ApprehendingGrace.com

You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what you have done.
                Psalm 91:4 (NLT)

Wow! Am I “thrilled” at what the Lord has done for me? I am challenged by the word “thrill.” We talk about “thrill” rides - those that cause a bit of fear within us, take our breath away, then make us laugh with excitement. Does what God has done for me cause that reaction?

If not, I don’t think it’s God’s fault. I think perhaps it’s because my focus is more on the challenges of the day instead of the goodness of my God. I am seeing the petty problems in front of me instead of the tremendous grandeur of the long view of my life.

It’s not that I am some great person or have done such great things. Quite the contrary. Rather, it is the uncountable good things God has done for me and in me that is the “tremendous grandeur.” It is the beautiful clothes and jewels God has given me. You might see the shorts and T-shirt I have on. But God has clothed me in tremendous grandeur.

He has taken a rebellious young woman, focused only on herself and the gain she would someday have and turned her into a less rebellious middle-aged woman, focused at least somewhat on others and the gain she might help them have. None of that is to my credit, but it is all for my good.

He has worked in me a satisfaction that was sorely missing, taking away a striving that robbed me of joy. Again, this was not of my own doing, but a gift from God. And I am truly thrilled by this…it’s just that I often forget about it in the midst of the troubles of the day. Lord, help me to remember.

I usually don’t strive any more. I still pursue excellence, but I am usually able to remember that only God is perfect and He is immeasurably happy with me whether I am able to achieve all I want to achieve or not. That makes me able to relax and experience the thrill of all He has done for me. When I am striving, when I am uptight about accomplishing what “needs to be done” I also see only the shorts and T-shirt. Lord, help me to stay focused on the grandeur that I might always be thrilled with the life you’ve given me.

 ”God blesses those who realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.”
      Matthew 5:3 (Jesus is speaking) (NLT)

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’”
      Hosea 10:12 (The Lord is speaking) (NLT)

“⁷When I had lost all hope, I turned my thoughts once more to the LORD. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. ⁸Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. ⁹But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone.”
      Jonah 2:7-9 (Jonah is speaking) (v7 NLT, v8 NIV, v9 NLT)

There’s a sermon forming in my spirit from these three verses. It’s not quite fully formed, but you all get to read it in it’s beginning phase:

“When Jonah had lost all hope”…”God blesses those who realize their need for Him”…”Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace” God wants to pour into their lives…”it is time to seek the Lord.”

It is time to let go of (not cling to) old hurts and old habits and even old victories - all become idols that we look to…that we cling to…that become excuses for not doing what God wants us to do…for not being who God wants us to be. They are idols and if we let go of them, God has tremendous grace He wants to pour into our lives. Grace to forgive others…grace to break old patterns of behavior…grace to turn toward Him.

God blesses those who realize their need for Him and gives them the Kingdom of Heaven! (The Kingdom of Heaven here and now, not just in the sweet by and by.) Now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.

After Jonah 2:9, comes Jonah 2:10 - “Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit up Jonah on the beach, and it did.” (NLT) God’s grace, God’s unmerited favor, saved Jonah’s life and then went so far beyond that and worked through him to save a nation! Grace the double-powered prayer. Not only what God pours into our lives, but the working out of that in our lives.

If we first stop clinging to worthless idols…If we first recognize our need for Him…If we first seek the Lord.

Wow! Make it so, Lord. In my life first. Amen.

Over the past ten years I’ve learned more from my Mom than over the previous two decades! Who’da thunk it? You see, Mom had a stroke in May 1998. She has been severely handicapped since then. Yet she continues to enjoy life and be a blessing to those around her. (Read Saturday’s blog, “The ‘Good Humor’ Lady.”)

Admittedly, there have been times over the past decade when darkness has overwhelmed her and she’s asked me why God allowed this to happen and why God doesn’t just let her die. At first I had only vague, theoretical answers. Now I can point to real, verifiable answers.

