One More

“The key to enduring hard places is one: One step a time, one moment at a time, one thing at a time.”

Loren Thornburg

At the beginning of each semester in school the teacher gives you a syllabus outlining all that will be due throughout the course.  It always feels so overwhelming in that moment, yet broken down one day at a time it was much more manageable.  I have to remind myself of that when life gives me an overwhelming syllabus-like task.  It is by the persistence of one more that we are able to overcome.  One more day working on the task brings us closer to the goal.  You get up the mountain one step at a time if only you just keep stepping.  So take one more step towards your goal.  It’s the key to victory.  

“Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.  Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

Hebrews 10:36 NLT

We see the call to endure throughout the Scriptures.  Here in Hebrews there has been much temptation to leave the truth.  The call here is to remember the reward that comes when you keep holding onto what’s true.  We can all relate to the temptation to want out.  The call to patiently endure is a difficult journey.  Yet, the reason for the call is one we will not regret enduring.  God’s promises are great.  You won’t want to miss all that He has in store for you.  Let us patiently endure.  Let us keep taking one more step towards Him.  Look to Him, taking one moment at a time.  That’s how we patiently endure.  

The Next Step

“When the future ahead seems dark, let the next step guide you.”

Loren Thornburg

It’s the picture of walking in the dark with only a head lamp to light the way.  All I can see is that one step in front of me.  I’m tempted to lift my light to try to see what’s coming further up ahead but the light isn’t strong enough for that.  It can only cover the one step in front of me.  I couldn’t help but think that as much as I wanted the light to give me a heads up on what was to come, it was all that I needed.  I only needed that next step to guide me.  This isn’t to say that we don’t need to plan, or dream or look ahead.  For it was planning that got me on the trail with a headlamp to begin with, yet it could only take me so far.  At some point we have to go with what we’ve got, even when it’s only the next step.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Matthew 6:34 Message

God gets it.  He created us and He knows our capacity and our tendencies.  He knows how easy for us it is to get wrapped up and taken away by worry.  That is what He is speaking about here at the end of Matthew 6.  Jesus encourages us to focus on today instead of tomorrow.  He knows how easy it is to let worry come and take us from today.  It’s not that we shouldn’t ever think about tomorrow.  He doesn’t say that, but He does say to focus on what is going on right now as a way to protect us from the trouble that comes when we get worrying about tomorrow.  Whether we are focused on today or planning for tomorrow the key is to KNOW that God will help us deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.  So if our light only shines to let us see the next step, we can trust that God will help us with that next step.  And when the next step seems too hard, God will help us.  When it looks dark up ahead trust God to take you the next step. 

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Grounded

Check out my story in the Growing Weisser blog.  If you go their website (http://www.growingweisser.com) before Friday you have a chance to win one of my devotional books.  

Grounded

“If we are going to stay grounded we must remember: Hard is hard, but it is always worth it.”

Loren Thornburg

As a softball player the extent of my basketball skills comes from shooting softballs into the bucket.  I noticed that in doing this I have a lot more wiggle room once I have made some into the bucket.  The balls in the bucket create grounding for the balls that hit the side of the bucket on their way in.  Otherwise even when I make it into the bucket, unless it goes straight in, the bucket gets knocked over.  I couldn’t help but see those balls in the bottom of the bucket that were keeping my bucket grounded as a picture of what experience provides in my life.  Every year around this time I begin to wonder if all of the work and all of the battles it takes to make the summer trips for my job happen are really worth it.  Yet experience tells me that two months from now I will be so thankful that I endured because it was indeed so worth it.  It is only from years of experience that I can stay grounded to push through knowing it will all be worth it.  The key to staying grounded when you feel like giving up is to remember previous times when the fight was worth the cost.  If we are going to stay grounded when things don’t seem to be worth it we must remember.  

“He’s God, our God, in charge of the whole earth.  And he remembers, remembers his Covenant- for a thousand generations he’s been as good as his word.”

Psalm 105:7-8 Message

In following Jesus remembering is key to staying grounded in Him.  Remembering how He has been faithful in the past helps us to trust Him again for the future.  Psalm 105 talks about remembering who He is and the amazing works He has done.  When things get tough it is important to remember who He is and what He has done for us.  It is also important to remember that He remembers.  The God of the whole earth remembers you.  He remembers where you have come from, where you are going and how to best care for you.  He remembers you!  Remember to remember all the ways He has been faithful in the past and remember that He remembers you.  

When It Doesn't Make Sense

“When it doesn’t make sense, hold onto hope.”

Loren Thornburg

I’m not usually one to follow all the ins and outs of a news headline but the news of Santa Barbara hits close to home.  I find myself reading article after article trying to make sense of it.  As a graduate of UC Santa Barbara there is something unnerving to know I walked those same streets.  It isn’t totally unfamiliar to me having been there during a similar killing by car rampage.  It’s hard to know what to do with events like these.  When the numbers become names it becomes more than another news story, but a real life tragedy.  It’s these moments that we are forced to look at what we do with life when it doesn’t make sense.  The thing I keep coming back to is that somehow hope remains.  I don’t know how it does it in the midst of such deep pain and suffering that continues to come at us on all sides.  Yet, somehow hope remains even when all seems lost.  So hold onto hope when nothing makes sense.  

