I have mentioned before that cardinals are special to me. For me they are a true icon. Wait, before you go shaking your head and “tsk”ing at me, look it up. An icon can be something that represents God or Christ – an image, picture or representation of some sort. But it is also anything that draws our minds toward God.
And I’m sure my thing about cardinals comes as no surprise to God. In fact He has often drawn me to Him through these beautiful birds. We have a pair that live somewhere just out our back door. They are constant companions to each other and friends to us. I raised my kitchen blinds one day and there was the male, tucked in the corner, looking at me and saying, “This is the day the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)
I know their calls now and I look for them, as I seek Him as well. The funny thing is that, though the male is the really colorful and more beautiful of the pair (don’t get me started…), I have found myself drawn more and more to the female. She seems braver and more willing to visit with me. Of course, she also knows that the male is keeping a watchful eye on her.
Imagine my delight when I was sitting down to supper with Steve and I looked out and saw her on the crepe myrtle just outside the window. The sprinklers were spraying and she was in their direct path. And there she sat! Unmoving but quivering and shaking her feathers. She would relax until the next spray doused her. She was enjoying her bath but the flood was too much for her to take. She flew over to the gardenia and sat for a minute and then plunged back into the water.
Yeah, I know this one is too obvious. But that flood of cleansing water! And it’s so clean and so pure and so holy! And sometimes it’s just too much! Surely you’ve felt it. When you’ve been humble about something, and God Himself has lifted you up – you want to run and hide! It’s too much. When the pure joy of your salvation is overwhelming. It’s just too much and we’re torn between feeling inadequate and wanting to hide, and wanting to jump in and drown in it.
Acts 22:16; Psalm 51:7b; Isaiah 1:18
And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name… Wash me and I will be whiter than snow… “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool….”
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Ride on down the Highway
I had another sweet Virginia friend stop in yesterday to sit on my porch and drink a little sweet tea. I don’t flatter myself. I live on the 95 corridor; so the world does pass close to me and frequently enough. But can I just say how very much it means to me to be able to share my gentle world down here with my dear friends from up there?
Friendship is surely one of God’s kindest creations. I have books with nothing but sweet sentiments that could fill several blogs. But Christian friendship? Oh, that is the best. There is some common ground there that immediately turns us into a “cord of three strands”. We laugh and pray together and we both know that we hold the most important Person in history on the highest ground. And it’s always a rewarding time.
So this is a short one today. I just felt the need to say thanks, Donna, for a lively cart ride and to remind all my Virginia friends (and my Arkansas family) that we’re close to 95, easy to get to – until you leave the interstate at least – and there’s always a pitcher of tea waiting. You brighten my world. Only thing better would be to get you all together with my South Carolina friends. You would enrich each other; but I’ll see to that in Heaven.
Ecclesiastes 4:10, 12
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Friendship is surely one of God’s kindest creations. I have books with nothing but sweet sentiments that could fill several blogs. But Christian friendship? Oh, that is the best. There is some common ground there that immediately turns us into a “cord of three strands”. We laugh and pray together and we both know that we hold the most important Person in history on the highest ground. And it’s always a rewarding time.
So this is a short one today. I just felt the need to say thanks, Donna, for a lively cart ride and to remind all my Virginia friends (and my Arkansas family) that we’re close to 95, easy to get to – until you leave the interstate at least – and there’s always a pitcher of tea waiting. You brighten my world. Only thing better would be to get you all together with my South Carolina friends. You would enrich each other; but I’ll see to that in Heaven.
Ecclesiastes 4:10, 12
If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I Know He Was Praying
Super-creepy, yet kind of sweet. We became well-acquainted on the short trip. I hopped in the car and started moving slowly down the narrow streets of our community. I was headed into town to work in Vacation Bible School and I was running a little late. As I slowed to make the last turn, I looked left and then right and then at my driver’s side mirror. There he sat.
I’m not crazy about bugs; but I’m not totally freaked out by them either. I prepared myself to encounter them when I made the decision to move to a warm southern climate. So when I saw the dignified little praying mantis sitting on the top of my mirror, I just smiled at him and he smiled back. I sat at the stop sign for a moment to give him time to hop down. He declined.
So I made my turn and increased my speed to twenty-five. His little praying hands unclasped and started clutching for something to hold onto. I slowed down to give him one more chance to bail. He declined.
