Rescue at Sea

I’ve always been troubled with the fact that a drowning person can easily end up drowning the one trying to help him. What an awful irony. I’ve heard different steps lifeguards take when they are helping a person in trouble, like making sure they have a flotation device for the person struggling. Sometimes it’s necessary to let the person struggling wear themselves out a bit so he is less capable of harming the rescuer. It makes sense, because with no solid ground to support oneself, even the best swimmer is at risk.

In difficult times like we’re in now, we probably have all been in both places, needing rescue and trying to rescue someone else. I am so glad for the encouragement of family and friends! They help me when I am feeling down and I hope I do the same thing for them on their bad days.

But there’s only one wise enough, loving enough and strong enough to really rescue us in our desperation and that’s the one true God. When I am the drowning person, caught in fear and unsure how much longer I can make it, it’s God that wonderfully rescues me. He is not threatened by my thrashing about. I can’t shove him underwater accidentally or harm him. He is wonderfully strong and unchanging. God scoops me right up and tends to my every need.

Likewise when those around me are struggling and I do so want to help them, I must remember God is the one that rescues others too. He is the life preserver we throw. As well meaning as we are, our own lives are at risk if we try to rescue others in our own strength and wisdom. We may temporarily help them, but it’s God that they really need. Whether the struggling person needs to meet him for the first time, or needs a reminder of how amazing he is, or even needs a wise word that helps him stop running from God, God knows best. Our role is important and our efforts do matter but let’s not get in God’s way since He is the one in charge!

God is in the business of saving us and he is a pro at it. So whether you find yourself today feeling like the drowning person, or whether you see someone close by needing help, look to him for the answers. God wants both people involved safe and has the ability to do so. Even the most caring person can’t accomplish much if he is pulled under too.

Ouch, God! Why Are You So Mean To Me!

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Lord, what you won’t do to win our hearts. You love us so and want good for us. Yet how often must you create troubling circumstances for us so we come to you at all? We want to be our own masters, be independent, do it our way. This is not a good trait like we suppose. It’s offensive to you. It’s a fist held up to you, an attitude that keeps us from you and your love. The very hardship we fear and despise can be that slap in the face that wakes us up. It’s awful and painful but keeps us from walking off a cliff blinded by our own pride and arrogance. Instead of thanking you, we often cry out, “Ouch God! That hurt! Why are you so mean to me?”

Waiting Well

Psalm 27:13 -14

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Times of waiting are often some of the hardest times of our lives, aren’t they? They require so much strength and endurance as well as a daily, even hourly, decision to trust God. Perhaps we are carrying a heavy load and have to go just a bit farther…but how many times have we heard that said already? Or we have to be content a little longer alone though our hope for a friend or spouse doesn’t seem to be that much to ask. Or maybe we are stuck doing what seems to us endless and pointless. Examples could go on and on really.

I would hope as adults we would understand more easily that life is all about God’s timing, not our own. But daily I certainly struggle with impatience. There is a proper time for everything we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes. God weaves together so many factors in his perfect plan. How can we expect we to always get what we want now?

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

So much of waiting well includes trusting God. His way is always best and he sees every factor involved that we do not. We have to desire to want what God wants and love what God loves. And we must trust God’s processes. So much of what God is doing involves shaping our character and aligning us with his truth.

In our sinful world, what is valued is prideful independence, my preferences and getting all I deserve. What God values is our dependence on him, our submission to his will and our humility. Exact opposites. Because we are so stubborn to change, it does take elaborate plans to get us where we need to be. God never seems to be in a rush either. How often do we read of 40 years waiting here and there for the next phase of life in the Bible? 40 years is easily half of our current lifetime!

Recently I was reminded of how quickly God often does work when the timing is right. It is a joy to see all the circumstances falling into place in a way that can only be God’s doing. It’s so wonderful to see him get the glory as He should. We catch a glimpse of what He is doing and it’s just amazing. (Then ironically we struggle to keep up with his fast pace.)

