Great Illusion

“Our lives are not to be compared, but to be held in gratitude for the wonder that each holds.”

Loren Thornburg

If the light hits at the right angle it appears as if there is a pool of water on the road.  Yet, what happens as you get closer is this illusion fades.  I find this to be true in our roads of life.  We often look around and think someone else has it better than we do, wanting what they have until we get closer and realize they have hard things too, they just look different than ours.  You can only see this when you get up close to someone’s life.  From far away things can look great.  From Facebook it’s hard not to think less of your own life and more of what you see.  The illusion is to believe that it’s better somewhere else, but the truth is it’s better where you allow it to be better.  You must choose to accept where you are and let it be enough for right now.  Your life is a gift unlike any other.  Take another look at it and see the wonder that it holds.    

 “He replied to the one speaking for the rest, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn’t we? So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. Can’t I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?’ Matthew 20: 13-15 Message

Although we may not all have had a situation of wage differences we can all relate to this story.  The feeling that it’s unfair that someone else has more or has it easier than we have is universal.  Yet what the Lord says to us is He hasn’t been unfair or as it reads in another translation, “I am doing you no wrong.”  I tend to argue with Him on this until I read the question that follows, “Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?”  The Lord is so generous.  He has been so generous to us in ways we don’t deserve.  Yet, we take His generosity and rather than respond in gratitude we tell Him it’s not enough.  Oh we may not say that but we might as well be saying it by the way we respond.  Let Him do what He wants with those around you, thankful that He is generous with them and with you.  It’s not a competition, it’s a family.  Celebrate the Lord’s generosity wherever it may fall.  For the truth remains He is most generous with you.  Don’t fall for any other illusion.  

Soaked

“We can’t help but be changed when we are soaked.  The question becomes what are we soaking in?”

Loren Thornburg

Sometimes dishes won’t come clean.  Even with heavy scrubbing and hot water the food remnants seem to be stuck there forever.  However, after soaking the dish in water for an extended period of time the remnants begin to dislodge and the dish is able to come clean again.  You and I are like that too.  We can’t help but be changed by the thoughts we are soaking in.  It’s like a marinade.  The taste of the meal becomes that which you marinate it in.  So then we too become that which we marinate in.  When we think about truth we reflect that in our life, however when we think about lies or fears our whole life is affected.  Therefore we need to marinate in things that are true for when we do it becomes like the dish that has been soaked; the lies begin to come off easily for they can’t remain when soaked in truth.  Let's get soaking in truth. 

“For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].”

Philippians 4:8 Amplified

God knows us.  He created us and so He knows what we need.  God knows how important our thoughts are to our life and relationship with Him.  Paul is relaying that message to the Philippians and to us.  Though years and cultures apart our issues are the same.  What we think about matters.  The thoughts that are minds are soaked in make a difference.  Yet, even if we have soaked in thoughts that are not true, honorable, pure and lovely still we can return.  For in soaking in thoughts that are worthy of reverence they become like the water in the dirty dish and dislodge the lies and fears.  So then let us continually fix our minds on these things.  The soaking of our hearts takes time, even more than the dishes.  It’s not a quick fix.  It takes more than hearing once to change, but it is the continual soaking in the truth that brings the freedom our hearts need.  Start soaking in Him.  It changes things. 

Allow for Healing

“We have in us the tools to heal, if only we would give ourselves the space to use them.”

Loren Thornburg

It wasn’t until I scraped the top of my knuckle that I realized how often that area rubs up against things.  Even the simple act of putting my hands in my pockets has the potential to open up the cut again.  I am reminded with this cut that I can’t operate in the ways that I am used to operating.  I have to approach things more carefully.  In seeing the space my body needs to heal I am reminded that our hearts needs that same space.  In the times and places of hurting we can’t expect to do things as we’ve always done.  When we are sick we don’t expect ourselves to be able to do the same amount in our day because we recognize our need for healing.  In knowing this let’s carry that same approach to the places of our hearts.  When we’ve been hurt, when we’re grieving loss, when we’re facing hardship let us remember we need space.  We can heal in all these places but it means giving ourselves the grace and space we need to allow healing to happen. 

