During Bread and Cheese Deliveries

John and I were talking yesterday about the expectation we should have that God is at work all around us.   If we go about our everyday lives understanding that to be the norm rather than the unusual our alertness for glimpses and clues will increase, our sensitivity to noticing more will heighten, our opportunities will widen because we are walking awake, our response will be quicker because we are already enamored with His invitation and ready for someone else to experience His sovereignty and power. 

When young David was sent on an errand by his dad to bring food to his brothers on the front lines, he didn’t have to stop to figure out what was going on with the taunting Goliath, even though he had just arrived on the scene.  He had just been out on a food delivery, but he went with vision.  The quivering Israelite army, on the other hand, had spent weeks looking at the mighty giant through the lens of his challenge and stature and reputation instead of through the eyes of a bigger and infinitely stronger God—the greater of the two truths. 

Every one of the armed men in both camps was somewhat experienced at war, but none had been as seasoned for victory as a simple shepherd boy who had spent the quiet hours in the company of his God.  He alone, though brand new to the forty-day showdown, was the only one who saw it clearly.  He alone was not intimidated by nine feet of muscle and armor and pride.  He alone was ready to bring clarity to the situation and use the simple things around him to reveal the truth about what was going on. 

It doesn’t take fancy equipment or the power of man to win our battles, it only takes knowing who He is, believing He is at work, and using what He has provided for us. 

David was humble and bold, obedient and brave, young and wise.  Our preparation for the battles comes in the ways we do the background moments to know Him, then resting in what we have learned, and following His voice as He leads. 

Begin Unwrapping

“I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.  They only heard the report:  ‘The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.’” 

Paul was as determined and passionate and intent as they come, and his understanding was, in a single moment, totally turned upside down when Jesus spoke to him on the road one day as he was going about his business.  It got me to thinking about how I sometimes try to understand and put the pieces place, then move in them.  But often I can’t see that clearly or that far ahead.  Sometimes I just need my outer layer to be soft, trusting His promises, receiving those instead of wrapping myself up in some layer of protection until it makes sense.  God is at work.  If I rest in that truth, expecting Him to be doing yet unseen good, I am much more likely to be a participant of whatever He is doing in the places I am.  I will breathe in the unknown confidently instead of twisted into the tiny knots of apprehension.  It seems freeing this morning to realize all I don’t have to know if I know Him.

Tuning Up

One of my hopes is to be as transformed in this life as possible…to let God have access to me in every possible way, to let Him into every wound to heal me, into every thought to teach me, into every moment to guide me.  I miss the mark often (stuck in too thin understanding or fears), but I keep at it, consciously desiring to enjoy Him and to be enjoyed by Him and yielded to His design and directions, so that increasingly my less-focused moments will flow more naturally in those paths as well, my life bearing the fruit from the seed of trust.

I also realize now more than ever that part of my healing (and a lot of my pain) comes from interactions with others still jagged like me in their own journeys, but essential to my well being.  It is so easy to draw back and protect, to lash out or lick our wounds.  Some of us have made a career out of it, given far too much of our lives to the case as prosecution, defense, witness, judge and jury.  But when we get a glimpse of God’s grandeur and profound goodness, when we taste His power and care for us, when we are nourished by His word and see the evidence of His orchestration, we find we don’t have to be so afraid of Him, of ourselves, or of others—we don’t have to succumb to the ill effects that have occurred, but can have wisdom in how we respond.  It is in the beginning of that freedom that we can notice the melody is strong and steady and the harmonies add to the beauty, revealing that each instrument can be a part for the good, whether it was intended that way or not.  We start looking for the conductor’s baton rather than the judge’s gavel.  

It Started

I tend to look at problems as the thick thing I have to persevere through to get to light, rather than remembering that the light (and all that has been won for us already) is the biggest, widest, deepest, most powerful, prevalent, wildest, and wonderful reality, and that any problem I have is but dust compared to it.   I am in the PRESENCE of GOD, for Heaven’s sake, not still having to make a way to get to Him.  He did that part by conquering my sin (ALL. OF. IT.) on the cross, causing the veil between us to rip in two, and opening a clear path to Himself.   But this path is one I don’t have to span either, because He has run on it (like the prodigal’s extravagant Father, as I was reminded this week) to meet me, smile and bear hug me, and celebrate all the way home, pointing out all the cool stuff going on around us and gathering in increasing crowd as we walk.  We don’t have to earn anything, but instead realize that we are already part of the family because He wants us there for all the best stuff.  Each day is the chance to spend walking with Him to get to the culmination of the biggest party ever (which has already started, music playing, cooks laughing as pots and utensils clang in preparation) and to see how much of its invitation, aroma, confetti and hors d’oeuvres we can share along the way.  Not a bad way to spend a life.  