I’ve found the hardest times of waiting for me seem to be when I feel I have a wonderful godly plan but nothing comes of it. It seems to me it’s something that should please God and maybe is something I wasn’t even open to in the past but there it sits as life goes on as usual. All I can see is lots of stop signs. Is it just God changing my heart desires I wonder? I wish I could say I understand but often I really don’t.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God orchestrates the goings-on of the whole world, all space and time, everything. I struggle to orchestrate my day! God is all knowing. He knows every thought, hope, and desire every person has or will have. We are open books to him. I often find there are huge parts of my own heart I don’t understand! There have been times in my life I was sure I was running down the best path ever at full speed only to find I got off course miles and miles back without having a clue. It is a very good thing that God is in control, not ourselves. He is perfect in every way and so wonderfully good. When he has us wait it is because that is what is best.

We do have many choices as we often are waiting in our lives. There is always beauty around us somewhere to enjoy and appreciate. Sometimes we are in the midst of the most beautiful, elaborate place that completely overwhelms our senses. Other times we must look for beauty and find it in places we never expected – a tiny plant growing in the crack of the sidewalk perhaps, an intriguing geometrical shadow made from the bars of my cell, the haunting screech of an owl I hear as as I wander lost in the dark and lonely woods.

God is always at work and we are never forgotten by him. We can always have hope. We may feel frustrated that we remain where we don’t want to be or that circumstances stay the same despite all our prayers. We cannot see what God is doing often. We may not even feel his presence. But God promises never to leave us or forsake us – and God never breaks a promise. So we do whatever that next thing is for his glory. Maybe we must ask God for help loving a difficult person around us. Or maybe we ask God to help us have a smile on our face as we do what we must do. At some point we may need to ask to be able to truly celebrate with a brother or sister that finally is done waiting themselves without feeling sorry for ourselves.

In the end all I can say is that God is wonderfully in the waiting too. He’s accomplishing all sorts of things behind the scenes in our character, in our desires, in those around us and in his amazing grand plans. The waiting times can be good times, even great times if we have the right viewpoint.

Regardless of how time seems to be passing, it is zipping by. Our days on earth are not many compared to eternity. We can endure because we have the Almighty God of the universe right here with us, sharing our load. God gives us the Holy Bible that overflows with examples of people that did have to wait and how God did help them endure the best way possible. The Bible helps us see that life is always about God’s perfect timing, not ours. We have Holy Spirit to remind us of who we are and who God is and that we are so very blessed. And thankfully God gives us people to walk this long road with so we can encourage one another and remind each other what is true.

So we wait and pray to God that we wait well. We pray that we glorify him in our waiting and that we help others as they wait too. We pray that we allow God to thoroughly prepare us to be ready to run fast and hard when he says it’s finally time to go because that day will come.

Yes

The Lord is so wise. He doesn’t allow our relationship with him to become too one-sided or stagnant. It’s great to learn new truths about God and get to know him better, very exciting. But he reminds me that along with knowing him better is trusting him more. God helps us act on our new understanding. I learn as I read God’s Word that he is so very good but eventually a time will come when I must act on that and trust he is good, even when it’s hard. Perhaps a discussion will come up about the evil in the world or the hopelessness and he’ll prompt me to mention his hope. Or, perhaps a dream I’ve always had will come crashing to the ground and I will have to choose how to respond. Is God good now? Do I believe it? Can I say it, even whisper it?

I’ve always enjoyed learning facts which made me an ideal student in the old days. The hands-on education was more of a challenge to me. So it’s easy to approach my Christian walk the same way. Bad plan. God has no interest in making encyclopedias or dictionaries. Maybe that’s the issue the Pharisees had, too? They did think they loved God yet Jesus continually challenged them that their love of laws was not what He was looking for. Jesus is making disciples, servants, friends. It doesn’t matter that we know so much if we care so little.

God helps us to be good stewards of his Word. When we do seem stuck, or uninspired or just plain bored, it’s very possible he is getting our attention that we need to act on what we know. God always gives us a choice. He does ask us if we are willing, if we will obey. What is our response? Until it is yes, most likely we will find ourselves with the brake pedal down.

