ApprehendingGrace.com

On this, the morning after the election, I imagine that at least 46% of you are unhappy at the outcome of our national elections. Some are even afraid. Let me encourage you.

• You know that God is not the author of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.
• You know that God remains firmly seated on His throne in heaven.
• You know that He remains sovereign over all things.

Remember the summary from Sunday’s blog. I wrote it without thinking about the outcome of elections in just a few days, but it seems appropriate today. Let me reiterate it here:

David’s Secret
David’s secret, is that his focus was on the Lord, not on his trials…The words of David in Psalm 16 confirm that David’s joy came from focusing on the Lord instead of his own situation:

⁸      I have set the LORD always before me.
       Because he is at my right hand,
       I will not be shaken. 
⁹      Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
       my body also will rest secure, 
¹⁰    because you will not abandon me to the grave,
       nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 
¹¹    You have made known to me the path of life;
       you will fill me with joy in your presence,
       with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

David’s joy came from his confidence in a God who held David firmly in His hand and who transcended time and space to enjoy being “present” with David during David’s life and through eternity.

Did you catch all three of those things? Let me reiterate them in the first person:

1. God holds me firmly in His hand - I need not be shaken!
2. God transcends time and space to come down to my level so that I can enjoy His presence - and what unspeakable joy those encounters bring!
3. God transcends time and space to take me to His presence after my life on this earth is over - eternal pleasures!

(For the whole blog, click here.)

It doesn’t matter who the president is! God is still in charge. Put your hope in Him. I’m reminded of the words of an old hymn:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.

The hymn was written about 1834 by a man named Edward Mote. Here’s the history of the hymn. 

Be blessed, friend. God is good. He is faithful. He is strong. All the time.

In 2 Samuel 22, David sings a long song of praise to God. As I read it, I couldn’t help but think about David’s life.

David’s Life
As a young boy, David was anointed to be the king of Israel…then sent back to tend his father’s sheep. The youngest of many sons, as he grew older, he was treated as the annoying little brother.  After killing Goliath, he had three different responsibilities that seem a strange mix of talents: He became a warrior for King Saul, he tended to his father’s sheep, and he was taken into King Saul’s court to play the harp for him when Saul was anxious. During this time, he seemed to shuttle back and forth between the responsibilities. That seems like a pretty strange life to me: One day playing for the king, the next day tending sheep. It would have been easy for him to begin to resent the trips back and forth or the difference between sleeping in the king’s palace and sleeping near the sheep.

During that time, David developed a deep friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime friendships. But the friendship was torn from him when Saul became irrationally enraged at David and sought to kill him. Saul’s anger sent David on the run for many years, and he sometimes came within minutes of losing his life.

Eventually Saul died and David became king. There were some good years, but even the good years were filled with fighting wars. War is not pretty and it’s not good.

There was the dalliance with Bathsheba, and the death of David’s son as a result of it. David knew it was because of his sin that his son died. What a heavy burden to carry.

David had many sons and daughters. Tamar was one of his beautiful young daughters; she had an equally good looking brother Absalom. Life was good…until Tamar was raped by a half-brother, Amnon. Absalom killed Amnon then fled to live in exile. On that day, he lost two sons.

Eventually Absalom becomes bitter toward his father, David, and sought to kill him. David was again on the run for his life.

Eventually, Absalom was killed by David’s men, and David mourned the loss of another child.

Absalom’s death restored David to the throne of Israel, which carried with it the responsibility to fight more wars to protect the country. At one point, Scripture describes David as “weak and exhausted,” cornered by his enemy and about to be killed (2 Samuel 21:15-16). One of his soldiers came to his rescue.

David’s one desire was to build a temple for the Lord. The Lord said “thanks, but no thanks.” David was a man of war and the Lord would not give him permission to build the temple. He gave him permission to gather all the supplies so that his son, Solomon, could build the temple. While I imagine it would have been a blessing to know that his son would be able to build the temple, I can’t help but imagine that there was a bittersweetness to it because it was something David so longed to do.

Eventually David died and was buried.