Dark or Not

I decided to stop waiting for the benefit revealing itself in the distance or the feeling of comfort of His answer, but was willing to walk more steps in the dark, believing that the God who promises would meet me in due time.  It is a fiery, invigorating, and freeing experience to go forward anyway, similar to being in a very dark room where hearing and touch seem more sensitive and alive when sight isn’t operating.  Often when I can’t yet see Him, the sense of His Spirit presence is increased. 

We must stop needing to feel good or expecting to see the evidence before we obey and follow and get up and walk.  He has gifts waiting for those who trust Him and we find He IS peace.   What’s so important anyway about this thing of feeling something before we do what we know is good?  I know we need healed and restored, but can’t we realize that compromising with bad stuff is never going to get us there?  We sometimes keep making horrible choices.  Let’s stop that.  

Go To The Mat

You have to decide if you believe He is trustworthy, which includes believing He is good and that He has your well-being in mind.  There isn’t some neutral place to stand, and your life will reflect and move in the direction of what you truly think.  If you feel unsure of your answer, or currently experience some kind of rut, please wrestle it out with Him.  Like Jacob, you may limp for the rest of your life for the struggle to know, but your dance will be victorious nonetheless if you discover that you are loved.  It is far better than spending your life on the sidelines of indecision and doubt.

Getting a Sense of Direction

Sometimes we are at a place where the two questions to ask are the same that were voiced on the day of Pentecost: “What does this mean?”  And, “What shall we do?”  Then we listen for His answer.  His will not be an accusing or despairing voice, though sometimes He will ask us to do courageous things.

Follow Him as He directs you and do whatever noble thing He asks of you.  This is how life will come, how you will be set on firm ground and strengthened and healed.  This is the path for discovering His presence and goodness.  This is the way of knowing Him.

Following will happen for those who want Him most.  But He is a pearl of great price.  We don’t get the best of what He offers (read that list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 again) while we are still chasing everything else.  What is it you really want?  He made the best available for you.  

The Miracle of "Yes"

The day I became a Christian had nothing to do with any moral merit or theological soundness on my part.  It was simply the day I began a journey of accepting the help of a Savior, the forgiveness of a King, of willingness to be led by a Shepherd, of being honest about myself with the Ear who hears and the Eye who sees most clearly and the Heart who loves most dearly, of being shaped by the most tender and brilliant of Artists who has both water in His hands and fire in His heart. 

It was the day I began to believe He was both God and good, and to, piece by piece, trust Him with more of me…heart, time, direction, possessions.  He takes the smelly fish and dry bread crusts of our lives and does stuff with it that has kingdom scent and size and nourishment and value, and distributes us out and feeds others.  It is a miracle we can experience every day.  Usually it will look at the beginning like the most simple of actions.  Keep entering the humble doors that He has gone through before you and nods your way to go there with Him.  

Good Companions

Humility, courage, grace, and truth better be able to co-exist, though most of us may wonder if it is just fantasy, for it so rarely is seen.  It takes a lot of character to have them all welcomed and at home in one person, each of their voices being able to speak in the right moment and preferably in harmony.  

Love, Money, and Daring to Live Differently

This morning I awoke earlier than usual with some things weighing on my heart and mind.  As I tried to listen for some direction, He led me to these places to read:  2 Samuel 12 (read 2 Samuel 11 first), Psalm 78, and the first 3 chapters of Malachi.  These all address what happens when character and honesty get compromised because we want something more or faster than we are getting it, when we want something that isn’t ours, when we fear He will never bring what we long for. 

Are we being honest?  Are we pushing ourselves, even the tiniest bit to live out what we say we believe?  Are we satisfied with 70% honesty and give ourselves a pass for the other 30% because we deserve it, or we’ve convinced ourselves we are too weak to do better?  Do we avoid God’s word, because we really don’t want to know what He thinks and says?  Do we trust Him to provide?  Really?  Are we approaching life in a way that will honor Him in how we handle what is in our possession…time, stuff, money, and our hearts?  I believe that God is in a unique season of pouring out on His people blessing and provision to those that will trust Him for their needs.

