We were purposed for peace but not permanence in this life. I don’t know about you, but often I feel like I was not made for this world. 1 Peter 1:1 speaks to that very feeling. Peter refers to God’s people as chosen and living in a foreign land. If life is uncomfortable, take heart. It is as it should be. We were not created to always feel comfortable on this journey; just confident of our final destination.
Tag: God
Grace and Gratitude
Last Thursday my son became ill with a severe intestinal bug. I have never seen him struggle with one so fierce. It has been days of cleaning up, changing sheets, throwing away sheets, scrubbing and sanitizing. Also in the adventure was a trip to the ER for IV hydration and medications. Poor guy has been through it. It was no fun for me either.
The first evening when he woke up, he and his bed covered with vomit, I kicked into mom mode. The cleanup was not fun. It encompassed a large span of space. Once I got that cleaned up, there was another bigger mess waiting for me to clean up, and so was the chorus of the next several days. One thing that keep surprisingly capturing my attention was the grace God was giving me in every moment of all the messes. Very briefly on several occasions I wanted to complain. Before the words could even take full root in my mind, much less form from my lips, I found myself praising God instead. I would say this is not the natural bend of my heart, but praising God has quickly become much more my default through no merit of my own, only His.
I was praising God for the opportunity to take care of my son. I was praising Him for the opportunity to clean up, wash and care for my son because just seven months earlier he nearly lost his life in a tragic accident.
When you stand in the shadow of death, you often discover the shelter of gratitude. The mundane in the midst of the messy become little fountains of joy that water your soul in parched places.
I felt the searing sting of near loss, and anything but gratitude naturally felt unnatural. Anything but gratitude felt dishonoring to the deep appreciation purposed from a place of such pain.
Suddenly I was grateful for:
Good mattress protectors, washing machines, latex gloves,
Lysol wipes, Lysol Neutra Air spray, adult pull ups, trash bags, beach towels, two sunny days, windows that open, laughter, lotion, candles, GRACE Oh precious GRACE
and last but not least all of my
sisters in Christ who were persistently sending me texts of prayer and encouragement.
I never before knew the wealth of gratitude ushered by grief. It sounds incongruent until it is your reality. I am very thankful for the beauty born for brokenness. I am very thankful for the surprising mercies of God’s grace. Thank you, Lord for allowing me to find the splendor wrapped in the struggle of the last six days.
Tears
Tears are the evidence of the depth of one’s struggles. Struggles are the evidence of the depth of invitation with one’s Savior.
Parent’s Prayer
As the beginning of a new month and week dawns, bless all of us moms and dads, Father. This parenting gig is hard, but you already know that. You know every battle, grief, and gratitude of each parent. Remind us these are not our children, but yours, God. It is easy to beat ourselves up over their vices and puff ourselves up with their victories. Give us wisdom to understand that while we play a role in every aspect of their lives; ultimately we cannot take responsibility anymore for their feats than their failures. As it is with us, their struggles and their successes are yours, Father. Us moms and dads, though, we bear them, too. Performance becomes a heavy cross that burdens our hearts and blurs our gaze. You often use the unexpected to change the expected. We are prone to forget we are not in control, being quick to angst and slow to assurance. Parenting is fertile ground for insidious places of unbelief to gain a foothold in our loving hearts. Wrongly, “certainty” allures us into comfort and uncertainty into chaos. May we remember we are our children’s earthly shepherds, not their eternal Saviors. We play a part in the objective but do not direct the outcome. In our limited insight, defeats can seem doom, and accomplishments are assuring. These are the things that we use to misshape our peace and righteousness, Father. Assist us in quick recognition and repentance of the deceptively, filthy rags we dress in. Continue whispering in our ears; it is not about the accomplishments but You-The Author. It is not about defeated paths but divine pictures. We lose sight of this when it is all up to us, God. That is just it. We forget it is less about us and our “stellar” parenting and more about You and Your sovereign plan. Allow us to love each child as you made them, not as we imagined them. As try out season, course card decisions, college and career selections, and so much more are all occupying our minds, God unburden our hearts with the weight of determined desires. Allow our freedom from the obligation of expectations, and gift us with rest in Your destination. Amen.
