Get the Full Story

“See beyond this moment, look beyond right here
The story isn’t over, there’s hope, yes hope that’s near.”
Loren Thornburg

I love Easter because beyond all the eggs and candy there is a story that reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem and what you think will be is not always what is to come. Jesus was killed on a cross, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Hope still remained for He rose from the dead and thus our hope still remains. So often I base things on what I see and what I’ve been told forgetting the story isn’t over yet. I have to get the full story before I lose all hope. This is true in life and lives, including our own. So often I see the trials in my life and that’s all I can see. I get frustrated wishing I was farther along in one area or another. I know where I’ve been and I am unable to see where I could go. But, there is more to my story; there is more to your story. Lets get the full story before we resort to losing hope.

“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT

Jesus is all about hope. Hope means that in all things we believe in the full story. It means that we “look beyond the tombstone, see the living God”(Paul Baloche, Glorious). Corinthians says it so well in the encouragement not to look at the troubles we see right now, in front of us, but instead to look beyond them, even though we look to things we haven’t yet seen. We can do this because we trust in the hope of our living God. We trust that as the Message version says, “There's far more here than meets the eye.” With Jesus there is always more than we can see going on. There is always more to the story than where we find ourselves in this moment. That means we can hope. Yes, even now, we can hope, even here, we can hope. Jesus is near and so hope is near. In the face of today see the living God. He is at work in a really big story calling you to be a part of it. It’s a story that has shown us we can hope in things we haven’t seen.

True Absurdities

“Truth is true, absurdities and all.”
Loren Thornburg

Life is full of paradoxes. You have to spend money to make money; you break your muscles down to build them up; your giving is what fills you up. A paradox is something that sounds absurd, but is actually true. More and more I see that life is full of paradoxes. It is in the hard things of life, which bring sadness that I come to know more of joy and enjoyment. It is when we allow ourselves to be hurt, needy, broken, and weak that we can be most thankful and find joy in healing, provision, and strength. It sounds rather absurd to me that to know joy I must know much heartache; to know strength I must know weakness; and to know more I must know less. It makes me wonder how many other things that I think are absurd are actually true. What we think is disaster may be the thing that is saving us. Life has a paradoxical way of bringing life from death.

“Our hearts ache but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing and yet we have everything.”
2 Corinthians 6: 10 NLT

The last shall be first, the first shall be last, those who are poor shall be rich, those who own nothing have everything. Even more, God brought life from death taking crucifixion on a cross of His only Son to bring abundant life for all who believe. Following Jesus is full of paradoxes. He doesn’t think the way that we think, work the way we work, or see things the way that we do. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to take heart in the nature of our paradoxical God. Following Jesus requires allowing His absurdities to be our truth. It means seeing our crises and trusting that God can and will work a blessing in it where we thought no blessing could be found. No longer seeing things from our perspective, but from over His shoulder where the poor are spiritually rich and those with nothing live lives where they find they have everything. It’s a process and it takes time, but the more we seek His ways the more we find what once was absurd has become truth; what once was our disaster has become our blessing; and what once was our death has become our saving.

New Filters

“Change your filter so you can see things as they really are and taste things as they really can be. ”

Loren Thornburg

You can’t see it but you can taste the difference in unfiltered water. Besides the better taste, it is better for us not to be consuming water that has different contaminations in it. That’s why we have all sorts of filtrations systems that continue to be more advanced. Now they have red lights and signs when they are no longer filtering as they should be. This signals to us that it is time to put a new filter in. By definition a filter is a device for removing impurities. In our own lives we have things that need filtering. As things come at us and life happens we begin to build up contaminations in our hearts and minds. This affects how we see and react to things. We no longer see them as they really are but we see them through the contamination that has built up. Similar to the water filtration system we need our filters renewed. Don’t keep operating with the same dirty filter, let yours be made new.

“When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”

James 4:10 NLT

We can’t see the difference in the water nor can we see our hearts without help. We can taste that it is bad but we need God to be able to renew our filter. James is explaining some of what it looks like to walk out your faith. He shows us what it looks like to purify your heart. It includes bowing before the Lord and admitting in sorrow that our hearts are dirty and we need Him to clean them. We not only need Him but are solely dependent on Him to give us a new filter to lift us up to see rightly again; to see things as they really are, not through the junk that has accumulated in our hearts and minds. We have to come and we have to bow but only He can clean, purify and make new. Why drink the same dirty water when all you have to do is admit you need Him. He loves for you to come. He loves to make you new.

Can't be Microwaved

“More than a minute and not even overnight. Change can’t be microwaved...it takes time.”
Loren Thornburg

Immediately and instantly we have access and answers to so many things. We don’t have to wait. We can find information online in minutes, email a friend with the click of a button, and have hot food ready to eat in seconds. It’s all right there, right away, no waiting required. Not like it used to be without access to so much information, waiting weeks for a letter reply, and our only option for hot food was time spent over the stove. Although the time-savers are helpful they also create a sense that all things should happen at microwave speed. The problem is when there are things that require time, waiting and patience. We don’t know what to do it with it because we aren’t used to waiting. The healing we want, the dreams we have, the areas we want to grow in, these things take time that can’t be sped up by any technological device. It can’t be microwaved. These things take time lasting longer than we want. Yet, if we are willing to accept the suffering we will be invited to the joy that comes afterwards. Don’t give up...it needs more time.