The theoretical is not to be scoffed at. Good doctrine is important and should provide the brick and mortar structure that experience decorates. But like the saying goes, a person with a theoretical argument (even a good “theological” one) doesn’t stand a chance against a person with a real personal experience.

My doctrine teaches me that until God takes us home, He has a purpose for our lives. We haven’t accomplished all the good things He has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). Some might look at my Mom - unable to get herself out of bed, requiring total care, even unable to feed herself- and wonder what purpose can God possibly have for her now? What can she possible accomplish? What value can she have in our world today? My doctrine also teaches me that God promises to use all things for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28), and that He chooses (yes, consciously, intentionally chooses!) the weak things to confound the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27-31).

My experience validates that God has used and is using Mom’s horrible situation to touch many around her and to teach me much about life. As a tribute to both my God and my Mom, let me share with you some of what I’m learning.

I’m learning to bless (and honor) my mom. Mom calls me on the phone, sometimes several times a day, usually with nothing but “foolishness” to talk about. She’ll often share the “joke of the day” with me - but she almost always messes up the punchline. I usually don’t even get the joke (or see any humor in it if I do get it), but she laughs and laughs because she knows the joke and probably doesn’t realize that she left a few words out of the punchline. So I bless her by laughing with her, because to explain a joke is to lose its effectiveness but to laugh together is a good thing. That I don’t understand her sense of humor is pretty irrelevant. We’re having fun together - she by laughing at the joke, me by enjoying my mom’s craziness. Sometimes my husband Phil will tell her he doesn’t get the joke. She’ll pause for a second and then say she doesn’t get it either and they both laugh! (I feel compelled to point out here that Mom’s stroke did not affect her mental capacities. She’s just having fun with life, whether she gets the joke or not.)

I’m learning patience. When she calls me on the phone for the nth-time-today to talk about nothing but “foolishness,” I’ve learned to turn away from my work, shout into the phone so she can hear me and relax while she tells me of her latest activity at the nursing home. Sometimes I feel myself get anxious because it’s the middle of the workday and I have deadlines to meet. Yet I am learning to turn away from that anxiety and toward someone I love to hear about things that matter to her.

I’m learning compassion. It’s either that or turn my heart off as I visit the nursing home each week. Visiting the nursing home costs me much emotionally, but at every visit I am impressed by the significant need for the simple gift of holding a hand, praying with someone or just sitting and talking for five minutes. It’s what I call “cup of water” obedience. I don’t have to do BIG things for God (like be a missionary to Zimbabwe - I call that “King Kong” obedience). I only have to give a cold cup of water to someone who is thirsty.

I’m learning sacrifice. I’m doing things with and for Mom that I would never have imagined. Mom always loved crafts. I don’t. But in order to share things with her when the possibilities in her world are so limited, I purchase crafts and we work on them together. I’m doing all the work, of course, but Mom sits next to me and knows instinctively how to do them and instructs me accordingly. I’d much prefer to read and follow the directions. But I humble myself and “OK, Mom, what should I do next?” (I’ve drawn a line at using a glue gun.)

I’m learning that sacrifice is the currency of heaven and the language of love…but I digress…that’s another blog-to-come.

I’m learning the importance of enjoying life…even when it’s not very enjoyable. I’m not very good at that. Mom is very good at that. She turns every event into a party. I used to think this was part of Mom’s “foolishness.” I’ve learned that it is part of her strength.

I’m learning to be friendlier than I really am and nicer to others than I really am. Everyone matters to Mom. In many ways she reflects the love of Christ much better than I do. She is a person who truly sees the best in everyone and treats them accordingly.

I’m learning that having a deep trust in God doesn’t always look the way I expect it to look. Mom has a simple, usually unspoken, unpretentious faith. When she arrives in heaven, I imagine Jesus planning a clown parade in her honor and everyone will be wearing funny hats and will have their own noise-maker. This would not be heaven to me, but it surely will be for Mom.