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away…” 

1 Peter 1:3-4 NASB

God is a god of hope.  When nothing makes sense He is our reason that we can hope.  Peter is writing to a people in the midst of suffering and persecution, which he himself had endured.  So these words don’t come in the middle of good times but in the middle of really hard times.  They don’t come from someone unaware, but all too aware of the despair life brings.  Yet, that doesn’t change the reality of the hope of Jesus Christ.  Nothing can change the reality of our hope in Jesus.  We have such a real hope in Him that it is a living hope.  He is alive and so is our hope.  Our inheritance will not fade and neither will our hope.  God is unchanging and so is His promise of hope.  So we can hold onto Him, our hope, that never fades and never changes.  When nothing makes sense, even still, hope remains. 

Celebrating More

“The more you celebrate the more you find there is to celebrate.”
Loren Thornburg

I recently finished a protocol from my doctor which included a strict diet and powerful supplements.  It was quite a feat to complete.  At my follow up appointment the doctor said, “Congratulations!”.  Initially it caught me off guard that he would respond in that way.  Yet, the more I thought about it the more I realized that congratulations and celebration were in order.  I completed a difficult task.  So yes, let’s celebrate. In fact why don’t we do this more?  To celebrate means to publicly acknowledge with a gathering or enjoyable event.  What if we started celebrated and congratulating ourselves and one another more?  We just might find how much there is to celebrate in life.  Have you done something hard that you’ve been putting off for a while?…Celebrate!  Did you overcome something you didn’t think you could?…Celebrate!  No matter how small there is reason to celebrate.  How can you celebrate today?

“Celebrate God all day, every day.  I mean, revel in him!”
Philippians 4:4 MSG

With God there is always something to celebrate or revel in.  Even if none of our circumstances seem to have His hand on them, still He remains and who He is and what He has done is worth our celebration.  To 'revel in' means to get great pleasure from.  We can revel in God and celebrate Him knowing He first reveled in us.  It’s true.  He is celebrating you, He revels in you and takes great pleasure in you.  Even when you don’t have it all together He celebrates you.  He disciplines and holds you accountable, but He also celebrates.  He is so for you that He is willing to do both.  More than anyone He knows how hard your struggles are and He more than anyone He celebrates when you are willing to step out to overcome those.  Join with Him, the One who is celebrating you.  He is worth our celebration, all day, every day.  

Timing is Key

“The key to good timing is the willingness to wait.”

Loren Thornburg

When I just miss a green light I can hear the words of my dad, ‘timing is everything.’  It’s true in much more than traffic lights.  I see the importance of timing everywhere especially in matters of waiting.  In cooking we have to wait for the right timing.  Even when I’m starving I wouldn’t eat raw meat because I know the possible negative effects that would have.  Yet, sometimes it seems I am not willing to wait in other areas of my life.  It takes patience and knowing it is worth the wait.  Timing is key in the words we speak to one another, in our healing, in our relationships, in so many things. It’s everywhere.  It matters.  Mostly we struggle to wait for the right timing.  We tend to want to jump ahead forgetting it’s worth the wait.  As ready as you are, be willing to wait.  Timing makes all the difference.  

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”

Psalm 27:13-14 ESV

I love David’s cry in the middle of being sought by enemies he speaks to himself of the goodness of the Lord and the importance of waiting on Him.  It seems he must make note of this because it is not an easy thing to do.  Our temptation is to take matters into our own hands, forgetting we have a God that is worth waiting on.  The story of Abraham and Sarah is such a great example of the human tendency to want to provide even what God has said that he would provide.  Sarah had Abraham sleep with Hagar even though Sarah was promised a child.  It wasn’t until she was past childbearing years in her old age that God granted that promise.  I can see why David cried for his heart to take courage. It takes great courage to wait when there is no answer in sight.  It takes courage to wait for the Lord to fulfill His promises.  It takes courage so let your heart take courage for the waiting is worth it.  God’s timing is always good and He is always worth the wait.  

Life Comes In

“You have to take time to heal from the chaos of life.”

Loren Thornburg

Life brings unavoidable chaos and messes.  After having my roof redone I noticed the increased dirt and dust happening inside my house.  It seemed that we had been tracking in that which was around our home.  I see how we do this with life too.  We track into the inside of our hearts the things going on around us.  As much as we might like to believe we are unaffected we can’t deny the fact that to some degree our hearts are penetrable.  So then we must take time to clean our inside.  Although we can be careful where we walk, avoiding some of life’s unnecessary chaos and mess, there are some things that are unavoidable.  Either way life requires time to clean and restore the inside.  Give yourself space to get set right, before the mess accumulates and becomes too much to handle.  It takes time, it takes quiet and it takes all of you.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Psalm 51:10 ESV

It starts with seeing that there’s a mess.  This psalm of David begins with him seeking God, seeing the mess that he is in.  When we see the mess we see our need for it to be clean.  It’s when we realize we are incapable of cleaning it ourselves that we can follow David and invite God into it.  It starts with an invitation, a desire to let God come and have His way.  As simple as it sounds it’s true.  We can simply say, “God I invite you into this…” and He comes.  Yet, as easy as it sounds, it doesn’t always feel that way.  We have to be willing to take space to look at the mess, humble ourselves to our sin in the mess, and recognize our need for God in it.  As hard as it is at times it is always worth it.  God is so gentle to come into our mess.  He sits with us in it and when we’re ready He restores us.  He wants to take your mess and gives you a clean heart and a right spirit.  It begins with an invitation.