SEEN

“You are not forgotten, you have not gone unseen;

You’re noticed, you’re valued, you’re priceless...You are SEEN.”

Loren Thornburg

There is something powerful about feeling seen.  Having spent two weeks in a nation that feels forgotten and unseen I am reminded of the power of the platform we have to see the unseen.  For in the midst of their sense of feeling forgotten the opportunity to remember them becomes all the more meaningful to them. It is a recognition of who they are and the value they have.  I can’t help but think back to those times that I too have felt unseen but someone came and saw me.  That moment that empowers the soul to know that who we are matters.  We all need it.    You are seen.  Do you see it?

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers--most of which are never even seen--don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?”

Matthew 6:30 MSG

We all long for that moment of feeling seen and seek it any way that we can, sometimes at the sacrifice of what really matters.  The problem is those things don’t truly meet that place in us.  Only He can.  He can because He already sees you.  You don’t have to do anything to be noticed by Him.  He sees every wildflower even those that may seem unseen and He sees you even when you feel unseen.  I don’t just mean He sees you and moves on but God sees in a way that He sees to the core of you.  He knows you and loves to attend to those places in you often before you even know they need attending to.  GOD sees you...just ask Him.   

There is an After

“Don’t forget that in the difficulty of today there is an after.”
Loren Thornburg

“I didn’t know there was an afterwards.” More than once this phrase has poured out from the heart of someone recalling a hard season of life.  After is a period of time following an event that can often be hard to see or even imagine.  When things are hard it seems consuming and impossible to fathom things ever being any different from how they are at this moment.  Yet, it’s true, there is light at the end of the tunnel.  There is an afterwards.  It’s hard to know this is true until you have walked through a situation that seemed hopeless and seen the afterwards that felt like an impossibility.  Still, there may be another season of life that seems even more unbearable.  However, it is still true in that place...there is an after.  So keep walking, keep believing, and keep hoping for one day at a time you will find your after.  

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His own eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.”

1 Peter 5:10 Amplified

The apostle Peter is writing to the church leaders to remind them there is an after so they can stand firm in the midst of hard times and difficult situations.  He is writing for us too, reminding us of God’s promise that not only is there an after but He is going to carry us through the suffering to the other side.  He will establish, ground, strengthen, and settle you.  God is a god of Hope.  This is hope: Whatever you are facing now or will come to face He will be in the middle of it to bring you to the other side.  Even more, He will complete you and make you what you ought to be in the process.  So walk into His blessing and favor that carries you to your after.  

Bridge the Gap

“We can’t go it alone.  We can’t do it ourselves.  We need help from others to bridge the gaps.”

Loren Thornburg

A gap is a space between two things.  Sometimes gaps provide to be helpful openings into a place we want to be or go.  Yet, a gap can also be the space that keeps us from going where we want to go.  In that case we need someone or something to bridge the gap.  We can recognize the importance of bridges that we drive or walk on that help us cross the gaps in the road made by rivers or ravines.  There are also many other places in our lives that help us cross over into a place we never could have gone without help.   Most of all I have seen how people have bridged the gaps in my life.  Teachers and coaches who made a way for learning and growth.  Counselors who brought me from pain into healing.  Friends who helped me see things in my life that I never would have seen on my own.  I am so thankful for all the people who have taken me places I never could have gone alone.  I want to a “gap-bridger”  too!!

“If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift...can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?

Romans 5:15-17 Message

The truth is there was a gap.  Through Adam came sin and we were separated from God with no way back to Him.  Jesus came to bridge the gap by dying for us and what a bridge He is!!  There is no comparison between the gap we once faced and the life we can now have.  He became a life giving gift that set everything right for those willing to believe.  Jesus is there waiting for us, inviting us to let Him bridge the gap from where we are to where He calls us to be.  Then He uses us to bridge the gap for others to know Him and to fall more in love with Him.  Lets stand in the gap with Him that many more could “grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift.”   

Standing With You

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

Loren Thornburg

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

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

Ecc 4:12 NLT

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

Aligned

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

Loren Thornburg

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

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

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified

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

Beyond Ability

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

Loren Thornburg

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

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

Ephesians 3:7-8 Message

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

Courageous Waiting

“It takes courage to wait.”

Loren Thornburg

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

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

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