I’m learning to honor people for serving in professions that I cannot fathom serving in.

I’m learning to love better.

All this from a teacher who can no longer feed or dress herself. Wow! I love you, Mom!

 More than a decade ago my mom had a major stroke. The day before the stroke she was an active woman who could almost never be found at home. The day after the stroke she was unable to get out of bed without assistance. She began a very long journey in a new life. She is fully paralyzed on her left side. She has limited use of her right arm because of a prior surgery that removed a major portion of her shoulder bone. She cannot walk. She cannot drive. She cannot accomplish basic personal care tasks. After living at home for several years, she has now been a resident of a nursing home for quite a long time.

Yesterday I accompanied her to the hospital for a diagnostic test. There were significant risks associated with the test and I was a bit on edge. But not Mom. She laughed and joked with the ambulance technicians as they transferred her from her wheelchair to the stretcher for the ride to the hospital. During the trip she filled them in on all the details of her day (she so hoped to be back to the nursing home for the luau they were having that afternoon). Upon arrival at the hospital she remembered the names of all who attended to her and listened to their stories as she told them fun stories from her life. All this in the midst of the endless pre-surgery questions that tried so hard to shift her focus to all the negative issues in her medical life. Somehow she was able to answer all the questions with little more than a wistful tone in her voice from time to time.

While I know she tremendously appreciated me being with her for the procedure, I’m equally sure that, had she been able to, she would have patted me on the hand several times and said “There, there Sandy. Chill out. Everything will be fine.” Like every time I interrupted the medical question and answer process to clarify mom’s answer in such a way that the hospital staff would understand the gravity of the situation (as if that was really needed given that they had living proof of mom’s condition and a lengthy chart to back it up).

The point is that as I look back on the day yesterday, Mom brought so much more joy to everyone she came in contact with than I did. And yet her life is so much more filled with “can’ts” than my life.

Mom demonstrates God’s grace to me every day. Grace is God enabling us to live the life He wants us to live that we can’t live on our own. That’s what Mom does every day. She can’t live the closed, limited life she lives in her own power every day. She depends on God and finds joy in everything there is to find joy in.

At the end of the day, she was settled back in her bed at the nursing home. As she told me yet another funny thing about her life, I just looked at her and said “Mom, you have such a wonderful heart.” She looked at me and said simply “I know, I have good humor.” Mom often has a strange way of saying things. But I think it fits here. She does have good humor. That’s God’s gift to her in the midst of trying circumstances.

There have been other gifts, not the least of which is enabling her to continue to “mother” her oldest daughter. On Monday I’ll blog about some of the lessons I’ve learned from Mom over the past decade.

In the meantime, I’m going to practice “good humor.”

Last Sunday (June 8th) was Pentecost Sunday. As we sang during worship asking the Lord to fill us with His Spirit, several thoughts came to mind. The first two were thoughts you’ve probably heard preached many times: In order for a vessel to be filled with something new (God’s fresh outpouring of His Spirit), and for that new thing to remain pure, uncontaminated by the previous contents, the vessel must first be emptied, then cleansed thoroughly. Let’s say, for example, that I want a cup of tea with my mid-morning snack. I’ll first want to empty the cup of the coffee I had with breakfast and wash the cup thoroughly. If I don’t, even just the smell of the coffee will ruin a perfectly good cup of tea. In the spiritual sense, in order for me to be filled with God’s Spirit, I must be emptied of myself and allow God to cleanse me — to forgive me of my sins and to transform my mind and behavior to be pleasing to Him.

Now that’s a task in and of itself — an ongoing task that lasts a lifetime. It’s worthy of more space than I’m giving it here. I’m not giving it more space simply because it wasn’t what God was impressing upon me Sunday, but to not mention it just seems wrong, and to not pursue it is to lack the intimate relationship with God that those pursuing Him desire.