I do love that God is so patient with us. He doesn’t condemn or shame us. But neither does he accept our stubbornness or disobedience as an ok way to respond to his call. Telling God no, or not now or not yet may even be setting ourselves up for relearning the lesson we have already been taught. With many lessons being difficult and painful, that is something I do not want!

May we always say “Yes, Lord.”

Yes, I will choose prayer over worry.

Yes, I will speak of your goodness and love to a world that knows little of it.

Yes, I will let go of what I hold so tightly.

Yes, I will take the next step in faith.

Just plain yes.

Guard Your Heart

I never used to understand the expression, “guard your heart”. Guard it why? And from what? It seemed random and really pretty pointless to me.

I get it now though. Life will teach us what it means one way or another. It’s a check and balance system we must use, more accurately that we ask God to use on us. Guarding our heart requires us to analyze what we are and are not passionate about. We learn to be aware of what we love and hate.

I’m glad we don’t have to guard our heart from God because it is great to be head over heels in love with God, to expect the world from him, to base every decision and hope on him. But we can easily find we love Him too little.

With everyone and everything else, though, we must be checking our hearts often. What or whom do I get super excited to be around? What is the highlight of my day? What would I give anything for? What would I never give up? Is there anything or anyone I would find life not worth living if I lost? What do I panic to have less of?

It’s not easy to keep things where they belong in our lives. It is worth it to analyze our hearts and give the decisions we need to make to God constantly. When things get out of order, we set ourselves up for heartbreak and hardship. What is creeping into God‘s place in my heart? That is called an idol – yes, even good things can end up an idol. Other things can too, like entertainment, food, or pleasure. Or my job, my hobby, or even myself.

And what about the people that need to be at the top of my priority list? Are they? Or have they been demoted down to the scraps of my time and attention? Where is my heart when it comes to all God loves? God loves people. He loves freeing people from sin and shame to find the true meaning of life. Do I care about others or what God loves?

It’s hard, I admit. Asking these questions can lead to hard answers I often wish were not true. But I like ______________. But I thought _____________was OK? But.

But God always knows best and what He readjusts will lead to greater peace and joy in our lives. It’s no fun to have what we would like to choose called an idol. It’s always hard to hear God say “no” or “less of”. But with time, we will understand.

The problem is what our hearts love most, we can’t always see accurately. We can justify our hopes, thoughts and actions so easily, hiding the truth from ourselves even. God always reveals truth with love because he is 100% truth and 100% love. As a song I like states, He loves us too much to give us lesser things. He sees the nooks and crannies of our hearts where we hide what we fear we will lose. Those secrets are known by Him already. It’s kind of a relief isn’t it? We can’t fool or outsmart God.

So, guard your heart. Really, just give the job to God because it’s His anyway! If you have no idea how to start, just ask God. He will bring to mind some good things to analyze. Notice what you most love and hate. Refuse to hide anything. Ask God the hard questions and really decide beforehand that you will obey whatever he says. No matter how you may feel right now, you’ll know greater peace and joy if you do it God’s way. We have to help each other remember this too because all of us can get confused and be deceived. That’s what God wants us to do as a Christian community….help out those we notice veering off the path and listen to them when they tell us that same thing.

Out At Sea

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Here we are floating in the ocean, unsure how we are going to survive or where we are going. We’re hungry, thirsty and all we know is desperation. This is the life we have before we are drawn to God and His salvation.

We must have once been either on land somewhere or on ship, but it’s all a guess. This is all we’ve known and we do our best to survive. A good day is having some fresh water to drink, or finding a larger piece of debris to float upon.

Our assumptions are right… that this wasn’t how it used to be. Before our choice to sin against God and choose ourselves over Him, we did live a good life on land. But no longer. Now we are stuck in this hopeless existence. 

God has made a way to live a life once again connected to Him, our source of hope and joy! When God offered His only Son, Jesus, to live on this earth and eventually die in our place on the cross, life changed forever. We can know a better life, one free of this constant desperation. When we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our life, we are thrilled to see there really are ships dotting the horizon, one even coming our way.