We may be enticed to accumulate money or affection or influence…all in His scope.  He knows our needs.  Our problem is that we don’t let ourselves be transformed in the process of life and instead scramble to provide what we don’t think we can live without.  We’re an insatiable lot.

A couple of questions…Do you go about your financial business in the same way you would want someone to deal with you?  I am talking about taxes.  And billing.  And how you work for your employer.  Are you being honest with the time you are there to work?  Are you giving them the focus and effort they are paying you for?

In relationships, are you crossing lines that you know aren’t right because you are deathly afraid of what you fear may not otherwise come your way?

Good business and life decisions don’t require operating in dishonest means to get what seems like a desirable bottom line.  God has more than enough ability and resources to give you what is for your good when you do things in honest and upright ways.  But we don’t really believe it sometimes.  Fear has us in its reins and far too often is running the show and we sow seeds of dishonesty or compromise and expect good plants to grow in our gardens. 

Rare is the individual, business, or ministry, that doesn’t fall to fuzzy lines in how it operates.  Christians and Christian-named ones, far too often, don’t seem to operate much better. But we are in a new day.  We can get life in better order.  Read God’s promises and what He says He will do for you.  Take seriously His words about what actions will bless you and what will not—He told us so we could benefit from the wisdom.  Ask Him for help to transform your doubt into trust.  Be honest with someone (it is a beautiful and mighty thing) and start to correct things that your conscience had pricked you about long ago. 

As the winter winds down, as the Lenten season begins, and tax time comes, let’s be mindful about our messes, honest with ourselves, open to new starts and receiving what He has and is providing for us.  Let’s be willing to look in the mirror and do some of the work that needs done, so that when spring arrives, windows open, ground softens and new life blooms again, the harvest of our lives will be better able to reap what they were meant to produce because the soil we are planting in has been readied for far better things.  Beautiful gardens don’t grow in trash heaps.  Our God is merciful and kind.  He forgives.  He knows our weakness.  He has such immense love and tenderness and help for all who ask.

Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God.  Micah 6:8

Deeply Loved

Love is the great message because it is the greatest truth.  It is also the place that has, for almost all of earth’s history, been the most under attack.  All hell has struck out against us knowing that we are dearly loved.  And we have the opportunity to love and love and love because the world is dying of thirst for that message and has accepted a million twisted damaging variations of it.  Sometimes the ground of our lives is so dry that a heavenly thunderstorm of it doesn’t soak in…the rain runs off the packed dirt as if it was pavement. But once we discover His affection for us, we get the privilege of staying alongside while someone else is in process of discovering that walking in the rain is a blessed thing.  Don't compromise in how He directs us to go about it (don't rationalize, justify, make excuses, or think you are the exception), but walk boldly in every holy way.

You Only Thought It Was Crumbs

For whatever you don’t have, you can take the simple elements that you do have, even though they may not seem to be enough, hold them up, thank Him for them, and ask Him to bless them.  God has a remarkable way of taking small things and expanding them.  It is a miracle, and one we’ve probably not even noticed far too many times.  It looked sketchy, but we made it.  We wouldn’t be able to say how. 

Whatever your loaves and fish of “not enough” are today, realize that even those are a gift.  They have substance.  They are in your hands.  Make every one of them an offering.  I have this overwhelming sense this morning that He is going to unfold the very unexpected for those who will offer the little back to the God of immense possibilities. 

Adjust the Dial

This photo immediately took me to the back room of the apartment on Glessner Avenue where our friend, Rod, made connections around the world on his ham radio in the 70s.  In December we saw him again and he is now connecting with the heavenlies in widening ways and bringing THOSE messages and gifts to earth, praying for blind eyes (and other needs) and SEEING THEM HEALED.  Rod is actively part of the most important message ever—that God is alive and well and His love for us has not waned one bit; nor has His power to work.  He has won the battle we could not gain ourselves. The wall is down and the bridge is up for us to receive what He paid for in that bloody event.  The spoils of His victory are ours.  Our job is to believe that He is who He says He is, will do what He says He will do, and to be “on earth as it is in heaven” participants.

It seemed pretty cool back in 1975 to hear Rod talking with someone on the other side of the planet.  Far more amazing to see the results of a regular guy from Nashville who is spending time being in touch with God and living out what He has invited us into. 

It may be time to adjust the dial.  Get rid of the static.  Listen in until you hear His voice.