Prayer For the End of a Weary Week
Father, sometimes the end of a week meets me worn. Your gentle Spirit woke me at 3:30 this morning as you sometimes do. Wide awake and atypically alert, I asked because I knew you had a message for me. That message was; my battles belong to the Lord. How easily in my flawed self-reliance I forget to release those battles from my modest hands into your masterful ones. Remind me God that it is not my capabilities, but yours, that determine outcomes. As the battles are yours, so are the victories and the seeming defeats. Sometimes in my myopic vision I feel conquered. Gift me with remembrance that I am never overcome when I allow you to battle on my behalf. In all the strife I face, that my friends face, give us the grace to resist self-security and rest in Savior sufficiency. Too often in my urgency to resolve I engage from a stance of me against Goliath. I am more than ill-equipped God. Give me an unshakeable confidence in you that enables me to lay down my weary weapons and surrender my battles to you. Amen
The Sweetest Fruit
When I was a child, we had a ditch that ran alongside and behind our property. It was a ditch, but from the perspective of my childhood imagination it was a rocky, dangerous ravine. The ditch, formidable as it was or was not, did have some steep, slippery spots. I would often fall and slide into the murky, water that sometimes housed water moccasins. Snakes terrified me, so I was hesitant to be too adventurous.
In the summertime, berries would grow on vines along that ditch. I distinctly remember that the biggest, most shiny and sweetest berries were in the most challenging spots to maneuver. I was a fearful child, so I didn’t venture to those places often, but when I did; oh to taste such sweet fruit! It could not compare to the berries growing in the flatter, less intimidating topography. Although I can remember being very afraid to pursue those berries, I knew the reward that was waiting for me, so I would muster the courage from time to time. I can still hear how loud my heart would beat. I can feel how fast it would race as if it would break out of my chest. My breathing would be fast and heavy, and I would be sweating but I would risk it all because I had experienced, and come to know the superior taste of the sweeter berries.
Life is a lot like the scary parts of that ditch, and the fruit experienced at its most precarious locations. We sometimes find ourselves in places where we risk falling, getting scraped and cut, and often that does happen. Life has a way of cutting us up, but God has a way of carving us from our slips and falls.
As I look back now, the sweetest and most nourishing fruit has been acquired in the most treacherous places. Sure, life is good when I am living on level land, but oh to taste the fruit of growth that only happens when we are in the ravenous ravines. It is here where we gain the sweetest rewards. Unlike capturing the berries, we may not immediately taste the sweetness of life’s valleys.
As I came to know the nature of those dangerous berries by taste, though, so I have come to know the character of God also through experience. If we are looking for God not just in the safe places but in the scary ones, too; if we know His faithfulness, we have confidence what joy awaits us. Experiencing God is what gives us the endurance and the strength to persevere through all the ditches we fall into throughout life. Also, knowing Him gives us the courage to get up and keep pursuing life, not from a position of safety but surrender. God enables us to walk victoriously through life’s intimidating places. Psalm 18:33 promises us this: He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
The fruit found in our most perilous places yields the greatest growth and the sweetest victories. If you are walking a rocky road right now, be encouraged. Dirt roads are paved with fertile soil.
Still Standing
I have to be honest; I rarely go to the book of Revelation, and especially for comfort. In my discomfort from all the recent pictures and endless essays of the 21 men in orange jumpsuits, however, one verse keeps beckoning in my head. It is Revelation 5:6, which says: Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. Please note, the lamb looked as if had been slaughtered, BUT IT WAS STILL STANDING.
In the end friends, no matter what evil persons, disease or tragedy perpetrates our life, as Christ followers, in eternity we will still be standing! That comforts me and makes the heavy vices around my heart a little lighter today.