“My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

Proverbs 4:20-22 NLT

The Lord loves to brings life and healing.  Here in Proverbs there is an invitation to let Him do what He is capable of doing.  In order to experience this life and healing we have to listen to the Lord and His truth and let them penetrate our hearts.  He never forces His way into our places in need of healing.  Yet, with even a small turn towards Him He is there ready and willing to penetrate the truth deep into our hearts so that we may experience life.  We can’t do it on our own, but His spirit within us, when invited to the hurt, brings healing.  It takes time and space just as our physical wounds do, but we can rest in Him.  Give God space and allow Him to heal.  He loves to bring life deep into your heart!

Cultivating Heart

“Everything in our lives grows out of our heart.  So then that is where in everything we must begin.”
Loren Thornburg

Those who garden are very familiar with the cultivation process.  It involves preparing and working on land by labor and attention to raise a plant or crop.  Note two of the words in that definition: labor and attention.  Cultivation is not something that comes easily or quickly, but takes work and hours of attending to that which you want to cultivate.  Whether this takes place in our gardens or in our lives we all have roots that need cultivation.  Growth will be hindered if the roots are not in an environment that fosters growth.  In our lives everything grows out of our hearts.  This is the soil where our roots are planted.  So then we must be attentive to work at the things of our hearts.  If you don’t like what’s growing in your life it’s best to go to the roots as you would a plant, or weed.   Often we try to cut it off from the outside, creating an endless cycle of growth and need for cutting.  Until eventually we give up trying, giving our lives the potential to be filled with weeds and other unwanted growth.   What is your life cultivating?  It came from the heart and that is where you must go.  

“I’ve kept my feet on the ground, I’ve cultivated a quiet heart, like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.”
Psalm 131:2 Message

These words of David’s about a life of contentment are so inviting.  I don’t mean a life of settling but one of peace and enjoyment where what you have and where you are is enough.  Oh how much pain and harm could be avoided if our hearts could find themselves content.  in a culture that says more is better is it seems this can only happen by labor and attention.  We have to be intentional to cultivate a quiet heart and contentment.  A quiet heart means we’ve removed all the noise.  I don’t mean avoiding all the noise but rather giving it to the Lord piece by piece.  In order to give it to Him we must stop long enough to see it and be aware of it.  We can’t give what we don’t know we have.  Often It’s easier to avoid because we don’t like what we see.  Yet, it’s the only way to a quiet heart.  So let’s start looking and cultivating hearts that are quiet and content.  It’s takes work and time, but the pain of those things is worth the freedom of a content life.  You won’t want to miss it...no matter what time and painful work it requires.  

The Cost

“Everything comes at a cost.  So then, in everything we must ask,  ‘What is the cost and is it worth it?’”

Loren Thornburg

It’s easy to recognize the cost of something monetarily.  Yet, have we considered the greater cost that everything has in our life?  Cost is defined as the price, sacrifice or loss required to acquire, accomplish or maintain anything.   Every dream, desire, goal, and decision comes at a price, both good and bad.  There is even a cost in the things we believe.  The one who believes they have nothing to will sacrifice the pleasure of being valued.  It costs them peace and joy to believe that is true.  Often the costs are worth it, but other times we don’t realize the things we are sacrificing.  Although, we can’t always know what the costs will be, we would be wise to consider them.    

“They traded the truth about God for a lie.  So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator Himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”

Romans 1:25 NLT

Jesus knows all about counting the costs and invites us to do the same. He counted what it would cost to die and bear the weight of our sins and decided that relationship with you and I was worth the sacrifice.  He counted many other costs along the way.  In the desert it wasn’t worth believing the temptations and lies from the enemy because He knew what that would cost him.  He knew that He would be trading in truth if He believed the lies.  When we believe the lies of the enemy we sacrifice experiencing all of the abundant life that our Father wants to give.  This is what Paul is talking about here in Romans.  The people of Rome were experiencing the cost of trading truth for lies.  Each lie comes with a price, starting with joy and peace and continuing to relationship, intimacy, health, abundant life, and so much more.  So we must ask ourselves what are our lies costing us and is it worth it? 

