The Discovery in Advent

Advent is upon us, a time to pause, to watch, to wait.  All of us are in modes of waiting for something to unfold, something to change or settle or arrive that we’ve expected or hoped for.  Do not lose hope, my friend.  Let’s stir the coals that have been close to going cold.

I want to return for a moment, on this first morning of Advent, to Eden.  It is so easy to envision it as a naïve place where we just had our heads in the sand of reality.  But I don’t think Eden was at all like that.  It was a lush and vibrant place.  It had a mystery to be discovered, but one that was easily missed.  It was a place where mankind and womankind were at their fullest, but in the first elements of what could be explored and discovered and what was there to be found was immense.  They were yearning for more, but the snag for them was a tug for independence and power over something, not the deeper and more vulnerable and better place that had them needing one another and wildly working together in all the plans that could unfold. 

The serpent’s tongue was indeed a spear that nailed them to a dimmer reality of the knowledge they might attain, and it took the nails to another tree to reveal a great truth a couple of thousand years later.  And still we suffer the illusions that first draped us in the garden, the clothes we so badly need to shed, the masks that would be far better to remove. 

We have an opportunity to discover something precious this season.  We can quiet ourselves and listen to the deeper beat in our hearts, the quieter rhythm of longing that runs beneath all the louder things that usually catch our attention and demand our time. 

Take some moments to gift yourself with some quiet this season and look closely for what might be stirring in you.  You are alive, so the coals are there somewhere; it’s inevitable.  His breath in you, each moment is part of the fanning of any tiny ember to flame you into the being you are meant to be.  Most of us miss it, building our own miniscule kingdoms in a poor tradeoff of the glorious adventure He’s planned.  See if you can discover a tiny thread of it this season and pull.  It will be much stronger a cord than it appears. 

Make this Advent a season of looking for what has been veiled for far too long or hidden in the many layers of what you’d thought was vital.  Those trappings may have actually been the walls between you and your real purpose.  It is still there to be discovered, no matter the circumstances and supposed limitations.  Begin by being truly present in the moment before you.  

The Great Shopping Day

He is such a disposable God.  We move Him aside, set Him on shelves, distance Him to a once a week nod, cast Him to the trash as rubbish, or line Him up on a rack with every other god option.  We have no idea what we are dealing with.  He saves the prize, the intimacy of His heart for those who are curious and hungry and desperate.  Too often that is a small audience that looks foolish to others.  But for those who have tasted, truly tasted, the appetite increases, the fascination flames, the passion for Him blazes even through the dark nights of the soul and the dry deserts of the struggle.  

This I know:  He is with you.  He is for you.  He is woven into the fiber of the earth, the vastness of the stars, the purpose of the universe.  He set it into being and is attentive to every tiny thing that tugs your heart. 

He IS peace.  He IS a strong tower.  He IS the one who can guide you through the challenges if you will give Him room and time to do it His way. 

Fear will trip us up every time.  Spend whatever time you need in His presence, in His word, in conversation with Him to remember His power, to refresh yourself with His story, to get your heart back in touch with the One who is fighting for you.

With Thanks

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?  But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.  I wait for the LORD, my sould waits, and in his word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.  Psalm 130:3-6 

For my Savior I am most thankful.  All life, blessing, healing, freedom, and provision comes from His goodness and love, from His massive heart. 

The Power of Trust

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.  As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.  The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.  Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.  But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers.  Peace be upon Israel.  (Psalm 125)

The Sun Comes Up, It's a New Day Dawning

Let’s not forget that today, as we start our day, and as we move through it, are in the company of the One who created the universe, holds all things together, parted the Red Sea, provided amply for the widow, shared with us the order of His kingdom,  sent His Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, raised a thought-to-be destroyed Jesus to His rightful place, smiled as He thought of each of us, then made us, placing us in space and time, breathed life into us, loves us even while we were yet sinners, forgives our sins, restores our lives, invites us to draw close, and allows us to participate in His work.

Today, all day long, I am in the company of Him who loves and desires His love to permeate the universe through us.  As I look, listen, learn to hear His beautiful song, feel the pulse of His good and strong heart, will increasingly know what it means to love in a broken and hurt-filled world.  Only as I become familiar with His Spirit can I know what love looks like in the moment.  We are here to set prisoners free, to heal the sick, to speak truth, to encourage, to bear up one another, to let others bear us up in our weakness. 

Don’t miss it.  This is life, amazing grace, boundless love, and a limited amount of time to trust Him with our lives and our “yes” until this season will close and we will see clearly.  I don’t want anyone to be shocked at the goodness they had been offered.

Wise Exchanges

This thing about time and satisfaction…what happened at the fall where we have lost our perspective of a long-term goal and now continually wrestle with satisfaction for the moment we are in?  How many times have we traded in better things for having a desire met in the now, even when we knew it wasn’t really going to be good for the long run?

Whether you battle the desire for more possessions, chocolate, food, sex, alcohol, drugs, or some other emotional charge, it seems that life for most of us is a battle for choosing what will actually be for our good.  Few of us suffer from a desire of too much God, though it is rather astonishing what we have access to if we did.  We chase such silly poor substitutes for what would actually bring us life and peace and adventure and security and blessing. 

Odd, when what we mostly want is life and peace and adventure and security and blessing.  

Revelation

What will we say is most important to us in the moments of the next 24 hours?  

Jesus and...

You follow Jesus, you get Jesus.  Does it really matter if there isn’t anything else on the list?

Enough!

Recently someone told me about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a philosophy of the tiers of things that human beings require and long for.  He shared that it is often difficult to focus, hear well, and receive the help, guidance, and support for those whose basic needs of food, shelter, and clothing are current realities.