The Christian life is one of purpose. We now are limited only by ourselves for we live day to day with the God of the impossible as our closest friend. We have the chance to know others and really be part of a community. 

I wish things were perfect at this point, but they are not. I have a new heart and life but I still live in this body of flesh with many sinful patterns and habits needing to be removed. God’s way is so much different than our way! Just having to take orders and answer to someone can be a challenge to many of us. We have to learn to completely trust God and obey Him absolutely. This community is full of people like myself, wanting to grow but often lacking quite a bit.

Ironically, the first major problem we find as we climb onto this ship and hear our first order is that of just remaining on the ship! Every time God says, ok, crew, time to get moving, a good chunk of us jump back into the water. It seems ridiculous, but it’s what we know…being in the water, struggling to swim. Once we’re back in the water, our minds clear again and we realize what a bad idea this was and keep an eye out for another vessel. I won’t do that anymore, we each resolve. God’s way is staying aboard that ship and doing as he says. Truthfully, some of us continue to jump overboard our whole lives. God doesn’t give up on those of us stuck in this crazy routine, but a lot of time gets wasted and I do think we miss out on many adventures and wonderful journeys. 

When we finally stop jumping ship, we have a chance to hear and obey God. If He says, We’re going to all row for awhile, we can choose to listen and obey. Some people do and other don’t. The ones oblivious to God seem to be tossed to and fro, causing difficulty for everyone else. Then there are the people that do go to their assigned spot but didn’t listen to the technique they need to use. So, they are rowing backward and not helping at all. Again, God is merciful. He understands our frailty and our struggles to listen and understand and obey. We are on the ship and we are going the right way at least. 

Time for a break God instructs. I’ll take this shift. Everyone go rest and have a meal. We have a challenging stretch coming up. He is so good to us! He is the perfect Father and Captain! He always has His glory and our good in mind. So, off we go, well most of us. We go sleep and get our hunger and thirst taken care of. But, as you probably guess by now, others don’t heed. Some refuse to stop rowing. They must work, always work. God expects them to earn their keep they think. He’s a hard master. So, they don’t rest, and they don’t get refreshed and unless they start to listen to God, they will have a very short and harsh life. Sadly all of that effort is for nothing in the end anyway. 

Everyone back in place, now in your secondary positions, God instructs. We all have different roles on the ship and they change up at times. This one is a position we are learning but not that great at yet. You’ll be watching as I take the ship through this part, God lets us know. It’s a relief too, because huge rocks are jutting out everywhere and it looks very dangerous. There He goes, navigating the ship flawlessly as we all sit and watch. Amazing, we all think. In our own strength, we would never have made it. Yet, there are still those rowing their little hearts out, paying no attention, and always some around in the water looking confused. 

We are instructed to go back to our original positions now and and are all rowing again. God sets the speed and we coordinate our oars as the ship cuts swiftly through the water. Not everyone though, some are wandering around the ship still and others refuse to go the pace God set. Some still are rowing backwards and others have passed out, having never taken their break earlier in the day. 

I think this is the Christian life as it really is. God goes where He pleases and we have a place in His plan. We can make things easier or more difficult for others and ourselves. We all have periods of wonderful obedience but there will be times we slip up and even jump ship. We can insist on our own foolish way and cause ourselves all sorts of problems. God is so gracious! But we aren’t always that gracious to one another, are we? It’s easy to judge, and become proud in our good times. It’s easy to turn away from those struggling and not lend that helping hand. 

Here are a couple lessons I’ve learned being in all these above places at times. First, listen to God, really listen. Our old patterns will not get us where we should be going. God’s ways and plans will often seem different and challenging, but they are always good. I don’t want to spend all my time flailing around in the ocean waiting for the next ship!

Second, we must trust God. Even as we become better shipsmen, we don’t know better than God. He’s brilliant! If He gives an order, it’s because it’s best. If it’s paddling or resting or changing our role, or whatever it is, we need to trust Him and obey.

