"Will I Trust God?"

It seems that my life boils down to one primary issue. It is this: "Will I trust God?"

I cannot think of anything that comes even close to this question in terms of both the frequency at which it comes to the table and the difference it makes regarding the tone of my life. Sure, there are other questions that come into play..."How do I respond best in this situation?" or "What do I do next?" But they are all directly hinging on the main issue.

What I know from my own experience and from what the scriptures say is that God IS trustworthy; He will never leave me or forsake me; He is mindful of all of my needs; He will give wisdom to those who ask. On and on the points are made and evidence seen in the accounts. And yet, for me like for all of us, the next unseen answer for the situation at hand makes trusting Him the question again.

Several years ago I began creating a charm necklace. On it I've placed tiny silver symbols that represent ways that God has shown His willingness and power to come through in the very real challenges I've faced. Periodically, another charm gets purchased and added to the chain when I've experienced another surprising event--God coming through in a way that I did not design, orchestrate, or expect. When I put the necklace on nearly every morning, I am conscious again of what He has done, for me, tangibly intersecting my life. I wear this evidence to remind myself to trust today. And it makes a difference.

Proverbs has suggested that I do this. Chapter 3, verses 1-6 are quite clear:

"...do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Represented on the necklace are some solid answers to prayers and some surprises that I didn't have the courage or creativity to imagine. God has come through. Somehow, in some way, He has always been enough. It isn't the way I would have written the script. Problems haven't always evaporated, though in a few cases they have! Needs haven't always been quickly dissolved with a lavish provision, but His has gotten me from day to day through the obstacles that have been in the path and there are distinct ways He has shown His presence. Think of the numerous examples in the Bible of Jesus healing blindness.

Today when I put the necklace on I will remember again that it is, indeed, a piece of my armor. It is evidence of Him being with me and helping me. As I remember the difficult situations that I've faced, it is a call to me to trust Him for the current ones. He is able. Of course it still feels somewhat precarious to me as I have to step onto the invisible stone of faith that He is here and enough for the next thing. But He has a track record and I will be wise if I stay mindful of that as I count on His care for the needs at hand.

We face the "Will I trust Him?" question in a plethora of layers. I may very well believe Him for my provision, but struggle with His availabilty for my health. Every need is another lesson to wrestle toward belief, to wrestle my fears, to remind myself of what He has said is true, to step forward in confidence in Him. He gives me many opportunities to practice, for trusting Him is the primary thing He desires me to know. He peels back the layers to expose another untrusting part of my heart and calls for me to offer this to Him also. He loves me. He wants every part of my heart free. It is grace that keeps giving me ways to step onto the path of faith and to see once again how He will "make my paths straight."

The issues of life are never at a place where all is suddenly solved at once. But trust is the green pasture where I can lie down and rest, really rest, because I am mindful of the attention of a God who loves me.

Photographs: Tangle, by loumurphy; bamboo forest, by angela7dreams; Meadow, by Jenna

The Questions Begin Here

The questions begin here...









If there is a God, do I want to know it?



If there is a creator designer, do I want to be in cooperation with His design and plan, moving with it rather than against it?






If there is a Lord, would I be willing to submit to His way?

If He is Love, would I receive from Him what I cannot find in anyone else?






If He is wise, would I seek His wisdom?







If He is shepherd, would I let Him guide me?




If He is my provision, would I receive gratefully what He wants for me?







If the answer to any of these is no, if I'd rather try to run my own life without interference, then it may be that I will be considerably handicapped in seeing and receiving the best stuff that this life has to offer.


If I say I believe it, but trust only as far as I can "save" myself, I will not likely see His hand at work and the things around me may just look like random bits of coincidence rather than being infused with the power He is ready to give.



Photographs: Question!, by -bast-; 4th of July Storm at Sunset on Trail Ridge Road, by AlphaTangoBravo; Library, by Stewart

Somehow, Someway

The topic was "living under a lord."


The reference we began from was Genesis 2:16-17--And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."


Of course we often miss that He has begun with a statement of "You are free." That is said before any directives are placed on us. Submission to His plan always leads to freedom. We just have to trust Him enough that we can believe Him without always understanding why He has planned it that way, trusting that His motives for us are good even when He does not tell us why we need to avoid something or move a different direction or do "this" instead of "that." No small assignment, as it smacks of the "because I said so" line that most of us hated as children.

