

Adapted from A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, Phillip Keller

Space for Grace

While I don’t know the whole recipe for life, I know it calls for lots of grace.

The more I experience the snow of winter the more I find pictures of our seasons and storms in life.  Besides that winter requires more space because of snow on cars and tough road conditions; it also requires more grace.  Some of the general road rules have to be set aside at times during the snow.  When it’s really bad cars may have to drive through red lights because the roads won’t allow them to stop.  Yet even if just on days where the snow has covered the ground, parking between the lines is really just a guessing game.  I can’t be expected to know where the lines are if I can’t see them, nor can I expect anyone else to do the same.  This picture reminds me of how I need this same grace in my own life as well as for other people, especially in the midst of any level of storm or trial.  For someone who values doing things well and right this can be quite a feat to extend grace to myself and yet that is exactly what this season calls for me to do.  So whatever season you find yourself in, however far over the lines you park, let there be space in your life for grace.  You need it and so does everyone else.  

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16 NASB

Our God is gracious.  He loves to extend His grace to us.  Prior to this verse we see that He is a God that can “sympathize with our weaknesses.”  Sometimes the hardest part about that is admitting that we have them.  Once we can get to that place of humility we can freely approach His grace that He longs for us to find.  His heart is that we would especially find this mercy and grace in our time of need.  We don’t need fancy words and we don’t need to have it all together.  Instead we can come without reservation, in confidence that the God who sees all and knows all is the One who can completely sympathize and understand what you are walking through.  Without condemnation He sees you longing to extend His grace in your time of need that you can extend that same grace to others.  It starts with His grace.  We need His grace.  Come walk free in His grace.  

Delighting in Work

Our work is a gift.  Sometimes wonderful and sometimes work.

I’ve found that anything worth doing requires some level of work.  In physics work is “the exertion of force overcoming resistance or producing molecular change.”  Resistance is required for change.  Work is not only the job we do each day.  It is that which we put into what we do.  It is what we put our hands to as well as the effort we put into it.  Change requires resistance.  I often want change without the resistance, yet that’s not how it works.  Or at least not with significant change.  If you feel resistance you just might be onto something.  Since we spend so much time in the work of our job or our role that is often where we feel the most resistance.  Yet that is also the very place that is our gift.  Your work is your gift and worth the resistance.  

“…Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life.  And that’s about it.  That’s the human lot.  Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work.  It’s God’s gift!…”
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 Message

Sometimes it’s hard to see work as a gift.  Yet here in Ecclesiastes that is exactly what Solomon is encouraging us to do.  In the midst of searching through life’s seeming meaninglessness Solomon finds that it is through God that we find meaning.  Apart from Him it all ends in meaninglessness.  God empowers us to enjoy His provision.  Knowing this he says that our work is God’s gift to us for us to delight in and make the most of it.  Some days that seems so easy to do and other days it can feel more like a stretch, yet all days it remains true.  Whatever the work of your day looks like today may you have “both the bounty and capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work.”

Don't Lose Heart

Though all hope may seem lost…Take heart again, take courage again, take hope once again.  

Discouragement is a normal place to find yourself, but not a place to stay.  We lose some of the meaning of this word in the English.  In the Latin ‘cor’ means heart.  The word discourage has roots in discouragier from the French language.  Des means away and corage means courage.  When our courage gets taken away so does our heart.  Discouragement sucks the life out of us. Without heart and without courage we find ourselves without life.   Without life we can’t do the things we were made to do, called to do and love to do.  So don’t let anyone or anything take your heart from you.   Even if it’s been lost for a very long time you can still grab hold of it.  Speak courage to your heart until you believe it.  Take heart again, take courage again, take hope once again...and again.  

“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”

2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB

The Biblical definition of losing heart means to be utterly spiritless, wearied out, or exhausted.  Now that’s a dark place to find yourself.  Yet, you don’t have to stay there.  In 2 Corinthians Paul is encouraging us with his own life.  Even though he was threatened, beaten, imprisoned, and stoned, even still he learned the secret of not losing heart.  He saw the purpose behind every affliction; the value of the inward man more than the outward man; of the spirit more than the body.  He saw the opportunities all of his pain and suffering brought him to know Jesus and to share Jesus.  His secret was in the day by day renewing.  It’s a day by day process and battle.  So take today.  Take this moment.  Speak words of renewing life to your spirit.  Let it find newness once again in the truth that we need not lose heart.  This place is meaningful, the pain is worth it, and you can take heart once again even in this place.  

For some extra encouragement check out this short message from John Piper mixed into Shane and Shane’s song, “Though You Slay Me."

"Though You Slay Me" (featuring John Piper) by Desiring God