What struck me the most last Sunday was the phrase “Don’t put the lid on too soon.” I kept hearing it over and over in my mind. God is saying that He wants to pour out His Spirit, but that too often we get just a little of it and then for whatever reason, say “That’s enough, thank you.” God’s desire is to continually fill us to overflowing. We’re the ones who pull back and in so doing, we miss the blessing He has for us and for those around us. We miss the intimacy with Him; we miss walking in His power and wisdom; we miss His peace and rest.

Why do we put the lid on too soon? Why do we stop the filling process before the tank is full? I’m sure it’s usually done unconsciously, and to change unconscious actions, we must first be aware of them. Lord, reveal the areas within me that causes me to close myself off to the outpouring of Your Spirit.

I’ve been cogitating on this for the past few days and have come up with a couple of reasons why people put the lid on too soon. Maybe some of them will strike a chord with you.

Sometimes we put the lid on too soon simply because we’re too easily satisfied — we get a taste of God’s goodness and don’t understand or realize that there’s so much more. Trust me, there’s more. There’s always more with God because He is everything good to an infinite degree. But we become content with things as they are (after all, they’re way better than they were before) and our unholy contentment puts a lid on our spirits, stopping the flow of God’s Spirit in our lives.

Sometimes we put the lid on too soon because our priorities are a bit messed up. We’re all really busy. It’s how we live. Next Sunday a business organization I’m affiliated with is having their picnic at noon. Now that strikes me as just plain wrong, especially since I know many of the other members are regular church-goers, but I’m new to the organization and it’s too soon to rock the boat by suggesting we start an hour later. So I’m going, but I’m committed to going late. But I know that it will be difficult for me to put it totally out of my mind on Sunday. On Wednesday nights, we are rushing from work, grabbing something to eat and rushing to church. It can be difficult to arrive at church ready to receive from God and/or not being aware (consciously or unconsciously) of all the things that need to be done after church and before bed. In other words…as horrible as it is to say and hear, sometimes we put the lid on because we’re too busy to receive (another thing) from God. God is merciful and breaks through our busyness at times, but continual over-scheduling pushes the lid closed until there’s only a small crack of an opening for God to trickle His grace through.

Sometimes we put the lid on too soon because we don’t want the “mess” of the overflow. I hate to admit this, but sometimes we just don’t want to be the “peculiar” people that God has called us to be. We’re afraid that if He really pours His Spirit out on us we’ll become too religious, too holy, too fanatical, too weird. The truth is that God’s Spirit moves us away from “religious” and toward Christ-likeness, and Christ-likeness is anything but too holy, fanatical and weird. However, we need to get past this fear by becoming totally willing to become those things for God(regardless of how inaccurate they are in our minds). What sets the lid to wide open is our willingness to do and be anything that God wants us to do and be, and until we come to that place, our lids will always tend toward closing too soon.

I’m reminded of a vacation Phil and I took many years ago. We visited Dunn’s River Falls in Jamaica. It’s a beautiful location and as we waded into the water at the bottom of the falls, our guide suggested we stop for a picture. He posed us and snapped a few shots, then told us to take one step backwards. Being obedient tourists, we did so…not realizing that one step back put us under the full spray of the falls. We were instantly soaked and it was great fun. But there were others who saw what happened to us and were cautious. Maybe they didn’t want to get their clothes soaked or their hair messed. Maybe they didn’t want to feel out of control. Maybe they didn’t want to have that much fun on that day. Lord, I want to have fun with You every day. I don’t care if my clothes get soaked or my hair gets messed or that I feel out of control. Pour out Your Spirit and help me to not put the lid on too soon.

