Heats On

“LIfe has moments when the heat is on and things spill over.  The question remains what will be spilling over?”

Loren Thornburg

I hate it when I leave a pot over heat on the stove unattended.  I come back to a mess.  Heat brings things to the surface.  When the heat is on, that which is inside will spill over both on the stove and in our lives.  This is why it is absolutely necessary to look at what’s going on in our hearts.   As much as we attend to the outside, we also need to attend to our inside.  If we don’t, when the heat is on, what’s inside will come out.  When the trials come on, the circumstances get hard, and the busyness gets overwhelming, things start to come out.  They come from our hearts.  We still need to take care of our health, be mindful of our appearance, but above all else we need to pay attention to our heart.  When life gets hard and your heart spills over let it be a beautiful mess.   

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”

Proverbs 4:23 Amplified

God is serious about your heart.  He is after it.  It says “above all that you guard,” guard your heart.  That means more than appearance, more than money, more than your job, more than anything guard your heart.  That doesn’t mean be guarded in the sense of being closed off, but rather to pay attention to, be aware of, and keep it so close you know what is going on in your heart.  Your heart is a big deal to God and He wants you to think it’s a big deal too.  It’s from the heart that life comes.  Life, life and more life, that is what He’s after.  He wants you to experience life.  It comes from your heart.  Let Him have His way with your heart that you may have life, life and more life whatever the trials that your day may bring.  

Rescue Operation

“Sometimes the best rescues don’t take us out of the struggle, but teach us how to walk through it.”

Loren Thornburg

In the midst of hard times it’s only normal to want out of it.  It’s uncomfortable, it’s painful, and it’s hard.  Those are not desirable things.  When I find myself there I want out too; I want to be rescued.  I want the stories we see in movies or the fairy tales that were read to me as a kid, where someone comes to save the day.  Yet, often times the best rescue operations don’t take us out of the danger, but show us how to walk through it.  I wonder how many things I have been rescued from because of all of the hard things that I wasn’t rescued from in the way that I wanted.  The times that I had to walk through the hard stuff grew in me abilities and character traits that have helped me avoid future dangers.  The more I see this the more I have come to appreciate the times my rescue didn’t look the way that I wanted.  I find although I still want to be swept out of it, I also want to be left in.  For that is the rescue that will keep on rescuing after this trial has passed.  

“...We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us.  As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened.  Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally--not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!  And he did it, rescued us from certain doom.  And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing.  You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation…”

2 Corinthians 1: 8-11 Message

God is the ultimate Rescuer.  He loves to rescue us “as many times as we need rescuing,” but He doesn’t always rescue us the way we would want Him to.  I love what Paul discovers in what seemed a hopeless situation.  He is glad for the intensity of the struggle because it forced Him to look to God to rescue, rather than to his own strength or someone else.  Paul comes to recognize the beauty of God’s rescue operation.  God loves to rescue.  He loves to rescue you...over and over and over again.  It just might not look how you thought it would.  He just might take you to the end of yourself so that you will trust in Him totally.  

Less Yields More

“Less is an opportunity for more.”

Loren Thornburg

Less usually only sounds better when we’re talking about debt, bills or things on our to do list.  We don’t often wish for less money or fewer possessions.  Yet, something happens when we don’t have what we are used to having; we are forced to create from what we have.  I recently endured a very constricted diet.  Without the flavors I am used to enjoying I was forced to find new ways to create a tasty meal.  What I found was spices and flavors that I had been missing out on. It's like that meal you never would have made except that it's all that you had and it turned out so good you made it again even when you had more.  It made me wonder how many things are created and inventions invented out of having less. Less forces us to get creative in more ways than our meals.  The hard seasons in our lives, when it feels like things are being taken away, force us to grow in ways we wouldn’t have otherwise.  They cause us to develop relationships that may not have been so deep and point us to new ways of doing things that we wonder why we ever did it any other way.  Whatever less you find yourself in look for the more that’s waiting to be found.  

