Celebrating Change

“Change brings much sadness, but it is also change that brings much joy and reason to celebrate.”

Loren Thornburg

I’ve been going to Southeast Asia for 6 years now.  Lots of things have changed in 6 years.  As I look at this country I celebrate and grieve the changes I see.  I celebrate the openness that is happening for it allows foreigners like me into places we once couldn’t go.  Yet, I grieve the advancements that are making this place look more like the rest of the world.  As I look at my life I am thankful for changes.  Changes have allowed me to mature, become more content, and be more of me.  Yet I grieve the part of change that means less time with people I love.  In an ever changing world we can only expect an ever changing life.  With an ever changing life I can only hope to be a part of the change that brings celebrating.  Change is inevitable.  So if you can’t avoid it join with it.  Find the change that brings reason to celebrate.  Be the change that brings more reason to celebrate.  

"God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?”

Numbers 23:19 Message

God doesn’t change.  His person doesn’t change, His reliability doesn’t change, His promises don’t change, and His love for You doesn’t change.  Nothing about what is true of Him changes.  No, not ever will He change. He is committed to change while remaining unchanging.  He is committed to bring the change in me that brings me to Him and that makes all the difference.  That makes me able to endure all the changes around me.  It reminds me of the picture that one man on a rock can save many who are drowning.  He is the one on the rock that saves.  He saved me and keeps saving me.  He came to save you and to keep saving you.  So whatever change seems to be taking you away you can reach out your hand to the One who never changes.  His word never changes and nothing you can do can change His mind about you.  He loves you.  Let Him be the change in you that brings the change to others.  He is the change that saves.  

Trials Promised

“No one said it would be easy, but no one said we had to go it alone either.”

Loren Thornburg

As I get ready to go on another overseas trip I am reminded that it is not an easy process.  It never has been and yet somehow I keep wanting it to be.  Yet, it’s not just these trips that I find that to be the case.  It’s most things.  I want life to be easy, to be ideal, to be comfortable.  The reality and the truth is that it is not these things most of the time.  Sometimes we have seasons and moments where the ideal comes to be and things fall into place with ease and comfort.  More than those sometimes, most of the time, life brings less than ideal.  It brings trials, frustrations, and distresses.  So the trick is learning to accept that and make the most of it.  I have found one of the best ways to make the most of it is in good company.  We may have to go through trials but we don’t have to go them alone.  So join in as others walk it out and let others walk with you.  It may not be easy but it can be a bit easier.  So expect trials, accept trials, and join in trials.  

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace and confidence.  In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of the power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

John 16:33 Amplified

Jesus says that we will have trials.  He promises that we will have frustrations.  It’s not “if” you have them but “when” you have them.  It’s not a possibility, but a guarantee.  Yet, that is not the only guarantee we have.  He has promised to overcome the world.  He is why we can have peace and confidence in the midst of whatever trial that comes our way.  He is with us.  He is our peace.  We may have distresses in our midst but we have Someone bigger in our midst as well.  Let Him show you how He wants to deprive it of the power to harm you and conquer it.  Let Him be your peace in the midst of whatever you face.  

Go Seek

Go Seek

“The more you seek, the more you find.”

Loren Thornburg

In the game of hide and seek you won’t find anyone unless you go seeking.  What I have found is that I too don’t find much unless I seek for it.  I have been writing devotions for many years.  The surprising thing is that it’s not the norm that I have a burning inspiration of what I want to write about when I sit down to write.  Every now and then I sit down with a thought I want to share, but most of the time I sit down and start seeking what to write and what I find is a thought I want to share.  It’s after I stop and think about what’s been going on and what I’ve been learning that I find something.  It’s in the habit of knowing I am going to write something each week that I am seeking for it throughout the week.  So it is with other things.  The more we are in the habit of seeking, of stopping, of looking; the more we will be in the habit of seeing and finding. 

““When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.”

Jeremiah 29:13-14 Message

God is not trying to be an expert hider like in the game of hide and seek.  He wants to be found.  He is not hiding from us as much as it may seem at times.  He promises that when we seek after Him we won’t be disappointed.  This seeking is an intentional, all out, settle for nothing less, than finding Him kind of seeking.  Not because He wants to exhaust you, but rather He knows it’s in this all out search where you will stop at nothing short of Him that you find what you need...trust in Him.  He loves you so much and knows how much you are in need of Him.  What you will find in seeking Him is that He was actually seeking you the whole time, pursuing you, drawing you to Him.  His love and pursuit never runs out on you.  That’s worth the search, no matter what it takes.  

Too Hot to Handle

“We were not made to handle life without protection and support.”

Loren Thornburg

When you are dealing with hot objects protection is needed.  That’s why hot pads are so great.  They allow you to grab and move hot items in the kitchen that otherwise would be too hot to touch.  We were not meant to handle things at high temperatures without protection.  This is something we can all agree on, unless we are talking about more than the kitchen.  I can accept my limits when it comes to using hot pads.  Yet, somehow when it comes to my own life I don’t realize my limits and my need for protection.  I think I should be able to handle whatever comes my way no matter how “hot” it is.  The reality is that just like the kitchen I was not made to handle everything life brings me without some protection and support.  I need people alongside me, additional resources, wisdom, counsel, extra rest, space, refreshment and nourishment.  All of these things help protect us from the places in life that are too hot to handle.  

“Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”

Jesus is the ultimate protector.  Simply speak His name and His protection is there.  Sometimes I miss the freedom of walking in His protection because I don’t think I need it.  I think I can handle it on my own.  I don’t want to admit my weakness.  It is there that I get burned.  I miss the safe passage He is offering me.  I miss getting to see what God wants to do and the rejoicing of His agenda.  I don’t want to get so caught up in my agenda that I miss His.  It’s less about avoiding evil and more about letting Him have the authority in my life and letting Him be present with me.  Just as we reach for the hot pad when we’re about to handle something hot so too may we reach for Him and His protection even if we think we can or should be able to handle it.  

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.