me vs. thee

I was thinking last night that I believe, at least, for me, the whole of Christianity, this life of faith in God, is boiled down to how much we can trust.  I know I’ve written post after post and taught message after message about this subject, but it truly, for me, is what it keeps coming back to.

 

How much can I trust God to be who he said he will be to me?  How much do I place my trust in my plans versus his plans?  Why is it so hard for me to abandon my schemes and plots and just simply be still (stop moving, fretting, fighting, worrying) and know that he is God.  How I handle this issue in my life doesn’t determine whether or not I will have problems or not, but it will determine my response to them and whether or not I handle them appropriately.  Let’s just say lately it’s been a struggle. 

 

Trust is such a big issue.  It’s funny because I have a pretty easy time trusting other people, but when it comes to handling life and issues that arise where I need to trust God’s provision or guidance or just simply his presence, I struggle.  I don’t know if this comes from a wound still unhealed, having had spiritual fathers in my life fail me or misrepresent God to me or if its simply a standard human struggle, but it’s there. 

 

I keep thinking of that wonderful line in Evan Almighty.  (I know it didn’t do well in the box office, but I really liked it and it had a really good message.)  God tells Evan, “When someone prays for patience, I don’t give it to them, but I give them opportunities to be patient.”  And so on, and so on.  I keep telling God that I want to trust him more and better, but last night I told him I really could use him lightening up on the opportunities to trust him!!  Thank God he understands all my craziness. 

 

Anyway, if you’re reading this and you want to jump into conversation on this, leave me a comment.  How do you do trusting God?  Is it hard for you?  Do you find yourself scrambling to find “plan B” if God doesn’t seem to come through?  What’s your take?  And if you have the secret to trusting God better, share it with all of us.  I’m open, wide open!! 

Lisa

I lost a friend today. She was about 40 years old, a Children's pastor and a wonderful person. She and I served together on our college class officer board and worked together on the college yearbook. She was from my wife's home church growing up. She died today of cancer.

I really don't know what to write here, except to say that cancer sucks. I wish I would have had the chance to talk with her. I actually did, but didn't take it. She had so many visitors in and out and calls of encouragement and love, I'm sure that she was blessed in her final days knowing she was so loved. It's not that she needed me to call, I needed to, but didn't. I'll see her again one day in heaven and we'll talk then.

Makes you want to hug those you love real tight.

you might be...

Here is a great list that I found through Emerging Grace. It's by Larry Chouinard.

You Might Have Missional Tendencies If . . .
1. You talk more about the Kingdom of God than you do your local church.

2. You are more in awe of the radical Jesus than you are the charisma of your pastor/preacher.

3. You feel a greater sense of community in the parking lot than in the pews.

4. You've oftened muttered leaving a 'church service', "there's got to be more to it than this".

5. You've often wondered why the church couldn't meet in the park or Starbucks once in a while.

6. You've cringed at the coldness and indifference of church people when someone shows up at our 'church service' that looks and smells different.

7. You've wondered why Christians only hang-out with Christians when Jesus seemingly never missed an opportunity to party with the riff-raff.

8. You've wondered what God does the other six days of the week.

9. You've had the urge to spill your guts to the next artificial inquiry, "I'm fine, how are you?".

10. You've had the compelling urge to join the preacher at the podium to present an alternative perspective.

11. You've wanted to fall to your knees while everyone stood for another happy-clappy song.

12. You've wanted to close a 'service' by shouting from your pew, "NOW WHAT?"

13. You sometimes find more spiritual depth and authenticity in the lives of those who do not go to church.

lesson learned #6

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often looks so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”  Thomas Jefferson

 

Lesson learned:  don’t let the closed doors keep you from looking toward the open ones. 

 

I don’t know if Thomas Jefferson is the one who coined that phrase or not, but I’ve used it to describe the closing of one event/season in our lives and I’m sure that you have too.  But what I hadn’t seen until today was the rest of the quote and it maybe more true than the first part. 

 

Those of us who have walked through loss, whether it is a job, relationship, church, or death, find ourselves sometimes at the closed door.  Depending on the day, we might pound our fists upon it until our hands bleed, cursing it for closing just when it did.  Maybe simply give up looking anywhere else, because so desperately had placed all of our hopes and dreams on that open door that we cannot believe anything ever good can come from another door.    

 

But this is where we fail.  This is when we miss the point.  God never says no to one thing, without saying yes to another.  Granted, it may not be what we have planned or wanted even, yet the Father’s truest intention is for our good.  Why sit us at the closed door when he who can open the doors no man can shut has something more perfect in mind for us?