David’s Song
My point in reiterating all of this is to say that this mighty man of God lived a pretty crappy life, by my standards. He was unappreciated by his family, his best friend was ripped from him by a crazy father and king. He spent years on the run because that king was to kill him, then years later he spent more time on the run because his own son was trying to kill him. (He’d done nothing to provoke the anger of either.) His son died and the responsibility for that death was laid at David’s feet. His daughter was raped, and two more sons were killed because of it. David’s burning desire was to build a temple for God and God only allowed him to collect supplies. Even during the good times, his life was full of the horrors of war and the separation from his family.

And yet, 2 Samuel 22 (as well as many of the Psalms) records David’s song of praise to the God.

The Source of David’s Song
As I reflected on David’s life and his reaction to it, I realized that it is not an easy life that puts a song of praise in our mouth. It is not money and the adulation of others. It is not being rich in family and friends. It is not even fulfilling the purpose for which God has created us. Those things might bring a measure of happiness, a measure of ease of living, but it is not from those things that our song of praise truly resonates. It is from the nearness of God in the midst of trial that our faith is built and our love for a Savior is forged.

In chapter 22 of 2 Samuel, David’s song of praise rings out. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my savior,” he sings. David knew God as the One who is faithful, strong and able to save. Had he not experienced the wars in his life, he would not have truly known God ability to rescue the one who needs to be rescued. David described his need for God’s help: “The waves of death surrounded me; the floods of destruction swept over me…But in my distress I cried out to the Lord…He heard me from His sanctuary; my cry reached His ears.”

David knew that God heard his cry, and he then described God’s powerful response in the eleven verses that follow. His description illustrates a God that moved heaven and earth to rescue His servant. He sang of the quaking of the earth and the thundering of the Lord from heaven, and in verses 16 and 17 he summarized what happened: “Then at the command of the Lord…He reached down from heaven and rescued me.”

The lyrics of David’s song are strong and forceful and they leave no doubt that David had been in the dire straits and that God had delivered him. In fact, he concluded that portion of the song with verse 19: “They attacked me at a moment when I was weakest, but the Lord upheld me.”

David finished his song with 31 additional verses proclaiming God’s goodness, faithfulness, strength, and love. “The Lord lives!” David sang out. “Blessed by my rock! May God, the rock of my salvation, be exalted!…O Lord, I will praise You among the nations; I will sing joyfully to Your name.”

It is a powerful song written under the influence of the Holy Spirit to extol the power of a living, active God. (Click here to read the entire song.)

Let me reiterate, it was not the goodness of the Lord in good times that David sang about. It was God’s goodness when David was at his weakest.

My Secret
Want to know one of my dirty-little-secrets? Come close. Here it is: I’d like to have a cushy life. I’d like to not have to worry about having too many things to do or not enough money to pay the bills or the pain in my left knee. I’d like things to be easy. And sometimes I get frustrated and tired when they’re not.

Stories like David’s, a man described by God as “a man after my own heart,” remind me that my desires are still so unholy, so unsanctified, so untransformed. The word “holy” really means “set apart” or “totally other than.” To have a faith and love like David had, in the midst of the life David lived, would be “totally other than” anyone else I know.

I’ve taken some punches in the past few years. I bet you have, too. I have a book title in my head, but I know that I haven’t turned the corner enough to be able to write the book. The title is Dancing with a Broken Wing. It’s about dancing with joy out of a background of pain. David was a dancer.

David’s Secret
David’s secret, is that his focus was on the Lord, not on his trials. Read the song. Yes, he tells what dire trouble he was in, but it’s a necessary part of the story. Look at the number of verses given to the trouble compared to the number of verses gloriously given to the power of God. David’s focus is on the awesome power, faithfulness and goodness of His God. And it is that focus that enables Him to sing a song of praise instead of a lament of the troubles of life.

The words of David in Psalm 16 confirm that David’s joy came from focusing on the Lord instead of his own situation:

⁸      I have set the LORD always before me.
       Because he is at my right hand,
       I will not be shaken. 
⁹      Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
       my body also will rest secure, 
¹⁰    because you will not abandon me to the grave,
       nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 
¹¹    You have made known to me the path of life;
       you will fill me with joy in your presence,
       with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

David’s joy came from his confidence in a God who held David firmly in His hand and who transcended time and space to enjoy being “present” with David during David’s life and through eternity.

