The "Not-So-Flowery" with - God Life

My daughter and I LOVE word pictures...in fact we actually think in pictures - I know some of you do too.  Sometimes I have to translate my thoughts from pictures to words.  However, I was in a conversation yesterday and it caused me to consider how 'flowery' speech can sometimes come across as insincere or hard to follow so here is a rewrite of yesterday's blog post...


Have you ever come to a point in your spiritual life when you find yourself thinking, "Is this all there is?....There's has to be more than this when it comes to my relationship with God."  Something just seems like it is missing and your are not sure what.

That's what happens when God invites us to go beyond what we have known and experienced a deeper, abiding relationship with Him.  We feel a frustration with the status-quo, disappointment, boredom,  or a longing for “more” (Whatever “more” may be.)  I know all of us at some point can relate to what I'm saying.  Perhaps what has been harder to identify are the wrestlings that come along as we choose to respond to God's invite.

Sometimes our choice to follow God has required us to release unhealthy relationships with others and that's hard.  Personally, It's also hard to step out into the unknown and trust the future to someone other than myself.  It doesn’t matter if this person is God or not, the plain truth of the matter is, I hate to give up control! Which brings up the next wrestling, responding to God’s invitation means letting go of things that we may love.    Sometimes we can fear the loss is so great that the journey to follow is not worth it, or the wooing of comfort and familiarity is far too appealing and we’d rather not mess with a good thing....are you getting my drift ? :)  We want God...but sometimes we don't what ALL of God.  We like the part that implies blessing but would rather skip over the part that says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me."  And yet, in the laying down of our life for his, we discover a life with God that promises to be full, rich, and utterly satisfying.  What does it look like to intend our life God’s direction and set sail on a sea of discovery with Him?


It is often when we reach a point of discontentment, boredom, or are made aware of an injustice in the world in which we live, that we are disrupted to a point of wanting something to be different.  Frankly, if it’s up to me, I will almost always choose the comfort of predictability over the disruption of the unknown any day of the week!  I guess God knows that so He allows my life to be disrupted, which means I am dislodged from my place of complacency and can more readily choose to step out towards living life conversationally side-by-side with Him in His Kingdom…something each of us are made for and we will itch and ache for it until we find it.  It’s strange how we think that pursuing a dynamic relationship with the God and Creator of the universe will lead to less …not more.

To respond to God’s invitation to follow him more intentionally means we must face the reality that not all of our relationships will share the same sentiment.  In fact, we may be put in a position where we have to choose to either follow God or remain moored to the broken systems of relating that have characterized some of our friendships thus far.  Letting go can be a painful process!  We grieve the loss and wish in some strange way that things could be as they were.  Yet we cannot deny the fact that we are being drawn to something new and it is impacting those we are in relationship with.  As we change, our way of relating changes, conversations change, what we preoccupy our mind with changes, and it opens up a new world creating new interests within us.

 

As we move toward this "new world", There is the whole “packing for the trip of your life and not sure what to bring” scenario.  I am always befuddled when it comes to packing.  I either pack too little or too much.  Strangely, much like to forgetting to pack underwear, I can leave behind some of the most critical items for the journey like, mercy, justice, or love...you know, just the basic character qualities a child of the Good-King God is characterized by...nothing big.   But if you need inward sarcasm, impatience, or temper-tantrums...I just might be your girl sometimes!  It's basically like packing a prom dress for a nature hike. 

SO...So this with-God life means I will seek to put on or "wear" the character of Christ.  I will pay attention to the things I DID pack and let them go as needed.  Once I packed for a trip and brought along a huge coat which would have been great if the weather was 30 degrees below zero, but it wasn’t and I ended up carting that thing around everywhere.  It was such a hindrance!  There are things we often want to keep in our with-God journey that may be weighing us down and entangling us in a system of broken or false dependence.  Like trusting God and my bank account.  Or choosing to follow Christ so long as it does not mar my image or reputation…you get my drift. 

The funny thing is that when we give up the things we thought we needed, we discover they were never really needed in the first place.  The less caught up we are in all of it, the freer we become, and we can learn to abide with God in such a way that we actually find our life is expanded, fuller & richer!  We companion with Him and his presence is far better than any “end result” we thought status, money, or posh comfort could ever bring. 