I left the plantation and revved my speed up to thirty-five. His feelers were flapping in the wind and I’m pretty sure that’s when the praying started. I had a hard time driving and watching him at the same time. If I had cared about him as much as I led him to believe, I would have stopped the car and helped him down. But I was late for VBS.
So I turned out onto the highway and upped the pace to fifty-five. Head down and battling the wind, he discovered that he could go under the lip of the mirror and hunker down a little. His legs managed to stay put but every part of his body was shuddering against the wind. Please understand, I felt terrible. But I was late for VBS.
I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car. I said a little prayer and apology for my new friend. I knew he was dead and I was not looking forward to having to remove his frail little form.
To my complete delight, one long leg tentatively swung up onto the top of the mirror. Slowly he pulled himself back up on top. Then he began to groom himself! Now I don’t know what he was smoothing down – whether feathers, or scales, or gills. But he had something there to flatten out. Then he took each long leg in turn and stretched it as far as it would go to be sure everything was still working.
Then he once again settled in to pray and I left to go fix beanie weenies, a clear conscience with my own short prayer of thanks.
I’m not crazy about bugs; but I’m not totally freaked out by them either. I prepared myself to encounter them when I made the decision to move to a warm southern climate. So when I saw the dignified little praying mantis sitting on the top of my mirror, I just smiled at him and he smiled back. I sat at the stop sign for a moment to give him time to hop down. He declined.
So I made my turn and increased my speed to twenty-five. His little praying hands unclasped and started clutching for something to hold onto. I slowed down to give him one more chance to bail. He declined.
I left the plantation and revved my speed up to thirty-five. His feelers were flapping in the wind and I’m pretty sure that’s when the praying started. I had a hard time driving and watching him at the same time. If I had cared about him as much as I led him to believe, I would have stopped the car and helped him down. But I was late for VBS.
So I turned out onto the highway and upped the pace to fifty-five. Head down and battling the wind, he discovered that he could go under the lip of the mirror and hunker down a little. His legs managed to stay put but every part of his body was shuddering against the wind. Please understand, I felt terrible. But I was late for VBS.
I pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car. I said a little prayer and apology for my new friend. I knew he was dead and I was not looking forward to having to remove his frail little form.
To my complete delight, one long leg tentatively swung up onto the top of the mirror. Slowly he pulled himself back up on top. Then he began to groom himself! Now I don’t know what he was smoothing down – whether feathers, or scales, or gills. But he had something there to flatten out. Then he took each long leg in turn and stretched it as far as it would go to be sure everything was still working.
Then he once again settled in to pray and I left to go fix beanie weenies, a clear conscience with my own short prayer of thanks.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Is This How It Is?
On these hot, sticky summer days, only a short window of time opens between the blast of hot air that hits you when you go outside and the coming dark that brings the hoard of insects that swarm and buzz. You know the ones that make you go dancing across the yard flailing at your head with both hands and swatting at the backs of your uncovered legs.
But oh, the sweetness of that time just before sunset when the air lifts a bit and the breeze kicks up. You can almost imagine the comfort outside that you felt on those spring days before the furnace was lit.
Today Steve and a friend were going out to play nine holes of golf and I went along for the ride. To begin with, if you want to walk for exercise in this weather, you need to start by at least 7:30 AM; and if you need to know why I wasn’t on the street at that time, look for some of my older posts that explain my morning mentality. No, don’t bother. I can sum it up in two words – grouchy and incoherent.
Therefore at 7:00 tonight when Steve and his friend were meeting, I still had not exercised. So I took my book, a big bottle of water, and hit the cart paths on foot while they golfed. As I walked, I immersed myself in the breezes, the shade and the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I wanted so badly to praise God, but my Psalms memory is scant. I went over and over the few verses I do know and I mouthed song lyrics silently. The men were trying to golf after all.
After I had walked far enough to deserve some time on wheels, I settled in to ride the cart and read. I was taken by the fact that the air felt cool and the colors were so vivid. May I just take a moment and insert a good word for Eudora Welty? She's a southern author from Mississippi and her descriptions pick you up and set you down in whatever cotton field or big white country house she's inhabiting. I was deep in her book and I'm sure she's why I was so aware of my surroundings.
I needed to make a quick stop and we were behind our friend’s house. He suggested I go in and let his dog out to ride with us all.
As I came out of the house with the dog, our friend called and the dog went running across the course to meet him. The grass was an intense color of green and they looked so happy to see each other. And I couldn’t help but think of those stories I’ve heard of people who dream about seeing their loved ones in heaven running with their pets.