Did you catch all three of those things? Let me reiterate them in the first person:

1. God holds me firmly in His hand - I need not be shaken!
2. God transcends time and space to come down to my level so that I can enjoy His presence - and what unspeakable joy those encounters bring!
3. God transcends time and space to take me to His presence after my life on this earth is over - eternal pleasures!

It’s a word I use in almost every blog, but I have to say it again - Wow! My problems, no matter how big or small, truly are insignificant when I fix these three thoughts in my mind. God is so very good! Why would I want to focus on the problems of this life when I’ve got such a great God?

You thrill me, LORD, with all you have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what you have done.
                Psalm 92:4 (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.

The Thanksgiving and Christmas season offers so many opportunities to crash and burn! Over Thanksgiving weekend I was in a department store and saw the holiday decorations and I promised myself that this year I would NOT over plan. I promised myself that I would build in time to enjoy the season. Almost immediately things began to pop up that want to take a bigger bite out of my time than I thought they would. Many are good things. More work is good. Visiting with friends is good. Leading a New Year’s Eve worship time is good. But I am resolved to be like Mary and choose the “better part,” not just the good part.

So I am building in “holiday enjoyment” time this year. Some of that will be just plain fun. Some of it will be spending more time with God, reflecting on His message for me this season. I’m not going to feel guilty about what I’m NOT doing so that I can do these things because I believe that doing these things will honor God MORE than being harried and hassled all season. That’s what choosing the better part means.

Resist Stress

One of the things I’m doing is actively resisting stress (is that in and of itself stress-creating? it can be if you’re not careful) and practicing enjoying the season. But I don’t always get it right. Last week one day I said to Phil “I’m really stressed about meeting this deadline.” His response was priceless (if not original). He said “And how’s that working for you?” In other words, “is being stressed about meeting the deadline helping in any way?” Of course, the answer was “no.” So I took a deep breath and asked God to help me release the outcome to Him as I did my best to meet the deadline. I’m working on “apprehending” or “taking hold of” the grace that God has for me each day (but that’s a blog for another day).

Stop Grumbling

Our pastor has helped, as he’s preached 2 messages on being grateful and not grumbling. I need to be reminded of that from time to time and I appreciated the messages. When I’m overly busy or tired, it’s easy to fall into the trap of complaining. And once fallen in, it can be hard to snap out of it. Something inside of me actually enjoys grumbling! Isn’t that horrible? But I bet you’re like that too. I’ve found that most people are. Yet when we can get out of the trap, life is SO much more enjoyable. And of course we are much more a reflection of God’s grace and peace to the world.
Say “Thank You” to God…In Writing

Here’s one activity I recommend. Find a time (or make a time) to sit down and actually write a Thank You letter to God. I find that writing it down makes me think more and makes the whole process more “real” or “true” than just praying silently or aloud. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to create a Thank You letter to God that was 2 typed pages. I was also amazed at how far-reaching it was. I thanked Him for things that I don’t routinely thank Him for (because quite frankly my thank You’s are often quick and a prelude to what’s next — Ouch!). What that really means is that I was thankful for things I don’t usually reflect on. And what that means is that I am more thankful after writing the letter than I was before writing it because I am more aware of the things I have to be thankful for.

Try it…you’ll like it…and you’ll glorify God more.

The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. She [the ostrich] lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. Job 39:13-18, emphasis mine

When I read this scripture I am amazed at God’s joyfulness at each unique thing He has created – each bringing Him joy in their own way. He doesn’t judge the ostrich for her lack of sense and wisdom or her inability to fly like the stork. He simply acknowledges it as part of how she was created. But then He points out the joy that is her own. He says, “But, Oh, when she spreads her wings to run, she laughs at the horse and rider.” That brings to my mind the picture of a woman riding a horse as fast as it will gallop, her hair flying behind her while she’s laughing in the wind at the fun she’s having. The laughter of sheer freedom, joy and even victory. That’s how the ostrich feels when she runs. And God, in writing about it, takes great joy in the ostrich for what He has given her, without finding fault in her for what she may lack.