 ⁴¹But as they came closer to Jerusalem and Jesus saw the city ahead, he began to cry. ⁴²“I wish that even today you would find the way of peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from you. ⁴³Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. ⁴⁴They will crush you to the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.”  Luke 19:41-44, NLT

What struck me at first when I read this Scripture during my daily devotions was the last verse about rejecting the opportunity God offered, or missing His visitation. That was the subject of yesterday’s blog (Rejecting God’s Opportunities, Missing His Visitation). But after finishing the blog I went back and re-read the passage. What struck me then were Jesus’ first words - “I wish that you would find the way of peace…Before long, your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you. They will crush you to the ground.” 

I know that Jesus is talking about Jerusalem and that my hermeneutics professor would blanche at the extension I’m about to make, but doesn’t this sound a lot like how you feel when you are over-extended, when you have allowed yourself to become too busy? Peace alludes you. As your commitments snowball, they slam against you and encircle you and close in on you. You feel as if you will be crushed by them. That has certainly described my life at times.

My friends, that is clearly not what God wants. I am convinced to the core of my being that one of the greatest maladies infecting Americans today is over-busyness — lives jam-packed with activities that leave little or no time for God. Often the little time we have for God is the “left over” time — time at the end of the day when we are too “used up” to hear Him or receive from Him the grace He longs to impart. 

There are periods when circumstances dictate a busier than desired life, but that should not be the norm. When over-busyness has become a lifestyle, making significant changes can be difficult — and sometimes requires radical surgery! I use the word surgery purposefully, because what must happen is that the scalpel must be taken to our schedule (and our spouse’s schedule and our children’s schedule). Over-busyness is a disease that affects the whole family. Parents who feel obligated to be involved in more activities than is humanly possible breed children who feel obligated to be overextended. But it is possible to restrict one’s activities. It’s not only possible, it’s desirable. 

A Simple Exercise
First, identify a time during the next couple of days when you can sit with God for about an hour. Yep! A whole hour to begin to allow Him to set your priorities and enable you to gain a measure of control in your life. To prepare for that time, create a calendar that lists every day of the week and identifies the hours from 6am until 10pm. Those are the hours you have available. Many of you may already be thinking this is impossible because right now you’re only sleeping from 1am until 6am. Not enough time, my friend. But that’s the subject for another blog some day. 

When you meet with God, first pray. Confess that you have allowed your life to become out of control. Confess your desire to live a life based on His leading. Thank Him in advance for the adventure He’s leading you in to.

Then begin the more practical elements of the exercise. If you feel anxious, be sure to stop and pray throughout the process. And remember, no decisions are unchangeable and we’re initially just looking at the coming week, not your whole life!

Block off on your calendar the daily requirements such as eating and working. If you’re a stay-at-home mom, blocking out your “work” time is a little more challenging, but block off time each day when you’re committed to having your children as your sole focus, whether for play, meals, home-schooling or whatever.

OK, the time that’s still available is for all other activities. And guess what! All the activities you’d LIKE to be involved in can’t fit in those available hours! That means you must choose between what is good and what is better. Be a Mary, not a Martha. Jesus told Martha that Mary had chose the “better part.” The first question to ask then is this: When during the week am I scheduling in my “God Time?” Asking this question first ensures that we don’t so overfill our calendars that the only God Time we have is taken out of the time we should be sleeping. This neither honors God nor our families nor ourselves. 

The next question to ask is: What is God’s top priority for me this week? Put that on your calendar. (Note that I said top priority, not top priorities!) It doesn’t have to be super-spiritual. For example, the top priority for me this week might be to visit my mom or to eat healthier. Both activities require blocking out 4 or 5 hours in my calendar this week.

Now make sure that your calendar has family time built into it. If it wasn’t your top priority (it isn’t always and that’s OK), add that time into your calendar now. Do you stay connected with your spouse by spending a half hour every day talking? If so, block that time out in your calendar. Do you spend the first half hour after school gets out listening to your kids talk about their day? Put it in your calendar.