 

Let us look away from the closed door.  Unless the Lord opens it, it will never open.  Our stare, our camping out by its frame will not make it open any faster.  Let us look away, to him…and see if he has not done what he has promised:  to give us hope and a future, and a better one at that!  (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

little faith

“Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"  (Mark 4:38-40 NIV)

An excerpt from Stan Jordan’s “Prevailing Winds”:

 

“The entire point of Jesus’ rebuke was that the disciples did not think that He cared about them.  They did not believe that He would keep them from harm.  This is probably the hardest thing in the world for us to come to grips with: the fact that Jesus Christ, the Son of the Almighty God of the universe, loves us deeply and is daily concerned about us, our affairs and our well-being.  How can we become convinced of this, convinced enough so that it will make a difference in our daily walk?  For some it comes in an instant when they become born again, while for others it only comes after years of experiences in Christianity.  This knowing may never come to some because they fail to develop an intimate relationship with God.  Somehow, though, we must become convinced of the fact of Christ’s intimate love for us—despite and regardless of the situations we may have to face down.” (pgs 105-6)

 

I wanted to take a look at this statement because it has so much to say about what I’ve been learning and talking about in previous posts.  I’ve looked at those scriptures where Jesus rebuked the disciples for a lack of faith and felt he was talking about their lack of faith in regard to doing the miraculous, like he did.  But here Stan points out something that is so important to us:  He wants us to have faith in his love for us!

 

This is the cornerstone of our walk with him, yet it is the hardest for us to believe.  And why?  Because those who have represented him in our lives, either purposefully or coincidentally fail to love unconditionally.

 

Before we get indignant, though, we must remember that it’s not necessarily their fault.  Even though some have made purposeful actions that would us and scar the feet of our trust, it is more likely that they, just like us, are human and fail to love perfectly.  What we must recognize is that it is the enemy of our souls that takes the wounds and makes them personal attacks.  It is the enemy who says that God is holding out on us, that he doesn’t love us enough to do for us or be for us who we desire. 

 

The Bible calls the devil “the accuser of the brethren.”  But even more than just our brothers, he accuses God to us.  We must learn to recognize that voice when it comes to accuse God in our ears.  For his words are not truth, but fabrications made that when we fail to see Him move in our lives, we are quick to listen to him rather than have faith that God is on our side, through thick and thin.  As Paul said, we must not be “ignorant of his devices.”

 

the church in ashes

I want to share something from John Eldredge’s Daily Readings devotional today:

"Have you no other daughters?” “No,” said the man. “There is a little stunted kitchen wench which my late wife left behind her, but she cannot be the bride.” The King’s son said he was to send her up to him; but the stepmother answered, “Oh no, she is much too dirty, she cannot show herself!” But he absolutely insisted on it, and Cinderella had to be called. She first washed her hands and face clean, and then went and bowed down before the King’s son, who gave her the golden slipper. Then she seated herself on a stool, drew her foot out of the heavy wooden shoe, and put it into the slipper, which fit like a glove. And when she rose up and the King’s son looked at her face, he recognized the beautiful maiden who had danced with him and cried, “This is the true bride!” The stepmother and two sisters were horrified and became pale with rage; he, however, took Cinderella on his horse and rode away with her.

I love this part of the story—to see the heroine unveiled in all her glory. To have her, finally, rise up to her full height. Mocked, hated, laughed at, spit upon—Cinderella is the one the slipper fits; she’s the one the prince is in love with; she’s the true bride. Just as we are.” (Waking the Dead , 71–72)

I love the way John puts this analogy to the church, but I want to take it just a little bit further.

God is in love with his bride, and he is seeking her out. Don’t be surprised when you see her come to him with soot and ashes on her from the religious stepparent who has tried to subjugate her in performance and legalism, but never allowing her to experience the true freedom of being loved by the King!

I think one thing I’ve learned before even my CLB experience, but also now it’s reaffirmed, is that the church is those who are called out…from wherever they are found. The Good Shepherd is seeking all the sheep, not just the ones who look like they belong, not just those who play the religious rules, but those who know no religious structure or form and those who have been enslaved by the stepparent who has taken the place of the true Father and taught them to perform duty rather than enjoy intimacy. These are those people who love God because he has saved their lives from hell, but not just to stick them in a religious circus to make them perform like the world used to, but for freedom!!

Paul said that this was why we were saved…for freedom. Religion has for so long ordered what spirituality and Christianity would look like that now when God is invading the spiritual bubble and popping it, all the masks are being challenged. It’s uncomfortable to have our masks ripped away. It’s unsettling to have to think about why we believe what we do and wonder if what we’ve always believed is really true. It’s unnerving to hear the voice of the Spirit come through someone or something other than our “accepted” procedure and protocols.

It demands us to take notice, to reconcile the fact that we are undone and do not know it all or have it all together. It demands us to recognize a God we’ve not seen before, one who refuses to be defined by man’s feeble speech and reason. It demands us to lay aside our religious standards and protocols and look to the God of mercy for definition and discernment.

There is a slipper in the hand of the Prince today. Maybe he’s looking for us, will we shake off the oppression and soot, or will we allow the conduct of others keep us hidden away by religion and hypocrisy? Maybe there’s a slipper in our hand, and a commission to find those in the shadows…

lesson learned #5

I've been trying to remember and purposely write down some of the lessons that I've learned over the last year as I've journeyed away from my CLB and discovering God's new road and plan for us. I just read a great article on the hindrances to grace, an article you'd love to read.