I think God sees all of us similarly. We each bring our own unique joy to Him. He is not critical of our human frailties because He knows how we were made. We beat ourselves up for our failures before God, not really expecting ourselves to be perfect all the time – just this time. But God knows how we were made and He expects more failure from us than we expect from ourselves. And He has made a provision for it through His grace.

I’m not excusing sin. Sin is serious and we need to repent and return to God. But not all failure is sin. Sometimes, failure (or perceived failure) comes just from doing something God has not endowed us with the wisdom or good sense to do. Instead, he’s created us to shine in other areas, and when we find those areas, our service brings us and God great joy.

“For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him…” Philippians 1:29

We’ve been “granted” two things: To believe in (on) Christ, and to suffer for Him. Some translations say we’ve been “given the privilege” or “given the honor” to do these two things. I surely count it a privilege and an honor to believe in Christ and to serve Him. But do I count it a privilege and honor to suffer for Him? Clearly Paul did, but…

In preparing for our Bible study on Philippians, Phil looked up the word that is translated “granted.” Are you ready for this? It will knock your socks off! At least it did mine.
The word is “charizomai” and it’s a derivative of the word “charis” that was translated “grace” in verse 2 of this chapter. See Grace, the Double-Powered Prayer for more on that.

Charizomai means “to freely give something out of kindness or as a favor, which will help or rescue the person receiving it.” OK. Let’s put it in context:

“I have (you have) been freely given (out of the kindness of God) the privilege of believing in Christ and that belief will help or rescue you.” Cool! I like that!

“I have (you have) been freely given (out of the kindness of God) the privilege of suffering for Christ and that suffering will help or rescue you.” Say what?

My suffering has been given to me out of the kindness of God…that means it’s not always from the enemy, but from the hand of God, out of his kindness! (Kindness?) And it will rescue me. (Rescue me?)

I think it’s important here to point out that we’re not talking about receiving the discipline of God. We’re talking about suffering for Christ. Suffering injustly simply because of our faith in Christ and/or serving Him .

And (amazingly) this is found in Philippians, the book commonly referred to as “the book of Joy.” I repeat…Say What???

We asked our group how this could possibly be…how can suffering rescue us? How can it possibly be out of the kindness of God? Here’s some of the answers we came up with:
- It teaches us to focus on Christ and things of eternal value - It gives us more opportunity to know the goodness of God when He rescues us - It gives us more opportunity to know the goodness of God’s people when they support us - It teaches us compassion for others - It strengthens our “love muscle,” teaching us to love when it’s not easy to love (Don’t look now, but I think that list comes awfully close to defining spiritual maturity.)

All of this is consistent with the message of joy that Paul presents in chapter 1. Over and over again we see that the joy Paul possesses is a joy that comes out of seeing what God is doing in others, rather than a joy that comes out of our own circumstances.

In other words, if we want to experience joy, we must “get outside ourselves.” And sometimes suffering is what God brings into our lives to shock us out of our self-absorption.

Caveat…this is what God is teaching us…it’s not what I’ve learned yet! I’d much prefer for God to teach me these things through easy, patient circumstances not suffering. I realize that what I need is a change in perspective on suffering. And quite frankly, I’m afraid to ask for it! Because God is true to His Word and I’m afraid He’ll say “Ask and you shall receive.” And I’m not quite ready (willing? – Ouch!) for more suffering. So please pray for me what I can’t pray for myself – pray for a change in my perspective on suffering. (If you’d like me to pray the same for you, let me know.)

As we study Philippians, widely known as the “book of joy,” we’re praying specifically that God would teach us more about joy as we walk through difficult circumstances. Having completed chapter 1 in our study, I am most impressed that the things Paul takes most joy in are:

(1) that the gospel is preached regardless of his circumstances (or perhaps even because of his undesireable circumstances); and

(2) that God is working in the lives of people in whom he has invested.

Over and over again Paul takes joy in what is happening or will happen in the lives of the Philippians, the church he founded ten years earlier. Paul is saying that investing in others and seeing God work in their lives is a source of joy that transcends our circumstances. Further, the Philippians will rejoice with Paul when he is released from prison and able to be with them again. They will rejoice in what God does in Paul’s life.