By now your calendar might be getting full and you don’t have any of your activities in yet. That’s the point. Your activities ought to be scheduled for the time you have available for them. They should not be allowed to usurp (and I use that word purposefully) the time that should be given to God, your family, or your own sleep.

But Life Isn’t So Simple
Yes, I know. This exercise was very simple. But I think it’s an important one. It visually demonstrates the need to control our schedules according to God’s priorities, instead of allowing other people or the whims of our emotions to control our schedules. My emotions encourage me to sign up for way more activities than I can reasonably (or even unreasonably) accomplish. I repeat: That is not honoring to God, or to our families, or to ourselves.

Getting From Here to There
Now I recognize that most people will find their calendars over-scheduled and will be at a loss as to how to bring them into some semblance of peace. You can take two approaches: Radical surgery to remove what is undesireable, or gradual healing that comes through pursuing a balanced diet over a long period of time. Both may be required. Neither should be attempted without bathing the whole process in prayer. 

Radical surgery would immediately end all over-commitments, even to the point of renigging on some previously accepted commitments. This is a serious approach, but sometimes appropriate. 

A more measured approach is to weed out current activities by allowing them to come to a natural conclusion and then being firm about not replacing those activities with other busyness. For example, you might be leading a 12-week study in your small group. You might finish leading the study, then simply participate in the small group but not lead it. You may be coaching your son’s baseball team. At the end of the season when that commitment ends, don’t automatically replace it with coaching his soccer team. Pray over your calendar and ask God if that commitment is one that is “good” or one that is “better.”

There’s nothing cut and dry about managing our lives, and I don’t mean to imply that the task is simple. But we are called by God to be good stewards over all that He has given us, and our time is one of the most precious commodities we have. We can choose to spend it or we can choose to invest it. Managing our lives with this simple time management approach, when applied consistently, can bring great change. The consequences of allowing life to manage us can be too severe. I don’t want my life to lack peace or for all my commitments to close in on me and crush me to the ground. I’d much rather recognize the opportunities God has offered me and trust Him to “cover” all those things I don’t participate in. I’ve never believed the claim that you can “have it all.” I don’t even think that God wants us to have it all. He wants us to have what is better. Don’t let the good keep you from the better.

A Final Word
I can hear so many friends saying “but I can’t…” or “I have to…” Yes, you can, and no you don’t have to. It’s amazing how freeing it is to recognize that we are not required to do everything others think (or we think others think) we “ought” to do. Our commitment is to God first and it is clearly not His will that we be harried, hassled, and always in a hurry. With God ALL things are possible — even managing our own schedules.

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
                      2 Peter 1:3-4

I wanted to blog about 2 Peter 5-8. I’ve been thinking about it for several weeks now. But when I sat down to write, I first re-read the passage and knew I had to talk first about the two preceding verses.

We’ve been given everything we need, folks. Everything. There’s nothing that we need that we haven’t been given.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t always think, believe, or act like the child who has everything she needs. What an ungrateful child I am!
Let’s re-arrange the sentence. Through our knowledge of God, we have been given everything we need for life and godliness by God’s divine power. The key is in the word through. It’s only through Him that I have these things.

I need some cash before going out for the day. There’s no cash in my wallet, my husband’s wallet or stashed anywhere in the house. To get the cash I need, I’ll have to go to the place where it’s kept – the bank. I have to go through the bank in order to get the money I need. And you know what, the more cash I want, the longer it will take me!

It’s not much different with God. Everything I need is in Him. He’s the bank. I need to go through Him to get what I need, and the longer I stay, the more I’ll get.

Now please don’t hear what I’m not saying. I mean no disrespect to God, of course, and I’m not treating Him as the Great Santa Clause, spoiling us everything we want. It’s just an analogy. The point is that I’ve been given everything I need, but it is only accessible through God.