As he spoke, I immediately thought of what is said in my precious Bible, what is laid out as the economy of the Kingdom, and the many promises God has made to attend to our basic needs and invite us not to worry.  In the realities of life, that is quite an invitation. 

I have read the amazing words in Malachi 3 about giving and the only place in scripture where God tells us to test Him for His provision.  And I have set myself to take Him at His word.  The experiment of conversation with Him and choices to go out on a limb to see if He really means what He says in the many layers of living has become the story of my life and the ever-building evidence that He will truly do it.

Faith is not built by living safely where trust is involved.  I cannot grow in my relationship with Him or see how faithful and powerful He is if I continually lean only as far as I can catch and fix the situation myself.  I will never see His amazing and vast and creative provision if my focus is on making the buck, because my eyes and heart will be on the wrong thing.  He may let me be successful, but what I really want to see is what He will do that goes far beyond the vision and work that I can muster.  I don’t have to chase the money to have what I need. I am not saying that we aren’t supposed to work hard; the difference is in what we are going for. We don’t see His more miraculous work when we are trying to build our own kingdoms that bear our own names. 

First, He tells us that He WILL provide.  He tells us clearly in Matthew 5, 6, and 7 not to worry about food or clothing.  He tells us in other places that we should work if we want to eat, for He wants us to not be lazy people, but He is quite clear that we are not to seek wealth and that we are not to continually fund the lazy, but to seek Him and be about His work/priorities.

Back to Maslow…and back to God…I love the parallels.  What Maslow recognized as the basics, God told us we didn’t have to worry about.  Rare is the person who doesn’t fret sometimes, and it is clear, and rather ironic, that in America with all that we have that anxiety is still rampant.  But peace is available if we begin that seemingly precarious trek to see if He will come through.  Actually, it is the safest move we can make, it just doesn’t feel like it until we begin to learn of His goodness and pure character.  It is far easier to believe Him if we will soak in His word and keep ourselves focused on the power and priorities He pours out through His book.  I can’t read it without having a thirst and re-stir to see what He will do in my life if I dare to believe and live a trusting life. 

I am delighted when I see what He does as I lay aside the striving for means and make my priorities doing what He says is important.  I could try to accomplish my semi-impressive goals OR I can lean in and watch His dazzling ones unfold right before my eyes. 

Read what God says about Himself.

Seek to build His kingdom instead of seeking to build your own.

Watch what He will do as you attempt to honor Him in every part of your life.

Let Him guide you forward by asking for wisdom.  He promises to give it, but we need to give Him our ear, heart, and attention to receive it.

Be careful not to justify your actions because of the “good” you will do with it….excuses are rampant in the world and considered normal and “the way it works” especially in the business world and regarding taxes.  Don’t cheat.  We are very inclined to be soft on ourselves.  God sees through it every time.  Be honest; you will be blessed in the long run, which is the run that ultimately counts. 

Practice trusting Him to give you all He wants, which will always be enough and for your best.

Watch an amazing story unfold.

Reflection

How can I possibly learn to hear the wisdom of God if every moment is full of my own thoughts, and the technology constantly at my fingertips, and all the projects that I think are so vital to my well-being and future? 

How does life get on track?  How do I accomplish HIS purposes and plans for the day, rather than the lengthy list of things to build MY kingdom?  Consider these words…

James 5:13-18  The Message

Prayer to Be Reckoned With

13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

Honesty and humility seem to be the first steps to a life that can be useful to His amazing plans.  More than anything else, I want my life to be an ingredient that isn’t an obstacle for His will to come to earth, but rather is excited to hear every whisper and respond to every nudge to help it to get here more easily.  I could accomplish a lot of my own goals, but if I am successful at MY plans rather than His, I will trade the day for something that brought less than the surprising gifts He is ready to give. 

It is a sobering thing to consider a part of this passage said in these words in the New International Version:

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

It makes me want to weed out anything that isn’t what it should be in my life, things that have encroached into my time, habits that I know are not right, secondary things that have too long been screaming for first place in my attention.  What if I would be willing today to shift just one thing instead of avoiding it again?  Wouldn’t it be amazing if my prayers were powerful and effective?  He says they can be.  Let’s get there.

How can we reflect Him if we aren’t still to focus?

His Work

The fruit of the work of God will never come unless it is rooted in the relationship with God.   Draw close.  Be honest.  Listen.  Let scripture have at you.  Then do what He says.  That is the place of peace and joy and restoration.

Straw Men

We must stop being afraid of the Goliaths in our lives and realize that they are filled with straw, stuffed with what will burn. Consider the God who is FAR more powerful than what is standing against you and those you love. Pray with confidence, stand in the truth of His goodness, and walk boldly in this crazy love He has demonstrated and poured out.

Men and women and children who believe, who are filled with Spirit fire and truth, will not be defeated by the straw lies, but will recognize them as mere stuffing that cannot stand on its own. We must stop being intimidated by what looks big on the outside. Let's get some perspective.

In His Hands

When God thought of creation and spoke it into being, He didn’t form it into cubicles that would stack tightly together to fit in endless rows on some kind of cosmic shelf.   The planets are orbs, and moving.  He formed an earth that was round, the perfect shape to fit in His hands. 

He has us firmly and tenderly in His care.  For whatever challenges you are facing, whatever struggles are present, He sees, He hears, He is strong and able to lead you through.  That is His promise.  Our part is to draw close, to quiet ourselves and discover who He is in all His goodness, His holiness, His playfulness.  Our part is to trust, to obey, to participate in the work He is doing to bring healing to sickness, hope to heartache, and freedom where we have been bound.