“… My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either.  It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.  God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out.  He’s treating you as dear children.  This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children...But God id doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best.  At the time, discipline isn’t much fun.  It always feels like it’s going against the grain.  Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.”

Hebrews 12:4-11 Message

Discipline is not a word we like, as it often suggests restrictions and constrictions.  When we hear discipline we assume there will be less of what we want.  Although that may be true, more often the less is making room for more of what really matters.  Discipline is training that corrects, molds and perfects. It comes in all shapes, sizes and forms.  Often we see hard times or a lessening in provision and we associate that with punishment.   We look around and think it’s punishment because we don’t see other people facing the hard things we are, but in fact hard times and discipline are normal.  Everyone has them they just look different.  God really is doing what is best for us.  Do you believe that?  You have to believe that as one missionary, Adoniram Judson did.  In the face of many trials he said, “If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings.” Trust His infinite love and mercy for you.  Whatever suffering, discipline or hard time you face He is doing something in you and through you that is yielding more than you can see in this season of less.  

Real Rest

“Real rest is more than stopping, more than taking a break.  It is a calmness, a stillness, of body, mind and soul.”
Loren Thornburg

If you’re like me rest is not something that comes naturally.  I don’t just mean vegging out in front of the TV or taking a nap although it could include those things.  I mean a real rest that brings a refreshing of mind, body and soul.  A space where you can really be still and leave off anything and let go of everything.  Productivity, busyness, and activity are so highly valued that we often miss what we need most.  Our bodies were designed for rest whether we like it or not.  I am slowly coming to see this countercultural truth.  The more I invite real rests in my life the more I find energy and life for the activities.  It’s not easy to be quiet in a loud and busy world, to hear the thoughts that come to mind in the silences and to endure through the restlessness that says you should do more.  Yet, it’s always worth it.  Either way you and I were made for rest.  It’s part of your design...so enter into who you are and find real rest.  

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.”
Matthew 11:28-29 Amplified

Not only is this counter cultural now, but it would have been very different for the disciples as well.  A yoke is a harness that connects animals to a plow.  Often an older, more experienced animal led a younger animal so that the term also came to mean that of a student and teacher.  So when Jesus shared this invitation with His disciples they would have understood it as looking completely different than being the student of any other rabbi.  What He was saying was, “...I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with Me and work with Me-watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace…” (The Message).  He offers this same invitation to you, “to ease, relieve and refresh your souls” to show you the “unforced rhythms of grace.”  Rest comes from two root words.  One means to cease and the other means in between or among.   It means to cease from labor to recover and collect strength and to be of calm and patient expectation.  Not because there isn’t anything else to do but in between or among all the busyness to cease and stop to rest.  So let go of all that keeps you from resting and enter His real rest.  

Free to Roam

“Boundaries are the space in which one can be free.”

Loren Thornburg

I enjoy getting away to new places when I can.  The thing about places that are new is that you don’t always know what is safe.  As I ventured off in a new space I was thankful for the fences that marked that which I was free to roam.  Now for some of us this is very limiting and at times I would have to agree.  Yet in this moment I came to appreciate the fences seeing them not as that which was keeping me from seeing more, but that which was freeing me to enjoy the space I was given.  I can’t say that I always feel this way and never question the amount of space that I am given to be free.  I wrestle with the limits of my health, the boundaries that healthy relationships call for, the ways I feel fenced in by my weaknesses and failures , and on and on.   What if instead of limits we saw freedom?  What if instead of boundaries we saw safety?  What if we saw our fences for what they give us instead of what they are keeping us from?  Enjoy the space you’ve been given even if the fences aren’t where you wish they would be.  

“The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;  You support my lot.  The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.”