The joy of Christian fellowship is the ability to rejoice in what God is doing in one another’s lives. There’s no place for competition or jealousy. There’s only place for rejoicing at the goodness of a God who works in all our lives to accomplish His purposes.

We were talking about how undoubtedly not everyone in the Philippian church would have the growth or consistency in their lives that would seem to be a reason for rejoicing. Someone in the study said that’s when we need to have vision, not sight (thanks Matthew). In other words, look for what God is doing in the lives of others, don’t just see what’s on the surface; look for what God is doing in a situation, don’t just see how a situation is affecting you. When you have God’s vision, not just earthly sight, there is always cause for rejoicing.

Hallelujah! My circumstances might be sad or scary or less than I’d like them to be in any number of ways, but God is working (remember Grace, the double-powered prayer!) and when I can’t have vision for what He’s doing in me, I can look around at what He’s doing in the lives of people I’ve invested in over the years. And I can see the goodness of a God who is always good.

Next blog: The goodness of a God who “gives us the opportunity” to suffer for Him!

I woke up very tired this morning…too short a night that followed a week of very long days and short nights. Perfect prescription for crankiness. But God is greater and I am thankful.

I woke up with a lightness in my heart this morning. I am singing to the Lord and finding nuggets of wonder in His Word. I haven’t felt this lightness of heart in a long, long time.

So my mind wants to know “what changed?” “what did I do that made the difference?” Was it our study in Philippians (the “book of joy”)? We made a hard decision last night, but was it having the decision behind us that brought a certainty (in the midst of uncertainty) that lightened my heart? Was it a major new project that I’ve committed to that has given me joyful energy this morning?

I think the most accurate answer to the question “What did I do that made the difference?” is that I did very, very little. God is sovereign and in His sovereignty, He said “now.” He said “enough” to the heaviness and “now” to the joy. Yes, I obediently and to the best of my limited ability put myself in a place where He could bless me — I continued to read, pray, join with other believers, worship, journal and study — but I have been doing those things all along with seemingly little impact or result. But God.

In that last paragraph is one of the biggest lies the enemy feeds us — “with seemingly little impact or result.” Last week as Phil & I talked about this decision we needed to make I said (clearly speaking through the Holy Spirit because my heart was discouraged at the time) “We are fools if we don’t believe in our hearts that God is working behind the scenes in this and has or is preparing a perfect answer for us.” Those little actions that seemingly have no impact have impact in the spiritual world — impact that we can’t always see or know. But they have impact! It just takes God’s timing for us to see the result.

Yep, I know this is motherhood, but it’ motherhood that I need to be reminded of over and over again. That God is moving on my (and your) behalf and that my prayers and my obedience have impact even when when I don’t see it.

Because one day I woke up with a lightness of heart. Will it stay light or will the first three phone calls snuff it out? I don’t know, but I do know that it’s lighter than it’s been and I trust that it’ll be lighter still as I continue “keeping on” in Christ.

Grace and peace! Coming to a heart near you…

A small group of us are studying the book of Philippians. Last night we did chapter 1. So much good stuff, I had to blog a little about it. Today I’ll share briefly about Paul’s greeting. Tomorrow (or at least some day soon), I’ll share about “abounding in love.”

Paul’s greeting in the letter is twofold — a salutation and a blessing. The blessing is “grace and peace to you.” Pretty simple. But we looked at the words.

Grace — The word for grace is “charis” which means not just the unmerited favor we receive from God, but also it’s “reflection in [our] life” according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary. I don’t often think of that when I think of grace. When I pray “grace,” I’m not just praying for God’s favor to be shown to someone (or myself), I’m also praying for the reflection of that grace — the outward expression of it in our lives. That’s pretty cool! It’s like the prayer is doing double-duty or has double power. I’m not sure why, but this has me pretty jazzed.

Peace — Not the absence of conflict, but a restoration to oneness, quietness and rest. That sounds a whole lot more like a spiritual thing to me than a relational thing. My spirit so often needs to be restored to oneness with God, to experience quietness and rest in the midst of a crazy world. I’m reminded of the spiritual formation “exercises” or practices that I’ve largely allowed to fall by the wayside.