So I guess that about sums up in plain, not-so-flowery speech, what the previous posts said...I would love to hear your thoughts in response...

Out to Sea...A glimpse into the with-God Life

The man stood anxiously with one foot on the wooded dock and the other on the boat’s deck.  The ropes, now untied, were creating distance between the vessel and the dock.  His body strained to bridge the gap.  “Please come.” He said, his hand extended to those not yet in the boat.  “We can’t wait much longer, its moving away from the shore.”  Unsure of the boat’s destination and hesitant to leave the comfort of the warm dock many chose to remain back.    After all, why give up the comfort of the poised reality one comes to know as their familiar life?  Still, some found themselves compelled off the dock and drawn to this mysterious vessel. 

            God calls.  He comes to each of us and extends the invitation to join Him in his Kingdom world... He woos us out of the comfortably predictable and invites us into a journey with Him (Gen 12:1-9, Mk 1:3)... Drawing us out to sea, he whispers his invitation as reality collides with our ideals.  This disruption itches its way out through our spiritual skin and we become dissatisfied with the status-quo.  We are convinced that something must change.  So while the profiles of those on the dock fade and we weep over the distance the sea creates, we have no choice but to turn and set sail with those who have found themselves, like us, on these unexpected waters responding to this God-call. 

            It is a fierce invitation as we, his image-bearers, join in holding the sails and become seafarers with Him.  As the mist blankets our face, vision may grow dim but we find The Captain is sure, so we sail on.  Along the way, as The Captain sails with us, we discover we may have over-packed for the journey and we let go of things once held dear, now unneeded.  They are "the things that have so easily entangled" us (Heb. 12:1-2).  We see more clearly, the tethering nature of our earthly treasures and how they once moored us to the dock and kept us from setting out to sea with the good Captain.  To cling to such idols seems foolish now as the shadow of fear dissipates in the light of His love.    

         

We gain our sea-legs on this with-God voyage, and it steadies our perspective. We notice changes in us and around us. (Gal. 5) Conversations seem different.  What preoccupied us in the past has lost its appeal.  New thoughts and ideas occupy our mind.  Our heart is being re-informed toward Truth. (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom 12:1-2)  We are often surprised by who we find ourselves sailing with and there is unexpected joy as we companion together.  The things that typically divide friendships fade as we set aside our differences and find fellowship in the grace of Christ.  Status is mute, but the color of our stories creates a palate of paint by which the Creator may unfold this Meta-God story on the canvas of the sails of this ship. (1 Cor. 12)   

            We know we are a part of something…But what?   Could it be that we have encountered the fellowship of believers found common in the way of Christ?  Is it possible that the very thing for which we have previously grappled by way of status, materialism, and comfort…was actually found when their mechanisms were laid to rest and we risked it all by going out on an unknown sea with The Captain who set their waters in place? (Luke 9:24)

            This vessel, seemingly bound for the unknown, has brought us into the known -the riches of His Glorious Presence and the love that resides there within.  Perhaps it is all about sailing with The Captain, at sea, and the destination is simply... HIM. 


This prayer is attributed to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu adapted from an original prayer by Sir Francis Drake.


Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves 
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, 
because we sailed too close to the shore.


Disturb us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess, 
we have lost our thirst for the water of life 



when, having fallen in love with time, 
we have ceased to dream of eternity 
and in our efforts to build a new earth, 
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.


Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas 
where storms show Thy mastery, 
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.


In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes 
and invited the brave to follow.


Amen

 

Skin On the Floor

“Mommy Cookie Monster’s skin is on the floor!”  Said the worried little girl.

“What do you mean?” asked the mother

“He’s just lying there on the floor all flat with nothing in him.  Is he dead?” The girl asked

“Oh no sweetie, That's all he's got...He needs someone inside of him to bring him to life.” The mother explained.

A mom of a preschooler shared this story a few years ago.  Her 2 ½ year old daughter had found her brother’s costume tossed on the floor the day after Halloween. ...so what's my point in sharing this story?... 