“All eyes look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.”
Psalm 145:15 HCSB

David is recounting the many reasons to praise the Lord: His greatness, His mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His closeness, His protection. In the middle of these is the reminder that He provides at “the proper time.” That means God is always on time. Now I can’t say that I always agree with God’s timing in the midst of waiting. He often seems a little slow or behind schedule until I see the fullness of what happens in the waiting. For with God He is never off the job and He is never wasting time in your waiting. He is always up to something, preparing you, growing you, shaping you in the waiting. In order to let the waiting have it’s fullness in us we have to remember the fullness of who God is...great, merciful, faithful, righteous, close, protective. This is why we can wait, this is how we can wait, because we know the goodness of the God on whom we wait. He will give you what you need at just the right time.

More than Meets the Eye

Things are not always what they seem. Often there is more going on below the surface that we are not able to see. Our clearness of vision, termed, visual acuity, is dependent not only on eye’s retinal focus but also on the brains interpretation of it. So even if you have 20/20 vision or the “eagle eye” of 20/10 vision there is still room for misinterpretation. In fact, scientists have shown that the eyes can’t always be trusted because the brain processes “perceived” sizes of things rather than actual size. Our processing systems can give us faulty information and interpretation. I think we have all had times where we found this to be true in our own lives. People and situations are often more complex, interesting and meaningful than they appear at first glance. Life is complicated with many parts at play, more than meets the eye. So it is important to remember that there is more going on than only what we see. Don’t stop looking just stop assuming what you see is all there is.

“I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree

Isaiah 55:8 MSG

God’s ways are not ours. He is so great and so outside of all we can ask or imagine. I am so thankful and so glad that He sees beyond what I see and works in ways higher than my mind could ever fathom. However, this poses problems at times when things don’t make sense to me, when He doesn’t do what I think He should, or when He does things differently than I thought He would. We see over and over throughout the Scripture that God is working for the GOOD in ways so far beyond what we see and beyond what we think of what we see. Yet, we miss Him unable to see that God is working in ways beyond what we can perceive. The Israelites desert time was their saving, Joseph’s imprisonment led to the saving of him family and country, Jesus’ death on a cross was not the death of hope but rather the life of it. We’ve read the stories and experienced our own stories, so now in the midst of our hard spot let us remember even here God is working. When it comes to God we can know that there is always more than meets the eye. He is always on the job, always at work, and always doing more than our minds perceive. We can trust Him with His ways even when they are not ours.

A Little Goes a Long Way

“Words can give encouragement, encouragement can give confidence and confidence can strengthen you to dare to do the difficult.”

Loren Thornburg

Recently I passed by a boy learning to ride his bike. As I passed by I complemented him on what a good job he was doing. With those few simple words he looked at me with a huge smile that lit up his face and caused him to ride harder and stronger. Now with kids it can be easier to express what a good job they are doing and how proud we are of them. We recognize their need to hear these words as they are learning and growing. Yet as I reflected on the huge smile of the little boy I realized how much I too need that encouragement. I can recall many times where people have spoken an encouraging word to me that gave me the help and strength to do that which I didn’t think I could do. It looks different as we grow and mature but the need is the same. We may think we shouldn’t need it, or think we’re too old to smile like the child when we get it, but we’re not. So lets be people that share encouragement that brings life...everyone needs it.

“Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.”

Proverbs 12:25 NLT

God knows better than any the encouragement that we need. He also knows the ways that worry can keep us from the encouragement we need. The bible is full of His invitations to give our worry to Him and His invitation to receive the words of encouragement spoken over us. He can bring words that speak life to the depths of our souls. He is a creative God able to bring encouragement in so many different ways. Often the way He chooses to do that is through people. He uses you and me to speak words of life, to strengthen, to bring support, to give confidence for us to do that which we were ready to give up on doing. So now lets be a part of His life giving encouragement. He is inviting you to His encouragement and also to be a part of sharing that with others.

Guarding Ground

“Ground has been taken, you’ve overcome; don’t give it back, remember what’s been won.”

Loren Thornburg

No soldier would fight and risk his life just to give the enemy his hard-fought victory. Now most of us, thankfully, do not know the full of what it means to battle with our lives on the line, but we all have had battles in our lives. We battle contentment, depression, insecurities, hopelessness, lies, fears, and so much more. As we have all battled, we have also all experienced victory in different areas and at different levels. Unfortunately, I have found that although I have had victories I forget these victories and at times I can easily go back to how it was before I overcame. It sounds absurd, like the soldier giving up his victory, yet it’s easy to do when you are accustomed to functioning a certain way. The good news is that as it was overcome once it can be reclaimed again. We don’t have to go back to the way things were. Remember your victories and guard the ground that’s been won!

“Rather, I make myself guilty if I rebuild the old system I already tore down.”

Galatians 2:18 NLT

Paul is battling here for the freedom that comes with grace as many were inclined to add laws and rules to it. Jesus came so that we no longer needed the old system of rules and laws, he tore it down. Yet, for many different reasons people continued to live enslaved to the laws even though freedom from them had been offered. Paul says that system of laws has been tore down so don’t rebuild it, rather live in the freedom of grace. The grace of Jesus has allowed us to tear down many of our systems of doing things that don’t bring freedom. He has spoken His truth to our lies and broken the ways that they have kept us from freedom. Let’s keep the lies broken and our lives free. It can be tempting at times to rebuild the old familiar systems and ways we used to do things, yet they don’t bring freedom. You’ve been set free! Let’s stay free!