Third, we aren’t in this alone. We can help those around us and encourage them. Maybe they won’t listen, but maybe they will. Even if we’re in some bad circumstances ourselves, we have the chance to say, hey, there’s hope! Do you know the Almighty God? If you do, do you know there will be another ship coming by soon and we can get back on it? I’ll help you. Here’s what I’ve experienced….

Fourth, mercy is crucial. When we see how full of grace and mercy God is to us all of the time, we should be encouraged to be the same. We all start in the same place, floating in the water confused!  We all have ups and downs and have or will experience every place I’ve mentioned. So, let’s be  gracious to those around us.

Lessons From A Hosta

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Yesterday I transplanted some hostas around my house. I had to take most of them from their happy place behind my house where it is dark, cool and moist around to the front of my house where it is very sunny, dry and mostly clay. Behind the house, we’d see them maybe 20 times a year. Now, they will be seen thousands of times by us and everyone that comes to our home. They will make the house look beautiful!

I know it’s silly, but I felt bad about it. As I saw them try to adjust to their new place, a couple seemed so droopy and dismal. I started talking to them. “This isn’t a punishment! Now you will be seen and appreciated so much more! You are front and center! You’ll get used to it! Trust me!” I hope they make it but they look pretty sad right now.

Aren’t we a bit like those hostas in the hands of the Master Gardener? We can feel similarly ripped from our comfortable spot where we loved the conditions to find ourselves suddenly shoved into a very inhospitable place. God must be mad at me, we may think. This is a time of trial and hardship I bet. But sometimes, maybe it’s a reward that we just can’t understand. Maybe this new place that’s harsh and overly sunny is where we will bring so much more glory to our Father. Possibly like those most beautiful plants I put close to the entryway, the ground is rough but we have a chance to really shine.

It will take work. And that constant sun is very annoying. Maybe God knows we are finally ready to withstand the harsh environment that this front and center spot happens to have. He is still there with us and will tend to us, but we have to make the effort of growing and making this place our new home. We have to shove our roots into that hard soil and find the water that’s more hidden and less plentiful. Maybe we have to accept that we won’t grow at such a fast rate as we used to BUT we have the chance to bring God loads of glory.

Will we cooperate? Or will we wither and give up, deciding it’s too hard and He must be displeased with me. Do we state that if He keeps me watered, I’ll grow, but I won’t do all that work to find new water myself in this nasty clay. Is that glorifying God? Is that trusting Him and bringing Him glory?

We can trust God.

He’s the master gardener and He knows exactly what He’s doing. He knows where we each will bring Him the most glory and that’s where we should want to be. Maybe it is in a hidden place where few see our beauty. Maybe it’s in the hard place in full view of everyone. Either way, it’s up to Him, isn’t it? Shouldn’t our reply always be,

Yes, Lord. What you have for me is best and I trust You.

We can’t see the big picture, but He can and one day He’ll show us all the behind the scenes things we don’t know. It will all make wonderful sense. If that’s decades away, that’s ok, isn’t it?

So, grow little hosta. Do what you can to cooperate with the place God has you. He has put you on display because He loves you and finds you beautiful.

Fricasseed Octopus Anyone? I Insist!

Sanctification is quite an interesting process. It sounds scary and rightly so really. I’m over here on the map, very corner left side and somehow God has plans to get me to the opposite corner with me not really knowing the specifics or terrain. Especially for those of us that like to be prepared, or super-prepared, that is unsettling to say the least. We don’t have to be afraid though. We can have peace because we know God and His wonderful character. God can be absolutely trusted. He is perfectly good, kind and faithful to us, the perfect Father and Friend. God knows the best blend of encouragement, conviction, discipline and celebration (and sometimes downright prodding us out of our lethargy and stubbornness) to make each of us more like Christ every day.

The trouble is that I like, even prefer, all my well-worn paths. They are no where near “perfect” and often quite disappointing but they are familiar. Change can be scary and forces us to confront our pride over and over. It also requires learning to appreciate new things about God, myself and others. Meanwhile, as we fear, we are required to give up some things that aren’t good for us. God prompts us toward new habits, new activities and new joys.