Paul blessed the Philippians with grace and peace at a time when they were experiencing persecution — being falsely accused, arrested and thrown in prison. He was saying “may your soul be at rest with the Father and your life be a reflection of His grace in your life.” Wow! all that in just 3 words — “grace and peace.”

Grace and peace, friends.

I’ve spent almost the last hour looking for a quote. It’s a really good quote, but I can’t find it. So I’m going to paraphrase it…”The best thing for a dull mind is to break up the routine.” Now that’s not original, The original was much more eloquent. Unfortunately, I can’t remember who said it, either. I’m guessing A.W. Tozer or C.S. Lewis. Oh well please pretend it’s eloquent and properly cited. (If anyone can find the real quote, I’d be much abliged to you if you were to pass the info on to me.)

Everyone…yes, EVERYONE, has a routine that provides structure to their lives. For some, the routine is easily recognizable and looks (from the outside) very constricting. For others, it may appear that there’s nothing but haphazardness about someone’s life…but upon close inspection, one will find a routine, even if it’s only the routine of sleeping and waking with an obvious eschewing of any routine in between. Even the eschewing of routine is a form of routine that provides structure to the person’s life.

I’ve been thinking a lot about routine lately because Phil has a new job and it’s messing with our routines. It’s a part time job — 20 hours a week — but different hours every week and at least so far it’s been constantly changing. We’re told that it will repeat, but in the 2 months he’s been there that’s not proven to be the case. This new non-routine has caused many of the things that have defined who we are as a couple no longer exist. I’m sure that sounds overstated, but it’s certainly how it feels. (I guess this is where I lecture myself on truth vs. perceptions — perception is NOT reality — truth is reality…but that’s a topic for another blog.) You see, as a couple, we had routines related to when we woke up, when we ate, when we worked, when we played and when we “talked about our day.” Now that’s all jumbled up.

Phil’s new job isn’t the only thing prompting these wonderings about routine. When my dad died, I felt as if all of my internal structures has been shattered. It both made sense and it made no sense. It made no sense because I hadn’t actually depended on Dad for anything over the past 20 years or more (except perhaps the occasional advice…which I usually didn’t follow anyway). Yet it made sense because something that had been truth for 51 years, suddenly, on the first day of my 52nd year of life was no longer true. My dad had existed, had been alive…now he isn’t. And truth isn’t supposed to change. And the internal structure that had existed because of that fact had been shattered. Weird.

So I’m meditating a bit on the subject of “routine.” Routine provides structure for our lives. Yet occasionally it must be jumbled up a bit to bring us out of the slumber it nurtures. A.W. Tozer recognized this when he wrote “Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth” (The Pursuit of God: p. 17).

Undoubtedly, God is a God of routine and structure. He created a world with day and night, high tide and low tide, summer and winter. Yet He recognizes our sinful tendency to not appreciate that which we have and to become self-absorbed when we’re not absorbed with something greater than ourselves. So He built into our lives seasons that jumble up the routines — seasons of mourning and seaons of joy, seasons of success and seasons of failure.

We like to pretend that we should always be at the top of our game, or at least nearing the top with the top just another step or two ahead of us. But that’s not consistent with Scripture — either the teaching or the experience documented in Scripture. “To everything there is a season” Ecclesiastes tells us. Part of “everything” is joy AND sadness, success AND failure.
Enough rambling! Suffice it to say that God has been jumbling my routines. From what I read in other blogs and from what I hear talking to others, I’m not alone. Here’s to God doing NEW things in our lives — yours and mine. May we all be open to them.

Comment by dansdesk
Good thoughts! I’m not saying this about you but I wonder how often God shakes up my routine because it’s a “bad” routine!
Thursday July 19, 2007 - 04:16pm (EDT)

Response by Sandyhov
I’m absolutely positive (for me, not you) that it’s sometimes shaken because it’s a “bad” routine. This current shaking is a prime example. There were many reasons for Phil taking the part-time job at the hospital, but part of it was that we just came to a point where after almost 20 years in business it was a bit unhealthy for Phil & I to be working together at Data Designs as we were. We needed more outside interaction. He needed to be around people more. Yes, God’s shaking is scary but good.
Monday July 30, 2007 - 09:21pm (EDT)