There’s so much more in these two verses, but I’m trying to keep my blogs short. What jumps out at you when you read them? Is it that He’s given us everything we need for life? For godliness? Is it God’s glory or His goodness? Or maybe it’s that these qualities caused God to give us His great and precious promises? Is it that these promises allow us to participate in God’s divine nature or that they allow us to escape the corruption in the world?

There is much to mine out of these two short verses. But what I’m taking home with me today is that God has provided everything I need for life and godliness. Lord, I want to know this and act and live accordingly. That’s faith. Today, I will live as if I have everything I need. And I’ll pursue it by pursuing God.

And tomorrow I’ll blog about 2 Peter 1:5-8.

Mark 9:49 “[Jesus said] For everyone will be purified with fire.” (spoken by Jesus)

“EVERYONE will be purified with fire.” That means me. That means you. No one will escape.

“Everyone will be PURIFIED with fire.” Purify means (according to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary) “to clear from material defilement or imperfection,” “to free from guilt or moral or ceremonial blemish,” and “to free from undesirable elements.”

“Everyone will be purified with FIRE.” Burning and painful, consuming, destroying. Even a small burn from touching a hot pan is painful. Even a light burn from spending too much time in the sun is painful. And then the burned area dies away. The word “fire” is often used to mean trials or ordeals.

What is Jesus teaching? That none of us will escape the process of being freed from material defilement, guilt and other undesirable elements. Wow! That sounds like a great promise, doesn’t it? I want to be freed from the gunk in my life! I want to be free from my attachment to material things. Yes, Lord!

“OK,” Jesus says. “The process for this is by burning it away with fire.” I shrink back and say, “But Lord, isn’t there another (easier) way?”

I want to escape the fire. I want to escape the trial. I want to avoid the unpleasantness and just live on Pleasant Lane in Friendly Town in the state of Prosperity. It’s the “life I want.” I bet you do too.

But God says that those undesirable elements in my life are not removed by life on Pleasant Lane. They are removed by fire. I can choose to live on Pleasant Lane, but I won’t be purified. And somehow I think that true joy doesn’t live on Pleasant Lane. It might visit occasionally to give me a taste of what I could have if I allowed Jesus to purify me.

You see, “burning” can also mean something else – it can mean passionate, as in “burning desire.” When we choose to follow Jesus and making Him our one true, burning desire, He will purify us. He will set us free from the bondage we cling to (life, the way we want it). He knows that the bondage we cling to is the very thing that keeps us from experiencing true joy. Life, the way I want it, is too self-centered and self-focused. Life the way Christ wants me to have it is freedom and courage to lay down my life and serve others. Jesus is speaking again in Mark 17:33 and says, “Whoever clings to this life will lose it, and whoever loses this life will save it.”

So what trial are you in the middle of? Rejoice, because you know it is the process Christ is using to bring freedom!

Mondays are my busy days. I have a graduate class on Monday nights and have to leave my home office by 3pm to make it on time. I prefer to leave at 2:30. I don’t get back home until nearly midnight. Then I have a 7am business meeting every Tuesday. So before I leave at 3pm I have to have everything I need for my Tuesday morning in a neat pile or briefcase because there’s not a lot of time between midnight Monday and 7am Tuesday. When I look at it in print, that doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it just seems to cramp my time all day on Monday. If anything out of the ordinary comes up (and you know it always does) I feel unable to accomplish all that I “need” to get done before leaving for class.

So this (Monday) morning, I was praying through my daily prayer list (yes, I’m a list person). The list was interrupted by remembering something I needed to do. I decided that stopping the prayer to accomplish the task was more beneficial to my prayer time than trying to remember it while praying or adding it to my list of things to do. I did the task and went back to my prayer time…At which point I almost immediately needed to go to the bathroom. “Nothing like an uninterrupted prayer time,” I thought. (Too much information, you’re probably thinking!)