Process of Progress

“In order to progress you must accept the process.”

Loren Thornburg

We all want progress but very few want the process it takes to get there.  The process is the road between where you are now and where you want to be.  Unfortunately, for most things it is not as fast as we would like.  I recently climbed “the incline,” a famous vertical in Colorado Springs.  In just under a mile you climb 2000 steps and 2000 feet of elevation.  When you look up you can’t even see the top of the climb.  It seems never ending and yet when you keep taking one more step you eventually arrive at the top.  As you keep taking steps you look back and you realize how far you have come.  I am encouraged when I do this in my own life, looking back to how far I’ve come in the last year.  When I see the ways I’ve changed and grown it encourages me to keep moving forward.  I couldn’t see them in the midst of the slow process, but now looking back I can see.  Just as the incline didn’t seem like each step was getting me very far so it doesn’t in my life.  Yet, I made it to the top and so I will keep stepping in life knowing it is getting me closer to where I want to be.  

“We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.”

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Message

I wish every process was as short as climbing the incline.  Often the process seems so long it’s hard to celebrate any level of progress.  The pain of the climb becomes too much and too hard to continue to endure.  Yet, it is God that makes it worth it.  With Him it’s not about the progress we are working towards, but about serving Him.  He measures our climbs so much differently than we do.  You are in search of progress and He is in search of you.  You are the progress and your heart is the goal, much more than any destination you are searching to reach.  So keep climbing, keep working, and keep looking back; but look to Him rather than your process to determine your progress.  He is at the center of this process and He is what makes it worth continuing.  It’s not how far you’ve come or how far you can go, but Who you go with and Who goes with you.  Whatever your climb, enjoy the One who goes with you and makes it all worth it.  

Small Matters

“It doesn’t look like much, but it matters;

It doesn’t seem significant, but it will be;

It doesn’t appear of much value, but just wait;

For in time ALL the small things matter.”
Loren Thornburg

It’s about an inch long and a few centimeters wide, but when this clamp rusted off the back of the fridge a slow drip of water began.  You couldn’t see it or hear it, but over time you couldn’t miss the leak that soaked the closet behind the connecting wall.  Three weeks later after hours of fans, days of work, and hundreds of dollars the house was restored.   It’s hard to believe that something so small caused something so damaging.  Yet, isn’t this how much of life operates both for building up and tearing down? The small things matter because they don’t stay small.  They grow over time in whichever direction they began, starting with one small step.  I find encouragement in knowing that the dream that seems impossible to reach is attainable over time starting with movement, however small in that direction.  I also find caution in knowing that damage begins with just one little thing.  What I thought wasn’t a big deal or didn’t matter because it was insignificant in size, does in fact make a difference.  We must attend to the small things.  What are your small things?

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

Matthew 13: 31-32 NLT

Jesus cares about the little things.  The message of this parable is in the smallness of a seed that is to all appearances insignificant, yet grows into something much larger than expected or seemingly possible. The invitation of Jesus, to believe and follow Him seems simple and small, yet when we really trust in Christ it is revolutionary and transforming.  His life in us brings about the most unexpected and radical change in our lives.  Mustard plants, are not trees, but are yellow-flowered bushes that paint the hillsides.  However, Jesus wants you to know that He can take your smallness and grow it into more than you thought possible.  A lowly plant becomes a tree of power and authority in the hands of Jesus.  So let us be content with small seeds and small steps, trusting Jesus, knowing that He can grow us into something seemingly impossible, full of life and beauty.  

(Some of these facts and thoughts are taken from www.RayStedman.org)