A while back, my daughter and I were noticing how depleted and worn we felt and there appeared to be no end in sight.  Recalling the mom's story, I simply said to her, “Sometimes, it just feels like we’re skin on the floor and that’s about all we’ve got.”  With a sideways smile she responded, “Yep…that is about sums it up, mom.” Seasons like that seem to show up in the soul on occasion, leaving us feeling somewhat empty.  Those are often the days when we wake up wondering if we have what it takes to do the next 24 hours and hope somehow to find Heaven's breath in us because all of the sudden we are keenly aware that we need something MORE than ourselves inside of us to bring us to life.  They are the days that remind us that God is God and we are not.

 Sometimes we are just "skin on the floor" and  I bet that God prefers it that way - not because he is cruel or enjoys watching us suffer, but because he knows what it takes for us to finally surrender to his better ways and find the life we are looking for.   How else would we ever notice our total need for Him and openly receive what He has to offer? Trading our life for His (Luke 17:33) isn't all that attractive when things are going along nicely and we feel confident in our own resources. After all, who needs "Heaven's breath" when we are breathing just fine on our own?  To the degree that I believe I am competent is often the degree to which I believe I do not need God.  ...Ouch!

Coming to the end of our personal (without-God) capacity, postures our heart so we can finally say, “Lord, I need your grace right now, to do what I know I must and to live in the way you have called me to live.  My flesh is weak, its worn, and fails often, but your Spirit in me holds heaven’s resources at its fingertips.   That is my only hope – it’s what I am banking on!  And it is more than enough... it is the promise of Christ!  You are Immanuel – God WITH me!  Carry me, move me, become my words and act through me.  I am skin on the floor, I lay myself down to be fully inhabited by you.” 

I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD"  Ezekiel 37
Just like that abandoned costume, when we abandon ourselves and become “Skin on the floor” God has all the room He needs to bring us to life. “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." (Matt 5:3)  And just like the boy, when God is allowed to “wear” us, His resources become ours and we move and act like him with energy, strength and love we never knew we had.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. – Gal 2:20

The Power of Praise

This is a story about one church in a small valley town that set out to encounter God together...well, this is one of their stories... 

One Sunday our church was asked to consider how we as individuals worship best...that is, where is it easy to sense God's presence?  We were then challenged to engage a venue where worship may come naturally for us and see what God does through it during the next week. The idea being that in doing this we might encounter God's abiding presence, and develop a practice or two that might help us posture in such a way that being with Him becomes familiar.  Some chose to go for a walk in the mountains or tend to their garden, others chose to study a passage of scripture, or serve side-by side with someone, and some chose to just sit in quiet contemplation with Him. It wasn't always easy nor was it automatic, but giving credence to different pathways to worship was profoundly valuable because it allowed us to set aside the "how" and simply seek HIM....And things always seem to go better for us when we turn from staring at ourselves and instead gaze upon God.  In those separate places of "Sabbath- worship", we - as God's kids - had a chance to breath in His goodness.

Upon returning the following Sunday, we shared our experiences and sang like we'd never sang before.  Then, something happened that no one would have expected.  The head grounds keeper was the first to see it.  He has an app on his phone that allows him to keep watch on the church facilities from a distance.  He knows if a door is unlocked or a light is left on or if the climate controls are off.  During the time of our worship, while we sang that second Sunday, his phone alerted him that the air quality in the room where we were gathered was dramatically off.   The carbon dioxide levels were reading way too high. After considering all possible scenarios, here's what seems to have happened (and my interpretation of it):  As we "breathed in" God's goodness throughout the week, it gave us something to celebrate, so we SANG!  We lifted high with abandon, the name of the Lord no matter our struggle or consolation, we just sang! And our collective exhale changed the climate of the room!  It was beyond what we could have imagined... in our praise we set off the sensor!




WOW! God inhabits the praise of His people…He lives in it...He’s found in
it! 

The stories shared that day were just like yours and mine.  Some involved real difficulty, others, a season of renewal and strength.  And some were quiet and not very sensational.  But God inhabited ALL of them because He inhabits each of us. The praise we lifted up together that day was an expression of shared fellowship in God's presence along life's bumpy sacred way.  