These constant lessons vary in difficulty and reward. Some lessons feel like God insisting on us eating Brussel sprouts (which I love for the record) or liver, or fricasseed octopus. Other lesson seem like He is insisting we get into bungee jumping on a daily basis when we are afraid of heights. Some lessons are super awkward like being told that person you really can’t stand is now going to be a dear friend to you. Huh? And the worse, most dreaded may involve extreme sacrifice like Him asking us to cut off our own limb. What?

I like all my limbs! I want to believe I know what’s best for me but I don’t. God made me and He is the one that’s the expert and final decision maker when He is our Lord. It’s still hard for me to admit I am naturally drawn to sinful things. Or bad habits. Or inappropriate humor. Or whatever else is of this world and not part of life in Christ. In His kind and perfect way, God continues to reveal myself to me. I struggle to see what is so great about some of God’s delicacies. Truthfully I just want to say YUCK and walk away. I want to argue with God at times. And I have just plain refused here and there to agree with Him (only to be stuck in the same place for weeks, or months, or years until I relent…I do not recommend this way!)

Sanctification does seem to both get easier and not get easier as we know God better and progress through life. It becomes easier because we do start to see glimpses of how godly things are wonderful and appealing. I’m still working on that octopus, but I have a nice long list of new things I’ve tried and thoroughly enjoyed. God is so good to us and He does give us areas that we will see immediate improvement and joy. That helps! We learn to know His character better and better so we can trust His promises. He teaches us that life isn’t all about comfort and ease so we learn to persevere and have the strength to say “no” to what the world insists is good. 

But in some ways sanctification does not seem to get easier. One of my favorite phrases lately is from C.S. Lewis, “God is easy to please but hard to satisfy.” God loves us so and because of Christ’s blood shed for our sin, He can accept us as His children right now as we are. He can be pleased with us right now, today. He also loves who we are becoming because He works in us to become more and more like Christ. He is not satisfied that we just stay as we are, unlike Christ in many ways. We slowly learn that it’s a joy and worth every difficulty and sorrow to obey God completely and submit to His plan.

There is only one answer if we want to grow in our relationship with God, Yes, Lord. Yes, I will stop chasing after pointless things. Yes, I will spend my time as you want. Yes, I will say goodbye to that limb. Yes. Yes. Yes. It’s always for a reason and it’s always for our best. Many things we will see change here on this earth, maybe even today! And the things that we don’t understand, we choose to trust and believe God knows best and He will reveal things to us as we are ready. Maybe that will be in Heaven instead of on earth. I can live with that, can’t you? What does God want you to say yes to today? The octopus really isn’t all that bad – it kind of tastes like chicken.

Shame on You?

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I’ve been reading a really interesting book by Curt Thompson, M.D. called Anatomy of the Soul which talks a lot about shame and the ongoing struggle we all have wanting to be known and fearing it at the same time. We so often struggle with being enough, “good” enough, important enough, loved enough.

Thompson explains that shame affects everything about us, our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our beliefs and desires. Everything. He explains that shame can feel like emotional whiplash. Our hearts and minds are zipping along on a path with excitement at a tremendous speed and something abruptly stops us. In shock, we go into a fight or flight mode to help us deal with our hurt and confusion. Depending on our past, our personalities and our beliefs, we come up with reactions that seem to help, like lashing out or hiding in our distress. We look for what can soothe us, food and drink, numbing, people, anything. But we don’t naturally go to God, the one that can actually help us.

You’re enjoying a day with friends and think you overhear, “If only she didn’t have to come this would be more fun.” A slap in the face. You work hard to do something well and instead of a “great job”, you get laughed at or criticized. You share something painful about your fears and get a blank stare or a smirk. You plan what you thought was a fun activity but begin to catch looks of boredom on people’s faces. I’m sure all of us could easily come up with hundreds of examples because life is full of difficulty and disappointment. And this doesn’t even address the shame we feel for all the ways we really have majorly let others down and hurt people we love. 