And as I watched the two men walking off the green talking and laughing, I was so aware of the presence of God that I began to cry. I was absorbed in this beautiful place with good people who were so completely enjoying the day. And, best of all, God was there in a palpable sense.
Heaven is not so very far away. We can get a sense of it when we just allow God to walk with us in the cool of the day.
But oh, the sweetness of that time just before sunset when the air lifts a bit and the breeze kicks up. You can almost imagine the comfort outside that you felt on those spring days before the furnace was lit.
Today Steve and a friend were going out to play nine holes of golf and I went along for the ride. To begin with, if you want to walk for exercise in this weather, you need to start by at least 7:30 AM; and if you need to know why I wasn’t on the street at that time, look for some of my older posts that explain my morning mentality. No, don’t bother. I can sum it up in two words – grouchy and incoherent.
Therefore at 7:00 tonight when Steve and his friend were meeting, I still had not exercised. So I took my book, a big bottle of water, and hit the cart paths on foot while they golfed. As I walked, I immersed myself in the breezes, the shade and the sheer beauty of my surroundings. I wanted so badly to praise God, but my Psalms memory is scant. I went over and over the few verses I do know and I mouthed song lyrics silently. The men were trying to golf after all.
After I had walked far enough to deserve some time on wheels, I settled in to ride the cart and read. I was taken by the fact that the air felt cool and the colors were so vivid. May I just take a moment and insert a good word for Eudora Welty? She's a southern author from Mississippi and her descriptions pick you up and set you down in whatever cotton field or big white country house she's inhabiting. I was deep in her book and I'm sure she's why I was so aware of my surroundings.
I needed to make a quick stop and we were behind our friend’s house. He suggested I go in and let his dog out to ride with us all.
As I came out of the house with the dog, our friend called and the dog went running across the course to meet him. The grass was an intense color of green and they looked so happy to see each other. And I couldn’t help but think of those stories I’ve heard of people who dream about seeing their loved ones in heaven running with their pets.
And as I watched the two men walking off the green talking and laughing, I was so aware of the presence of God that I began to cry. I was absorbed in this beautiful place with good people who were so completely enjoying the day. And, best of all, God was there in a palpable sense.
Heaven is not so very far away. We can get a sense of it when we just allow God to walk with us in the cool of the day.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Looking Out for Number 6,856,559,598
I wonder when it starts to flipflop. When we were children in Sunday school, we learned the lessons – Jesus loves me, do unto others as you would like for them to do to you, share, be kind, and don’t talk back. (I’m not sure that the last one is word for word Biblical except for honor your parents and respect those in authority, but we really heard it a lot.) And we got it! If you treated other people with kindness, they would do the same for you. And the world seemed right-side-up.
Then we went out to play and got chosen last in dodge ball. And we started to look at how our brothers and sisters and the neighborhood kids were faring. And we began to wonder if we had it as good as they did. Were we getting everything we needed? We entered school and our horizons broadened and we began to wonder “am I getting mine?” And slowly it began to tip.
Because this upside-down living that Jesus asks from us is often more about us than it is about Him. Let me explain.
I’ve mentioned John 3:30 before: “He must become greater; I must become less.” Jesus’ first and greatest commandment in Matthew, Mark and Luke is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) This one we know and we don’t argue with it! We struggle and forget and ask forgiveness, but it is there in our minds as something important and we completely agree with it.
The second commandment of Jesus is where we begin to war with the world. “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mark 12:31) As myself? Are you kidding? I mean, I do love my family that much and I have friends, good friends, and well, most of the people I know from church. I love all of them and, most of the time, I am good to them and sometimes I think I love them as myself.
But really, that lady at the store that looks at me funny? Love her as much as myself? And the guy who cut me off in traffic and then lowered his window to scream at me? And the neighbor who keeps asking me to come over and help her decide where to move her shrubs?
And this thing is two-pronged! Not only am I supposed to love those people as much as I do myself (and they’re not that loveable), I'm also not supposed to care about what the world tells me is so important.
But the Home and Garden network is telling me that I’m supposed to care more about how my house is decorated! And Bravo is telling me that I am going to have to have a heap more money if I plan to be one of the Housewives of Clarendon County. Don’t you sometimes want to just scream at the world “am I invisible here?” All I have to do is turn on any tv channel and watch for fifteen minutes and it’s obvious I’m not measuring up.