Psalm 16:5-6 NASB

When the Lord is in it, the lines are always pleasant.  He is a god of giving, not of taking away.  Yet, sometimes we can miss that if we don’t see the bigger picture of what He is doing.  Recently I have felt the weight of what seems like things being taken away, not realizing that what God is doing is making room for more.  It isn’t that He wants to take away your fun, your desires, or the things you enjoy, but He wants to make more room in your heart for you to really experience true joy.  He is a god of purpose and of great plans for you.  Wherever your lines and boundaries have fallen they are pleasant when He is in them.  Paul found freedom in chains.  He still saw his lines had fallen in pleasant places.  He is more than enough freedom for any space, no matter how small it seems.  Find freedom in the space He has given you.  

Heart of the Matter

“The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.”
Loren Thornburg

The ‘heart of the matter’ is a saying we use to refer to the core of something.  Often times we use it to refer to that which is at the root of an issue or causing the problem.  As the heart of a human is the most vital organ, so the heart of the matter is the most important part.   What I am finding is the ‘heart of the matter’ for most of my problems is in fact my heart.  Only, I don’t mean in the physical functioning of propelling blood through the body.  Instead I am talking about the other definition of heart, the inmost or most central part.  It is my innermost being, the emotional component.  This is the real ‘heart of the matter.‘  So often we spend so much time taking care of the outside that we forget that the real ‘heart of the matter’ is what is going on in the inside.   The truth is real change happens from the inside out.  The ‘heart of the matter’ of the kid acting out is not that he can’t get his act together, but that he’s hurting; the mom yelling at her kids is hurting, the driver with road rage is hurting.  We all have places that are begging us to see...our hearts are the ‘heart of the matter.’

“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her time of suffering is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of Jehovah's hand double for all her sins.”

Isaiah 40:2 Darby Bible Translation

Heart is referred to over 500 times in the bible and not in reference to the organ, but to describe the seat of emotions, desires, appetites, emotions, courage, mind, determination, reflection, and soul.  God is about our hearts and loves to speak to them.  After many chapters of judgment and conviction God brings a word of comfort meant to minister to the hearts. This is a reflection of Himself.  He is about your heart.  Whatever the situation it seems the ‘heart of the matter’ for God is your heart.  So if you’re wondering what God is doing in the midst of your situation it probably has to do with the hearts of those involved.  You can trust that He has your heart in mind.  

What You Can’t See

“What you can’t see is there is hope.  What you can’t see is there is more.  What you can’t see is there is victory to come.  When what you see seems hopeless, remember that there is more that you can’t see.”

Loren Thornburg

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection.  To resurrect is to raise from the dead, restore to life, revive, regenerate, revitalize, breathe new life into, bring back to life, reinvigorate, rejuvenate.  We all have places in our hearts and lives that we need and desire this resurrection.  What I am reminded of this year in the story of the resurrection is what no one could see.  While everyone was mourning Christ was given new life.  I’m not saying there shouldn’t be mourning in the face of tragedy.  What I am saying is there was more going on than what they could see.  They couldn’t see behind the tombstone.  Sometimes healing and restoration are happening in ways we can’t see and in places we don’t know.  So while you walk through places where all you can see is defeat and hopelessness remember that there is more going on that you can’t see.  There is so much more going on beyond the things we see.  It takes faith, it takes hope, it takes trust to believe in what you can’t see.

“Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.”

1 Peter 5:10 HCSB

God is a god of resurrecting.  He loves bringing life into things that were once dead.  We see it all throughout the Bible, story after story of what was once dead, now made alive.  He has a habit of personally restoring places of loss and suffering.  He has a way of changing the unchangeable, restoring the broken beyond repair and bringing hope to the utterly hopeless.  He knows you and He knows how to personally and intimately bring you to the full life He created you to live.  You only have to let Him and invite Him into those places.  It may seem impossible that things could ever change for us.  Yet, this is the God of all grace who raised Jesus from the dead.  Just as He was at work behind Jesus’ tombstone, so He is at work behind the tombstones of our own lives raising death to life in ways you can’t see.  He loves to resurrect.  So though all you see now is suffering, trust Him for what You can’t see happening behind the tombstones of your life.  He is at work to personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you.