Now, when I am tempted to come to church and lazily go through the motions, or when I think that a moment with God won't amount to much and I consider dismissing the opportunity, I remember that day and refocus my easily distracted heart.  Because there are no ordinary moments... God is in them all.  He gives breath to his people.  His presence comes to life in our praise...and best of all, when we spend time with Him, He shows up in us.
 

Winter's Awakening

“The word of the LORD came to me, What do you see, Jeremiah?  I see the branch of an almond tree, I replied.  The LORD said to me, You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled”. Jeremiah 1:11-12

Today my husband and I took a short drive into a small sleepy town where time has stood still for decades and echoes of the past find voice in creaky wooded pathways and linger along the dusty streets amid bricked storefronts. 

Strangely, almost intuitively, such towns seem to find the heart and call it backwards... Where life's history and the invitation of tomorrow mingle with hesitant sway as they distance one from the other in this space called Now.   There is such sentiment and comfort in the familiar....  Do I dare let it go for the new?  Lord, I am so tired of the wait!  Can I trust the fall of abandon into the unknown? Is it any worse than the tension of the "in between"? Will winter ever awaken?

As my husband and I walked on, we found our way through the town and off the beaten path where meadows have sanctioned the birdsong and the rivers flow in glad submission…it all sounds beautiful, doesn’t it?  And it was!  But I am leaving out the part where the jacket tied around my waist kept falling and slowing me down, or the part where I grew tired and still needed to forge on; or the part where it was not green and lush grass but instead rocky and uneven.   It was truly a lovely hike but not without “stuff”.  I watched our shadows as we walked...this is the picture of journey.  Sometimes we linger in quiet consolation like the birdsong in the meadow, and life plays out in glad submission.  And sometimes the road is unpaved & narrow with rocks and crags to navigate along the way.  Sometimes we carry burdens that require extra attention, weighing us down as we make each step with fierce intention.  Other times we pause to remember life as it changes and unfolds into something new.  Even still there are moments along life's road where we feel a bit out of shape and a little too winded to carry on, but carry on we must...so we do. 

Whatever the season of the journey Heaven's resources are made available to us, affording us the grace needed to go the next step; like the manna given to God's children as they journeyed the dessert wilderness making their way to the Promised Land - God's watchful shepherd's-eye brings his presence near and becomes our consolation.  As we reached the last few feet of our hike we were greeted by a wild almond tree in full-bIoom.  It imposed itself upon us as if to say, “Stop…drink in winter’s awakening!”  I was glad for the reminder that winter’s solstice only lasts for a night and trees that go dormant in the cold, will again blossom under God’s cosmic warmth and light.

What did I see today?  I saw HOPE.  Not in circumstances, for they will always be unpredictably keen upon themselves, but in the watchful wait as the One who holds the circumstances sees to it that His word is made complete in and through us as He pens each chapter of our story and graciously joins it with the best and truest story ever told…His.  

"Look!  I am making everything new!"  Rev. 21:5

Yet Will I Praise Him...

We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.

Several years ago I found myself saddened over deep loss for the first time.  I remember thinking up ways to try and by-pass the pain.  It’s funny when we are confronted with sorrow how we first seek to avoid its sting.  We do things like get busy, or lose ourselves in movies or books. As much as I wanted to tell myself it was fine the truth was I was disappointed and sad and there was not much I could do about it.  And over time, as things settled, I began to fully bend to sorrows blow.

People would come over and seek to console me but rarely are there words that hold sorrow well.  What I do remember is their presence, and the occasional word of encouragement from someone who had experienced pain and was now on the other side of it.  It never really mattered what it was, after all loss is not always relative.  Loss is loss.

Since then life has afforded many other sorrows and I’ve grieved even “greater” losses.  There were days when picking my head up from the pillow seemed about all I could do, and walking through a market to buy groceries happened on legs that felt like Jell-O, and with a heart so heavy in my chest air had to force its way in.  That’s what grief feels like.  That’s how sorrow makes it way out through our pores. 