The saying goes, “Jesus first, everybody else second (just so you know, that’s where the huge number came from), me third.” As I said, most of us don’t have a problem with the Jesus first concept. We get it and we try to do it. It’s the “everybody else second" piece of it that challenges us. Because the world says that if we aren’t looking out for ourselves, if we aren’t obsessed with how we look and what we have, we don’t belong.
If we follow Jesus in His commandment, we honestly are not of this world and we will never be completely comfortable here. But that has nothing to do with feeling at peace here. When I am wrapped up in “am I getting everything that is due me,” I am headed down a road that will leave me unsatisfied. But when I am concerned more with how to love someone else, I have the mind of Jesus and He is the Prince of Peace.
John 14:27
Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Then we went out to play and got chosen last in dodge ball. And we started to look at how our brothers and sisters and the neighborhood kids were faring. And we began to wonder if we had it as good as they did. Were we getting everything we needed? We entered school and our horizons broadened and we began to wonder “am I getting mine?” And slowly it began to tip.
Because this upside-down living that Jesus asks from us is often more about us than it is about Him. Let me explain.
I’ve mentioned John 3:30 before: “He must become greater; I must become less.” Jesus’ first and greatest commandment in Matthew, Mark and Luke is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) This one we know and we don’t argue with it! We struggle and forget and ask forgiveness, but it is there in our minds as something important and we completely agree with it.
The second commandment of Jesus is where we begin to war with the world. “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Mark 12:31) As myself? Are you kidding? I mean, I do love my family that much and I have friends, good friends, and well, most of the people I know from church. I love all of them and, most of the time, I am good to them and sometimes I think I love them as myself.
But really, that lady at the store that looks at me funny? Love her as much as myself? And the guy who cut me off in traffic and then lowered his window to scream at me? And the neighbor who keeps asking me to come over and help her decide where to move her shrubs?
And this thing is two-pronged! Not only am I supposed to love those people as much as I do myself (and they’re not that loveable), I'm also not supposed to care about what the world tells me is so important.
But the Home and Garden network is telling me that I’m supposed to care more about how my house is decorated! And Bravo is telling me that I am going to have to have a heap more money if I plan to be one of the Housewives of Clarendon County. Don’t you sometimes want to just scream at the world “am I invisible here?” All I have to do is turn on any tv channel and watch for fifteen minutes and it’s obvious I’m not measuring up.
The saying goes, “Jesus first, everybody else second (just so you know, that’s where the huge number came from), me third.” As I said, most of us don’t have a problem with the Jesus first concept. We get it and we try to do it. It’s the “everybody else second" piece of it that challenges us. Because the world says that if we aren’t looking out for ourselves, if we aren’t obsessed with how we look and what we have, we don’t belong.
If we follow Jesus in His commandment, we honestly are not of this world and we will never be completely comfortable here. But that has nothing to do with feeling at peace here. When I am wrapped up in “am I getting everything that is due me,” I am headed down a road that will leave me unsatisfied. But when I am concerned more with how to love someone else, I have the mind of Jesus and He is the Prince of Peace.
John 14:27
Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Futility Is Useless
I know of futility. According to the Random House Dictionary, it’s “the quality of being futile; ineffectiveness; uselessness.” American Heritage adds even more weight with “the quality of having no useful result, lack of importance of purpose.” I’m not preaching today. I’m trying to work out some issues in a public place. If you want to hang in, better grab a flyswatter.
As so often happens, I’m finding several sources combining to give me a message this week. You know how you study something in Sunday school and then the pastor preaches about it? Yeah, it’s like that. I’m preparing to lead a Bible study by Jennifer Rothschild called “Me, Myself & Lies”.
The lesson I was studying yesterday talks about “fact labels”. Some of the labels we give ourselves are subjective and may be true or not, e.g. friendly, funny, unlikable, popular, depending on who’s applying them. But we also have fact labels that are as they are and will probably not change, e.g. mom, daughter, senior, retired. It’s those last two that have been giving me fits over the past year and a few months. You see, even though they are facts, how we interpret them and apply them to our attitudes can change the way we face day-to-day life.
As most of you know (and many of you probably wish I’d finally be quiet about), I’ve struggled with layers of depression during this time. And if there was one word that I would apply, it would be “futility”. I don’t think I recognized that until recently. All I know is I worked and studied and worked some more, all the while feeling useless and without purpose. And I saw that also as laziness.