Which One Will You Choose
The world says be successful. God says be still.
The world subsidizes an exhausting race. God supplies eternal rest.
The world says climb up the ladder. God says climb under my yoke.
The evil in our world produces panic. God promises peace.
The world shames us with standards. God shelters us with sufficiency.
Through the world, we seek approval. Through God, we are shielded by acceptance.
The world whines we are entitled. God whispers He is enough.
In this world, we will experience pain. It is only through God that our pain will encounter purpose.
In this life, there will always be laughter, and there will always be tears. We will struggle through hours of hardship and savor times of triumph. In the end, all that matters is, did we choose the lies of the world or the love of God.
May we never forget, God created the world. We must never let the world create God.
The Real Number One
From the time, we take our first breath in this, world the number game starts. Numbers rule our world and define our worth.
From the beginning, it’s about weight, length, and head circumference. Are there ten fingers and ten toes? From then on every doctor visit hinges on numbers, height, weight and where you fall on the growth chart.
Then there is pre-school and elementary school. How high a child can count and who can add and subtract first. Moms and dad are racing to get their little ones ahead. Numbers begin to label children as smart or struggling.
Then, God help us all, middle school and high school starts, and everything is about a number. What you earn is what you are worth, or so the perception reigns. Soon it comes time for ACTs. A mere number becomes the fate on which most college options hinge.
When entering the workforce look out for those numbers. There are quotas, sales values, highest earners and so on; all surmised by numbers. Numbers judge who is the most valuable.
While numbers calculate workability on a given day or at a particular moment; they DO NOT quantify your worth. It should not be solely the quantity of our work that defines us but the quality of our hearts. Numbers are very inadequate judges of anything more than a mere instance in time. Numbers cannot measure one’s struggles. Numbers cannot measure one’s scars. They cannot measure the obstacles overcome. Humor and humility, kindness and compassion cannot be quantified. Determination and dedication are desirable qualities, not determined quantities.
Numbers have too much power in our world. They determine our earthly standing, but not our eternal security. There is no score book when we leave this life. No grade book. There are no bank accounts or plaques indicating top sales persons. There is only one number in Heaven- One Father, One Son, one you and one me.
Our judgment will not hinge on GPA’s, ACT’s, honors, trophies, income, productivity… None of those things come with us. They all turn to dust. (Matthew 6:19) We have no resume when we leave this life. All we have is the portfolio of our heart.
Jesus did not concern himself with numbers. He crossed the sea to save ONE demon possessed man. One man. (Mark 5) Jesus never asked anyone what is your IQ? What was your ACT score? He never asked anyone if they made their quota for the month. Jesus was only interested in matters of the heart; something numbers cannot quantify.
Don’t misunderstand me, hard work should be valued and rewarded. It, however, should not be the most valued standard by which society operates. Our righteousness was secured by Jesus’ great sacrifice not our performance. We have become a performance driven society; elevating those who are winning the race, and crushing those who fall short of keeping up.
It saddens me that we place so much emphasis on numbers because in the end only one number counts-one. One heart. In the end, we will not be quantified by our flourishing performance or worth, but by our fruit.
In the end will it be more critical that one-one you and one me-quantified as smart and efficient or qualified as surrendered and effective? If we focused more on the latter and not the first, I cannot help but wonder how much lighter life would be.
Numbers generate labels. Like the great children’s book, You Are Special, by Max Lucado, reminds us; labels are not permanent. They tend to fall off over time. Labels only stick if we let them! What we need to know and never forget is that while numbers may be indicators they are not dictators.
Free to Be Inadequate
I do not just want to read my Bible. I want to reap my Bible. I do not just want to go to church. I want to be the church. I do not just want to explore my Bible. I want to encounter God in my Bible. I do not want to just understand truth. I want to stand under truth. I am not adequate because I read my Bible, encounter God or stand under truth. I am free to be inadequate because I know the gospel. Thank you Jesus for completing me.