Shame is part of our fallen world. But we don’t have to be its constant victim. Yes, shame is in our “blood,” our genes. Adam and Eve went down the path of shame in the Garden of Eden but there is a new development since then…

Christ died for all our sin and shame.

Adam and Eve seemed to be having a fine day when the serpent began to chat with them. Though very few words were used, Satan accomplished his goal of leaving them filled with doubt and fear. (Let’s emphasize, he always leaves us when we are in need. Yet another reason to keep our eyes only on God.) That was the instant they could have chosen to go to God and clear up the confusion. The serpent, Satan, twisted God’s words into half-truths. Adam and Eve listened and believed it all as truth. It was a painful slap in the face to them to think God was not all He said He was. They should have ran towards Him and spoke with Him, asked Him to help them understand what was happening in their hearts and minds. But they hardened their hearts and ran from God. That’s how God went from closest friend, confidante and father to a suddenly shady character, stingy, conniving and cruel. We would have done the same thing then and we often do that now.

I am thankful that God doesn’t change.

He’s good, just, perfect, merciful and compassionate.  God can handle our difficult emotions. Nothing about our thoughts or actions or desires are unknown to Him and they certainly don’t surprise Him. Have you taken the path I did for a long time of trying to put my best self on display for God and others? It seemed a good idea but it was only a hiding technique of a child. We close our eyes, we hide, but we don’t fool God. Whatever we did, something small like spilling the vase or big like choosing to break one of His commandments, we always have a merciful Father that wants to heal our hurts and bring His redeeming love and justice to the situation. It’s a process but it must be done. We must choose to come clean and believe God will love us the same. He does, you know. No matter what the response from people has been in your life, God deals with us with mercy and grace. He will make things right and walk with us through it. It makes Him sad that we choose sin and turn our backs on Him, but it’s more painful for us to stay apart from Him than it is to face up to our wrong-doing and ask for help.

It’s helped me immensely to realize God really does have emotions. We may pretend He doesn’t, or assume He doesn’t but we are modeled after Him.  He displays emotion all of the time in the Bible. Emotions were made to be a good thing. I didn’t believe that in the past. I fought them and found every way I could to avoid them. The problem is emotions are a huge part of the way we connect with people and with God. Some of us are more logical and others are more creative, but all of us are made with emotions. 

Emotions aren’t a game either. That’s what they felt like in my middle school and high school years. It was interesting to see how much attention they could attract, good and bad. At the same time, they were entirely overwhelming. (So, a game gone wrong, and entirely out of my control would probably sum them up best!) It’s not surprising how messed up most people are in the area of emotions. Without God’s tempering control, they seem to often become a beast running wild or one hopelessly imprisoned. Worldly wisdom doesn’t touch all the crevices of hurt emotions eventually fill.

Emotions must be important to people because they are important to God. I always wondered why David was called a man after God’s own heart. I assumed he just was lucky, the favorite. (You see how shame colors our perception!) But David is a pretty flawed person just like all of us. I do notice over and over that what he does well is he

engaged God in an intimate way, full of passion and longing.

It’s not just about obedience, it’s about willing obedience. David pursued God’s heart and God blessed him for it. When David fell, he did come back to God and throw himself at God’s mercy. There’s no reason we can’t do the same thing.  He was called a man after God’s own heart and that is a phrase used very little in the Bible. I want to be called a woman after God’s own heart and the great thing is, I think I can be because it’s GOD that makes this possible.

God needs nothing, it’s true. He is absolutely content and complete. However, He did make the earth. He did make all of us. He pursues people constantly with love and passion. God chooses to be affected by us. No, he doesn’t NEED us, but He WANTS us. I think that’s the greatest compliment.  God isn’t some distant force, cold and calculating. He’s a BEING that made us IN HIS IMAGE to know Him. How can we ever say God doesn’t care? He found people worth allowing HIS ONLY SON to die for us. That’s such an amazing fact that it should be a fact we ponder our whole lives!

God says we are worth it.