So yesterday afternoon, my lazy self is sitting down to study my Sunday school lesson. It’s about acting on faith and I’m planning to cruise right through since I know so much about faith, right? Yeah. God is so very patient with me. This week’s lesson was actually about acting on faith.
I’m “acting” in several ways. After much prayer, I have felt God’s leading in several areas including leading Bible studies and starting a mentoring ministry. I believe those are in His will for me and I am excited to do them. So why was I still feeling useless and lazy?
The lesson referred to Psalms 78:12-39 and discussed how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt and rained down miracle after miracle on them to provide for their needs, often in response to their complaints. Finally “the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel (v. 31).” And still they sinned and did not believe.
Then I read verse 33 and God pulled out His highlighter and showed it to me again, big-time. “Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear.” I wouldn’t say I have lived my last year in fear, but there has definitely been an element of hopelessness there. In this beautiful place, with these sweet and wonderful people, how is that even possible?
God has dealt with me over the last two days with that verse alone. Because you see, there is an element in my life where I have refused to believe Him. I say He wants me to write, He has even given me writing, and yet I have not moved forward in this area. The author of our study book talked about a decision she and her husband could not seem to make even though they had prayed over it for a while. They finally realized that God was asking them to step out in faith. I believe that is what He is asking of me.
I don’t know yet what that looks like. Perhaps I will push to get the things I have written published or perhaps I will get back into a project or two. I just know He intends for me to show Him that I believe He will deliver what I need to do this.
And just for my added amusement (I so love God’s sense of humor), I woke up yesterday morning with a crick in my neck, a slight twinge that worsened as the day progressed. By this morning, it was sore to the point that I could barely turn my head to the right. You guessed it. I had literally become a stiff-necked person.
As so often happens, I’m finding several sources combining to give me a message this week. You know how you study something in Sunday school and then the pastor preaches about it? Yeah, it’s like that. I’m preparing to lead a Bible study by Jennifer Rothschild called “Me, Myself & Lies”.
The lesson I was studying yesterday talks about “fact labels”. Some of the labels we give ourselves are subjective and may be true or not, e.g. friendly, funny, unlikable, popular, depending on who’s applying them. But we also have fact labels that are as they are and will probably not change, e.g. mom, daughter, senior, retired. It’s those last two that have been giving me fits over the past year and a few months. You see, even though they are facts, how we interpret them and apply them to our attitudes can change the way we face day-to-day life.
As most of you know (and many of you probably wish I’d finally be quiet about), I’ve struggled with layers of depression during this time. And if there was one word that I would apply, it would be “futility”. I don’t think I recognized that until recently. All I know is I worked and studied and worked some more, all the while feeling useless and without purpose. And I saw that also as laziness.
So yesterday afternoon, my lazy self is sitting down to study my Sunday school lesson. It’s about acting on faith and I’m planning to cruise right through since I know so much about faith, right? Yeah. God is so very patient with me. This week’s lesson was actually about acting on faith.
I’m “acting” in several ways. After much prayer, I have felt God’s leading in several areas including leading Bible studies and starting a mentoring ministry. I believe those are in His will for me and I am excited to do them. So why was I still feeling useless and lazy?
The lesson referred to Psalms 78:12-39 and discussed how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt and rained down miracle after miracle on them to provide for their needs, often in response to their complaints. Finally “the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel (v. 31).” And still they sinned and did not believe.
Then I read verse 33 and God pulled out His highlighter and showed it to me again, big-time. “Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear.” I wouldn’t say I have lived my last year in fear, but there has definitely been an element of hopelessness there. In this beautiful place, with these sweet and wonderful people, how is that even possible?
God has dealt with me over the last two days with that verse alone. Because you see, there is an element in my life where I have refused to believe Him. I say He wants me to write, He has even given me writing, and yet I have not moved forward in this area. The author of our study book talked about a decision she and her husband could not seem to make even though they had prayed over it for a while. They finally realized that God was asking them to step out in faith. I believe that is what He is asking of me.
I don’t know yet what that looks like. Perhaps I will push to get the things I have written published or perhaps I will get back into a project or two. I just know He intends for me to show Him that I believe He will deliver what I need to do this.
And just for my added amusement (I so love God’s sense of humor), I woke up yesterday morning with a crick in my neck, a slight twinge that worsened as the day progressed. By this morning, it was sore to the point that I could barely turn my head to the right. You guessed it. I had literally become a stiff-necked person.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Look! No Hands!