I have begun to think that trusting Him is His ultimate goal for each of us during our life on earth. I am increasingly of the notion that He wants us to see Him (not the reason) clearly enough, to love Him deeply enough that we can trust Him even when circumstances are wrinkling all around us and the rug is pulled out from beneath our feet. We can only keep trusting in such days if we have tasted of His sovereignty and provision and unfailing love. Just like in any relationship, it takes time to develop such trust. You wonder why life is full of challenges? Well, my dear, we are in the lesson of a lifetime.



As we listened to this passage this morning, I began to envision the tree in the center of the "garden" of each of our lives. It is, without doubt, the question of life. It takes center stage. It is the thing that, depending on our decision to stay away or to eat, will determine what kind of roots and fruit each of us will have. I can choose to trust God, though sometimes He is frustratingly silent or alarmingly late (in my timeline) with an answer, or I can feed myself from the tree of what I know, or want, or think is best every time a hunger or need arises. If I pick the diet and insist on the timing of the provision I will inevitably have stunted my own growth and compromised my own health.


I remembered verses elsewhere in the Bible:


... Psalm 1--the one who is blessed, who delights in the law of the Lord "is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

...Jeremiah 17--"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a hear of drought and never fails to bear fruit."


And so, it seems, I get to deny a tree that would make me lord of my own life in order to become a human being that is bearing the fruit of the kingdom. As I sink my roots deep, as I trust Him, as I learn to walk in His ways, I get to enjoy the fruit of the kingdom and to offer it to others. What is that fruit? Galatians 5 gives the list: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. They are things that all of us have been wired to want and need. Clearly that is why it is so tempting for us to seek to fill the gaps our own way. And so we begin to learn the lesson that calls us to believe that He is indeed trustworthy. Will I take the risk to venture into that seemingly precarious turf? Will you?



"Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, 'So shall your offspring be.' Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness." Romans 4:18-22



The lesson ended this morning with the mention of the only two times that scripture states that Jesus was amazed. One was in Nazareth, where he was amazed at the unbelief of the Jews. The other was at the belief of the Gentile Centurion. So there it is--a chance before us to trust God in the face of all that would declare such a thing as foolishness. We, today, have a chance to believe, to trust that God will be enough for everything we face. Somehow, someway, He will prove Himself faithful. I don't know how He will do it and neither do you. But it is clear that He has promised to come through. We can believe. Let's do it. Let's run that race. Let's amaze Jesus!







Photographs: Apples, by *clairity*; Through A Childs Eye, by Down Town Pictures; Silhouettes by sunset, by Powi (ponanwi); Two Hands Two Generations, by Dino Olivieri; Malay Mail Big Walk, by amrufm

It's A Wrap

We move so quickly on to the next thing.

Already the Christmas dinner feast has been fit into small plastic containers and classified as leftovers. The torn gift wrap has been wadded up, bagged, and tossed into the trash. The presents have been consolidated into tidy piles and taken to each person's room. Soon it will be time to take down decorations and tree and step determinedly into January. Let's be careful.

It would be easy to pack away Jesus with the holiday greens and glitter and barely give Him a thought until the sentimentality of next Christmas's carols invite us to pause and again consider the miracle of God in a manger, to prod us again to "let every heart prepare Him room." Lord knows how full we've let our calendars become. But Jesus didn't come to be with us only as a plastic addition to a 12" nativity scene that sits for a couple of weeks on our table and warms our hearts unthreateningly with His tiny silent presence. Although He doesn't force us to receive the Gift, He came not as the innocent focus of Silent Night, but the clearest Word the world will ever hear. If we will but listen. He came to be the pulse of our heart, the healer of our culture, the savior of our world, the Lord of our days. This week as we stop to consider new year's goals, let's not give Him the same meager status as our Christmas accessories or holiday sweaters, shuffled back into the closet.

Remember, this little One did not stay a meek and mild baby all tender and pink, but grew up to be a slayer of death and a giver of Life. The Light of the world.

"So let Me out," He says.


"And let Me in."