But it sparked a thought of another thing I've learned over the last year: God's grace has nothing to do with what I can do.

I know that this is the central theme of the Gospel, but I have learned this year that grace (favor) of God is so much more than simply salvation from sin. The grace of God that we've encountered this year is so sufficient. It truly doesn't depend on how good I am, or even how spiritual I may be. God's grace has been wrought in my life, because Jesus died for me to have it and I receive it by faith. It is not anything I can purchase through my works.

We just got done studying in Acts where the sorcerer was trying to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit from Peter. And we think, how ridiculous to believe you could buy a gift of God, but yet we do it all the time. We think that if we are "spiritual," we'll get more from God, or that because we tithe or that we pray 4 hours a day, that God will bless us. Sure, these activities are important and will help us grow spiritually, they definitely won't hurt us, but they are not the currency through which we buy the grace of God.

This is the lesson. Again, we have to place our trust in someone other than ourselves. I think this may be the greatest of all the struggles that Christians have. We all struggle with learning how to not depend on ourselves, but to lean wholly onto God and trust His provision in every arena of life.

It is funny; the other day Joanne and I were talking about this and I mentioned how God had been providing very specifically for us lately and I actually said, "I am so glad to see that God is taking care of us and every time he comes through just when we need him to, but I just don't like having to trust him!!" But this is the truth of where we as disciples are, Jesus was always saying, "oh, you have such little faith." It wasn't that we don't believe he can do it, we just want to do it for him, or be independant from him and make it work ourselves. It's the original lie...to be like him, without the sacrifice.

So this lesson learned: it's not by my works, my efforts, my spirituality that I can do anything, but ONLY by his grace.

through the looking glass

In the midst of my looking back over the last year, I came across this great article by "robbymac" called "Through the Looking Glass." Take a couple of minutes and read it. It highlights what may be wrong with how we have approached leadership in the past. It is a good signpost for us as we move into the future. I'll try to blog more on this later.

lesson learned #4

When you grow up, you start as a child (son or daughter) and you pass through the processes of discipline and structure to build character and integrity helping ready you to be an adult. It is your parent’s responsibility to teach you the right paths and help you gain wisdom from your experiences. There are many times you change hats throughout childhood and adolescence, in which you could be called “son/daughter”, “pupil”, and “servant.” But there is a great day that takes place, and it’s not always recognized by our parents or even by ourselves, but there is a threshold we cross over into “friendship.”

Now we find ourselves in new territory where our parent is now a friend, a peer. Though we will always (or should always) respect and honor, and at times still obey, our parents, it’s this great new adventure of relationship that we embark on which challenges us. How to become friends with our parents??

But what I’ve learned over this year is not so much about earthly parents, but the Heavenly Parent. The progression of maturity in our walk with God is not so that we can remain servants without a voice and only good enough to serve, nor is it only for us to have a familial tie that passes an inheritance on and little else. No, God’s desire in maturing us in our relationship with him is so that we can be his friends.

I’m reminded of two passages of scripture. In the first, Abraham is called the “friend of God.” What a unique and awesome title. It is not to be lightly looked upon, but recognized that this is a high honor. To be known as the friend of a head of state or king, is not a laughing matter, for a friend is one who is given preference and favor. And to be known as God’s friend must be the highest of all favors.

The second passage is when Jesus gathers his disciples before the end of his earthly ministry and says to them, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” What joy they had to feel. In that day, rabbis would take on students and “disciple” them, but they would always be known as the “disciple of…” In this sweeping statement, Jesus is not just making them feel good and telling them how much he loves them (though he is doing that), he is also telling them they are peers. He is not looking down on them, but raising them to his side.

God loves us so much that he desires to take us from being mere children or mere servants, to friends. And like the fulfillment that we find in our friendship with our earthly parents, which can only take place as we mature and listen to them and grow from their wisdom, so to we will find a fulfillment in the friendship found in growing through the discipleship of Jesus.

Lesson learned: God wants me to be his friend.

lesson learned #3

*I am called by God not by man.  Simple enough again, but truth is sometimes we can get too wrapped up in what man has to say about our spiritual lives, its direction and destiny.  I believe more today than ever that God’s calling is without repentance (going back on it, changing His mind), whatever that call may be.  And that only He can define that call to us and for us.  Others will be put in our lives to hone the gifts/callings, and some will be there to confirm those gifts and callings, but only God can define them and set us apart for them.  I believe that people have a place in our fulfilling the “call” on our lives.  We are not an island and we cannot have an “independent spirit,” but it still is our responsibility to know God for ourselves and to follow His direction.  No one else will stand with us in heaven as we give an account of what we did with that which God gave us.  So it is my responsibility to know what God has said and to follow Him. 

 

More to come…