Know what I do when my mood starts to drop? I check my email! Because something in me always thinks that outside circumstances will intervene to save my day, will steer my life in the right direction without my even having to drive. Even when I’ve prayed about something and asked for help, first thing I usually do is go check the mail, check my email, or go look on Facebook. Not that I haven’t had miracle answers that came by email or snail mail. But usually my answer is to wait, keep hoping, keep praying, read scripture, get busy or some other process that involves me and not circumstances.
A new flip phone ad I saw the other day so completely plays into this. A guy is incredibly happy with his life because of his new girlfriend that he met at some store that he found on Facebook or some other networking site that he plugged into via his new flip phone. He now has this perfect life and all he had to do was buy the right phone!
Isn’t the thought of “fate” stepping in and changing our world an exciting prospect? It’s why so many movies are made with that story line. Look at “Serendipity”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, even – no especially – , “An Affair to Remember”. They all have a plotline, some element or key scene that depends on fate intervening in the characters' lives. That moment when eyes lock, a check arrives, an accident occurs, or a stranger approaches and lives change.
Sometimes it actually works! For years I surfed and looked for houses on my laptop, all over the place, not just in northern Virginia. And one day I decided to pursue lakes in South Carolina. I fell in love with a little house with lot of built-in bookshelves. And destiny - GOD - intervened and led us to that very house. Steve and I both know for certain that it was where we were meant to be. Every day just proves it more.
Here’s the flip side of all this. The way God wants us to live is exactly as I’ve described. No, not compulsively checking email every ten minutes or looking for our life changes on the internet. But giving up complete control. To Him.
He’s bigger, richer, smarter, more loving, and knows us better than we know ourselves! Plus He has these really great plans for our lives. Why then is it so hard to just let Him have control? It’s hard not to think of Him as too big (“Why would He care about my little worries and plans?”) or too small (“Sure, I believe, He will provide my needs today but this is my whole LIFE we’re talking about.”).
Truth is, He’s both big enough to handle our futures and caring enough to want to help us with every small detail. He loves to step in and turn our shoulders in the direction that is best for us. And because He adores and delights in us, we can trust Him completely. Plus He sees the big picture that we can’t see! Hands off the wheel and watch for the excitement of living life out of control!
Psalm 20:4; Psalm 33:10, 11, 13-15; Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed…The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations…From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do…In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps…For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
A new flip phone ad I saw the other day so completely plays into this. A guy is incredibly happy with his life because of his new girlfriend that he met at some store that he found on Facebook or some other networking site that he plugged into via his new flip phone. He now has this perfect life and all he had to do was buy the right phone!
Isn’t the thought of “fate” stepping in and changing our world an exciting prospect? It’s why so many movies are made with that story line. Look at “Serendipity”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, even – no especially – , “An Affair to Remember”. They all have a plotline, some element or key scene that depends on fate intervening in the characters' lives. That moment when eyes lock, a check arrives, an accident occurs, or a stranger approaches and lives change.
Sometimes it actually works! For years I surfed and looked for houses on my laptop, all over the place, not just in northern Virginia. And one day I decided to pursue lakes in South Carolina. I fell in love with a little house with lot of built-in bookshelves. And destiny - GOD - intervened and led us to that very house. Steve and I both know for certain that it was where we were meant to be. Every day just proves it more.
Here’s the flip side of all this. The way God wants us to live is exactly as I’ve described. No, not compulsively checking email every ten minutes or looking for our life changes on the internet. But giving up complete control. To Him.
He’s bigger, richer, smarter, more loving, and knows us better than we know ourselves! Plus He has these really great plans for our lives. Why then is it so hard to just let Him have control? It’s hard not to think of Him as too big (“Why would He care about my little worries and plans?”) or too small (“Sure, I believe, He will provide my needs today but this is my whole LIFE we’re talking about.”).
Truth is, He’s both big enough to handle our futures and caring enough to want to help us with every small detail. He loves to step in and turn our shoulders in the direction that is best for us. And because He adores and delights in us, we can trust Him completely. Plus He sees the big picture that we can’t see! Hands off the wheel and watch for the excitement of living life out of control!
Psalm 20:4; Psalm 33:10, 11, 13-15; Proverbs 16:9; Jeremiah 29:11
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed…The LORD foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations…From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth—he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do…In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps…For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
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