Can you feel the frustration beginning to set in? Now on any other morning, I wouldn’t be frustrated, it’s just that I know I’m up against this hard deadline of leaving by 3pm. Well, as I walked upstairs to the bathroom, I continued to pray. Somewhere between my desk and the bathroom God whispered in my ear…”Do you think I’ve given you more to do today than I’ve given you time to do it?”

And it hit me. I can approach today with the knowledge that I have a lot to do and seemingly little time to do it, or I can approach the day confident that God has given me all the resources I need to accomplish those things He’s called me to. There’s not really anything on my list today that doesn’t support something He’s called me to. I’m confident of that. So why don’t I just drop my own expectations and the expectations of others and choose to be confident that the God who is sovereign over all things knows what He’s doing and will enable me to accomplish what needs to get done today? I’m choosing that approach today. I’ll probably need to be reminded of it tomorrow and next Monday, but it’s the way I want to live. Trusting that God has my life in control and not stressing about my schedule and my to-do list.

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
      2 Corinthians 9:8

I’l bet many of you know Jeremiah 17:7-8. It’s an often quoted passage. I love to read it.

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

Did you know that it follows Jeremiah 17:5-6? I’m guessing maybe you didn’t. Or at least you don’t know verses 5 and 6 as well as you know verses 7 and 8.

This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. (NIV)

This is not the only place in Scripture where God clearly lays out the basis for blessings and curses. I’m so thankful He does that. He doesn’t make me wonder what it takes to gain His approval. And He doesn’t bury His instructions in the middle of complicated discussions I can’t understand. He says simply “This is what the Lord says: ‘Cursed is the one who trusts in man…But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord…”

Such a simple statement…sometimes so hard to implement. I’m afraid that I put my trust in mere humans more often than I think. I may not consciously turn my heart from the Lord, but there is a subtleness to turning our hearts away from God and toward humans or things humans have made that creeps into my daily life.

When I need to finish a work project before the end of the day am I trusting in my own strength or am I trusting in the Lord? When I have to see a doctor, am I trusting in the doctor or in the Lord? Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I’m not suggesting that I don’t work hard to finish the project or that I don’t see a doctor when I’m sick. But even doing those things, I can have an attitude of trusting God or trusting in man.

What keeps this attitude alive in you from day to day, moment to moment? Here’s 7 ideas. Pick one or two and begin to practice or work on improving in that area:

1. Start every day by greeting the Lord and acknowledging Him as sovereign over all that will happen that day.
2. Train yourself to pray often — when things are going well and when things are falling apart. Quick sentence prayers connect you to God on an ongoing basis.
3. Put things in front of you that will remind you to look to God. That might be a note in your DayTimer or on your bathroom mirror, a screensaver on your computer, or a bracelet around your wrist. Use anything that will remind you to seek God.
4. Learn to see God at work and in nature. Learning to see Him requires looking for him, so train yourself to look for Him by pausing several times to look around and ask God to reveal Himself to you in your surroundings. (Yes, that means pausing from your busy-ness.)
5. Read about spiritual formation and spiritual disciplines. Try any of these books: The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. There’s an updated version in modern English. The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg Celebration of Disciplines: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer
6. Stop reading and practice what you’re learning!
7. Be grateful. I think grateful goes beyond thankful. It’s easy to be thankful but grateful goes all the way to the heart. The difference in the definition of these two words in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (www.m-w.com/dictionary/) is interesting. Here’s an example:

• thankful: conscious of benefit received
• grateful: appreciative of benefits received b: expressing gratitude
• Additional definitions carry the same theme — thankful is a consciousness of benefits while grateful is an appreciation of benefits. I want to not only be thankful for what God has done, is doing and will do; I want also to be grateful.

I love the illustration God uses earlier in Jeremiah: “As a belt clings to a person’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me,” says the LORD.” (Jeremiah 13:11a, NLT).

Lord, we were created to cling to You. Help me to cling to You every minute of every day!

Let me know if there are things you’d add to my list of 7. Which of the 7 is easiest for you? Which is most difficult?