Photographs: Christmas Mess #2, by Shopping Diva; baby jesus in a box, by giddygirlie

'Tis the Season

The lights are glowing all around us now--dazzling displays in city squares, neighborhoods decked out with greenery and inflatable Santas, glittering malls swirling with holiday music to tantalize the crowds to celebrate with more and more, and even churches putting on gala events. Glitz is nearly everywhere. People will be scurrying around in this last week like the mice that dance with sugarplum fairies as we try to get our purchases made and lists completed. It is often a dizzying scene.



It makes it all the more challenging to remember the simple beginnings of the holiday. One tiny baby arriving in the night. Yes, God used lights too--of a wattage we could only dream of...a sky full of glorious angels telling us that the Light of the World had arrived. Talk about a spectacle. We've spun it into a production to be sure, but maybe it's because somewhere inside we know that even if we express it in a skewed and materialistic way, it is true that this event needs our attention, our energy, our time. Hopefully we won't miss the meaning while engaged in the madness.



Try to wrap your mind around the idea that the God who created the heavens and the earth would choose to inhabit the flesh He conceived, now Himself being conceived in the womb of a Jewish girl so He could come to set us free. Free. Now there is a word we don't here much in the days of December. Sure, there are bargains out there, but they are ones that often dig us deeper in debt.





He didn't come into the perfectly positioned scene we usually create in our calm-faced nativity sets....





He came into the chaos of a busy city where there wasn't even room for His mother to have a simple bed in which to give birth. He came to the cackles and noisy bleats where the animals were kept. He came right into the gritty reality of those who were over-tired and over-taxed. He came to us.


This year, as we are surrounded by the twinkling Christmas lights that pierce the darkness of winter nights, maybe we can remember the One whose presence pierces the darkness of our own hearts and souls and brings light to the very raw and earthy place where we need it most.


He never demands our attention or respect. He won't pencil Himself onto our holiday list. But perhaps we could stop for a few minutes to consider again the events that began this thing we call Christmas. It would be a sad (though common) thing to be caught up in the flurry for weeks and miss the point of it all.




Photographs: 200,000 Christmas lights, by terren in Virginia; Christmas Lights, by mandj98; B&W baby.JPG, by NataPics; A Rude Awakening, by "clarity"

House of Bread

Bethlehem...

The word means "House of Bread."

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry. He who believes in me will never need a drink."

Luke 2:16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

A manger is a place to put the food for the ones who would come and eat. Consider the gift of His promise of provision and nourishment for these days. Pause for part of the hectic holiday season and consider what is available to you.

Photograph: Living Christmas Crib Scene 093F, by krisdecurtis

Mary's Gift For Us All

I am sitting here this morning in the 5am quiet, amazed by the promise we have of God with us. This Emmanuel baby who was deposited into Mary's womb by the breath of God is the very reason I can be sure that it is possible for His Spirit to live in me as I open myself to His presence. His word made it so in Mary; His Word was what--no, Who--came to us through her willingness to say yes. And His Word is dwelling in me, able to guide and direct my words and my actions as I listen to Him quietly guiding me today.

This morning I am sitting here, a cup of coffee next to me, a glowing computer screen in my face, my thoughts a mix of the wonder of the season and the responsibilities of the day ahead. There will be my job at school, dinner with John and the kids at Mom's tonight, much list-making and house tidying in any moments in between. There are kids to rustle out of bed in a while, breakfast to get into them, bookbags to gather, a husband to kiss good-bye, and "miles to go before I sleep." These December days are full ones and for the most part quite typical. And yet right now I am aware that there is a great big picture of which my tiny life is a part. I am stern with my heart right now, challenging it to remember the wonder of it as I go on through my day instead of clicking off that reality when I sign off the computer and face a busy house. It is because of the big picture that the rest is meaningful and worth all I can offer--or abandon in it. The great Light, living in each of us right here, right now, for this day is an astonishing thing.

God with us. Emmanuel. A Christmas miracle fleshed out in millions of us right now in this December day. It will be a miracle if we loosen our grip on our lives and take a chance on Him today. Emmanuel. God with us.

His feet touched the planet. Be ready for Him to intersect with you in tangible ways today. That is why He came. That is why He's here.

Photographs: ready yourself, by Moon Rhythm; Kiki and the candle, by Ctd 2005