God allows us to be able to affect Him, grieve Him, bring Him joy. We can bring Him, the Almighty God, joy! He bids us draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. We will be able to live a life of joy and hope.

It’s actually a relief to get to the point where we can just say to God, “I don’t want to doubt You any more and I’m tired of fighting fear. I’ve run so much I think I could have circled the globe by now. No more running, no more hiding, no more games. Whatever you have for me, I’m in. I want your joy and I believe the safest place to be is in your care. Please take away the shame I often struggle with and replace it with your amazing love, joy and hope. I want to come to You with all my emotions, all my hopes, all my fears and allow You to make sense of them all. Please be the Lord of my emotions along with everything else. Amen.”

Knowing and Being Known By God

It’s hard enough to decide if we affect people around us. Are there people around us that long for our company, that miss us when we are not there? Does our presence or lack of it matter?

But dare we ask the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, this question?

Do we affect God? God needs nothing after all. He is an amazing community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is a complete unit, absolutely fulfilled, needing no one and nothing. So what can I even offer God I wonder. It’s easy to assume I have little worth and that He’s far off and unaffected by me. But that’s just not true.

As much as I try to fight it at times, there’s a desire in my heart, and every heart, to

know others and be known by others.

We may minimize this, but eventually we will come to find it’s as crucial to humans as needing food and water, at least if we want to thrive and know real love and joy. The same need is there for us to know and be known by God. It’s actually even more crucial, because the truth is, in our difficult world, He is the only being that we can truly say will never leave us or forsake us. Whether we are in a time of feast or famine, we still always have God.

The way we grow in our relationship with God has many similarities to the way we grow in our human relationships. It’s a give and take. We decide to risk and we choose to be vulnerable. God could force us to share. He could coerce us or guilt us. But, God only

invites us

to know Him and be known by Him. That has been hard for me to accept. God gives us a choice to know Him. He gives us a choice to open our hearts to Him as well. The end doesn’t justify the means with God. It has always mattered that we choose to open our hearts to Him., we choose to love Him, we choose to obey. God has never wanted robots. Once I understood that God respects the people He created (me!) and gives us the choice to know and love Him, I became much more excited to proceed in this relationship.

When we accept God’s gift of salvation and decide to submit to His Lordship, we get to partner with Him as He heals our hearts and transforms us to be more and more like Christ. We actually have to learn to even know ourselves! We aren’t only in the dark about Him and life, but we are in the dark about even ourselves. We need His help to continue to grow as children of God.  It may sound scary, but it’s actually a very cool process that we begin to look forward to. Once we’re in heaven, we won’t struggle any more with sin, and I can’t wait!!! But, until then, it’s a big process of

learning to say yes more and more to God, and no to our selfish selves.

I’d compare it to living life with a body full of disease. All our past mistakes, sins, wounds from others and ourselves…it has affected everything about us. As we allow God more and more into our lives, He graciously offers His healing touch. He tenderly transplants these diseased parts of our bodies with healthy ones. Compare it to having a needed heart transplant and being able to be active now without worrying about overdoing it and dying! Or it’s like finally having a kidney transplant and no longer needing that dialysis machine. It’s 100% worth it and we have to remember, we are talking about the only being in the universe that is absolutely good doing this. He is love itself. He is wisdom. We can trust Him. If we accept His invitation, ask for His help, it actually becomes a joy. We begin to get excited to know how God will change us to be more like Christ.

What’s the price, you ask? There is a sacrifice. We sacrifice pride, which seems to be in every cell in our body. We sacrifice our plans and our hopes to begin to line up with His plans for us, His hopes for us. It is a loss of some things, but you won’t regret it, not at all. It may be sad to give up those imitation jewels, a loss. But, what God gives us in return are the real jewels. He is so generous and kind. How can we ever really be disappointed in Him and His plans? If we trust, and hang in there until He completes what He’s doing, we will always be glad we did.

Being known by God is an amazing gift. And knowing God Himself as a Friend, and Counselor and Companion and Lover….it is what we were meant for.