But I learned something during that first season of grief; something that has proved quite valuable. It happened while in church on a day when I had to force myself to even show up.  My husband is a pastor and I knew that I would be sitting alone and if grief decided to makes it appearance it would be unaccompanied and put on display from the front row.  Those were the days when a particular praise song called Shout to the Lord was sung just about everywhere - I knew it well.  But that day in the midst of my sadness as that song was being sung something in me moved.  Something?  …More like God’s spirit in me made a decision on my behalf (Rom 8:26-28).  For whatever reason I could set grief aside, and as the rest of the congregation sat, I stood. (So much for trying to be discrete in my sadness).   It was like I was saying to God, myself and everyone else that while I may be sad and the sky is oh so dark, this sorrow will not steal your glory nor will it steal my strength.

 “Shout to the Lord all the earth, Let us sing!  Power and majesty and praise to the King.  Mountains will fall and the seas will roar at the sound of your name! I sing for joy at the works of your hand forever I love you, forever I’ll stand.  Nothing compares to the promise I have in you!”

That’s when the meaning of the familiar song, “We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.” made a little more sense….”We offer up to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, joy and praise” (Heb. 13:15).  Sometimes coming to God in worship requires a laying down of that which we dearly love regardless of whether or not we will get it back…and in laying it down God pulls our “Jell-O-ed” legs to stand and holds our heavy-hearted song.  This is not blind trust.  It is evidence of the Holy Spirit's companionship and promises his strength of joy.  Our chosen worship affronts the blows of sorrow and says, “Yet. will. I . praise . Him!”

Valley Storms

To be completely honest, I struggled over how to write this blog post.  It is adapted from a old journal entry and every time I took it out of the “first person experience” for this blog, it lost a good part of its meaning and sounded like rhetoric…so I didn’t.  I don’t write it this way for consolation or sympathy but in hopes of putting voice to what I know is common to us all.

 

“I hope that you have had a blue-sky kind of day, even if it’s snowing.”

My friend sent those words as a greeting recently.  I honestly don’t know if she meant it literally or figuratively …probably both.  Her words struck me and were deeply meaningful.  I live in a part of California where a 90 minute drive east would bring me right into the snowy Sierra Nevada Mountains;  and a drive westerly for about the same amount of time,  would tumble me straight onto the sandy beaches and blue skies of the coast.  BUT I live in the valley.  It’s the in-between place where the clouds collect from the coastal ranges and pass through as they make their way up the mountains to drop their snow.  Winter here often looks drizzly, gray and foggy with the occasional warm day brining a sunny respite. However, when those respites hide themselves, it is not unusual for families to take a Sunday drive and “get above the clouds to find some sun for the day”.  After all, the soul needs it.

I’m finding myself in a soul-season that feels a lot like winter in The Valley.  Circumstances seem to be piling one upon the other like collected clouds between mountain peaks, and struggle falls like rain?  How does one have a blue-sky kind of day when the grey hovers so ostentatiously?  I don’t really want to read another verse about trials building perseverance and perseverance character, and character…blah blah blah.  I want to escape and take my soul on a Sunday drive to find some sun…But where?

I know that Isaiah reminds us to put our down-cast soul into the hopes of God (Ps 42).  And I know that, “He keeps track of all our sorrows, and has collected all our tears in his bottle, recording each one in His book.” (Ps 56:8).  Maybe the light dawns as we go limp for a while and weep, letting the clouds of our soul drop their tears, and perhaps the blue-sky kind of day comes about while we sit in the drizzle of the rain, held by the One who alone keeps track of it all….
 

… Maybe the best thing we can do at times is just sit somewhere in the valley, between the blue-sky and the snow, and let it rain. 

Will trials build perseverance?  Yes, if I stay in the trial and let God do his refining work in me.  That’s how perseverance leads to character; and the sheer amazement of that actually happening builds hope. And hope lifts our eyes above the clouds to see the abundant resources held in heavens courts awaiting our appeal.  (Rom 5)

If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves,… and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. - Romans 8:26-28

So if you find yourself longing for a blue-sky kind of day even if it's snowing outside, let it rain a bit.  Trust that the Spirit will hold you before God and work out the details, at His ready the clouds will clear, making Hope's harvest sure.