Not our Ways

I recently ready about a New York man who found himself trapped in his car during a snow storm this past Christmas Eve.  He was running out of fuel and began fearing for his life.  He was in a residential area and began knocking on doors of homes nearby begging for shelter, even offering to pay to sleep on the floor.  Ten households turned him down sending him back to his car to try to survive the night.  An elderly woman approached his car later, also trapped.  She needed to use the restroom and was running out of gas, too.  In an effort to save their lives, the man broke into a nearby school he found on his GPS.  He didn't stop there though.  He went back out looking for people trapped in their car and brought them all back to the school for shelter. He ended up saving probably 20 lives.

Great story of bravery and heroics, but God in this story is bigger than the obvious! If you are like me, your initial reaction to the fact that TEN households turned him down for shelter in the middle of a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, no less, was one of shock and disappointment. And hear me, I get it. They were afraid. They thought he might be a murderer or a thief trying to steal all their Christmas gifts, and I can't with 100% conviction say I wouldn't have done the same. But after finding out how many lives he saved, the disappointment turned to understanding. 

God worked through those families' fear to set up a rescue for 20 more people. Did you hear me? He used their fear for His plan.  The man would go on to say that had just one of those families taken him in, he wouldn't have saved a single one of the people that he rescued.  I can imagine after ten rejections for shelter, this man was feeling like God was not answering his prayer. But God was going to not only answer his prayer, but TWENTY others through him.

May this be a reminder to all of us but especially those who feel like God has forgotten them or is ignoring their cries for help, that His ways are not our ways.  You may believe He is doing everything BUT answering your prayer. Oh but my friend, you have no idea how He is using the details for a bigger miracle than you even asked for!

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

Karen

 

Most of us are pretty educated on the title "Karen" and all it implies, but just in case you haven't heard - Karen is the slang name given to women who are "perceived as entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal" according to Wikipedia.  Cranky and mean pretty much sum it up. (Apologies to all the lovely Karens out there...you are not your name!) 

It's become a term that no one wants to be associated as, and we would never describe ourselves in such a way.  Ultimately, no one believes they are a "Karen".

Bad news alert: Karen lives in ALL of us.  I had the flu a while back,  and truly, I don't normally have Karen tendencies.  However, a combination of exhaustion and sickness seemed to stir up a short tempered version of myself that normally outsiders are immune to.  Thankfully, the holy spirit filtered my mouth, but my untamed heart would've been the poster child for "Karen" herself. 

It dawned on me that the only difference between my normal self and the unleashing of the "Karen" within was self - control.  That's right. Same for you and everyone else reading this.  We are all one lapse in self control away from the "snap back, how dare you" monster none of us want to be known as.

Wouldn't you know self-control is one of the fruits of the spirit- one of the telling signs that you are chasing after Jesus. Hmmm...I don't know about you, but I 100% would rather look like Jesus than "Karen".

Pause

Christmas break is suppose to be a great opportunity to "pause".  Activities and school and you name it comes to a hault, and everything around us seems to force us to a rest.  However like typical humans, many of us struggle with committing to the empty schedule and after shopping and holiday events, we find ourselves back in January to do it all over again!

You know who knew when to take a break? Jesus. I'm not even talking Sabbath here...although he had that down too. Jesus knew when to be quiet, when to be slow to speak, when to "pause". 

My favorite place to point this out is in John 8.  Yep, the story of the woman caught in adultery.  When they bring the woman to him to see what he will do to her, he leans down and begins to write something in the dirt.  We can all speculate what it is he was writing, but to me it really doesn't matter.  I just love the picture of my Jesus clearly pausing and being slow to speak.  He was no fool to what was going on, and he could've snapped back with some quick comment highlighting their hypocrisy in a hateful way, but he didn't. He took a minute (not once but twice in this story if you go check the scripture) and then gave a perfect response that ushered conviction instead of anger, empathy instead of death sentence.

I don't know about you, but I think the whole world should take note! May you find a place in your hour, in your day, in your holiday, in your hard conversations to model a Jesus-like pause.

May March Never Be the Same

I know February is short, but March sure snuck up on me!  It's really crazy to think how oblivious we all were this time last year. Coronavirus was just a rumor that few of us believed would hit the U.S.A.  Little did we know, in a couple of weeks, our normal lives as we had known them were about to flip upside down.

Do you know who wasn't oblivious...wasn't shocked or surprised by March 2020: our almighty God.  He wasn't scrambling for answers or facemasks and certainly not toilet paper.  I think many of us can look back on the last year and find that he didn't let any of the struggle go in vain. He chiseled away at our ungratefulness, at our spirit of discontent, and mostly at our idol of comfort and convenience.  None of us would have asked for the suffering of this past year, but as usual, we wouldn't have reaped the reward of the changes in our character that come with this kind of refinement either.

While this month will be a time to grieve and pray for families who lost someone due to Covid, families who suffered financially, and for whatever hardships this month of March marks the anniversary for; may it also be a time to praise the Lord for the ways he comforted, provided, and removed us from our man made thrones of control.

May March always serve as a time in our lives to remember that our God is omniscient, mighty to save, and too loving to let our temporary happiness stand in the way of his everlasting joy.

If Anybody Knows, He Knows

If you haven't heard this pastor from Tulsa, I encourage you to give this sermon a listen.  I don't know all his theology or who he's affiliated with...all the church politics if you will, but what I do know is that anyone who is willing to burn their reputation at the pulpit for the glory of God and the freedom of other's sins has my attention.  

Pastors, want to know what creates a culture of vulnerability in your church...this does.  Your people need to know that you struggle with sin as ugly as they do. They need to see you be bold to tell the specifics, so they can in turn be bold enough to do the same.  You may be incredibly shocked how many people flock toward you rather than shun you for falling off the pedestal that was always a lie anyway. They've been waiting so long for permission to be honest about their own temptations.  You, in so many minds, are the only one who can grant that to them.  

On a different note, this really picks right up where we left off with my last article on working on the hearts of our young men.  Want to see the imprisonment of that same sexual sin we were referring to walked out in living color? Want to see how it takes you down paths you would have never imagined?  Want to see the lengths that young, "Christianed" men will go to in order to have their need met and keep it a secret.  Listen closely.  This isn't just somebody else's story...I guarantee you this is the story of many in your close life if not you, yourself.

Start at the 20 minute mark.

High in the Sky

I recently took a vacation...yes, in the middle of all this Covid mess, I left the safety of my bubble for land beyond.  It required me to fly which if you know me well, then you know that I HATE to fly.  My fear of catching Coronavirus is nothing compared to my fear of being thousands of feet in the air.  It is torture.

I've come to realize that my fear of heights isn't the guiding factor behind this torture, it is my lack of control.  When I am high in the air, there is not one thing I can do to protect that plane from crashing.  My hands are not in anyway close to the piloting equipment nor are they qualified to be.  I have no way of preventing an engine failure, fire, or flock of birds from damaging the aircraft.  Each minute seems like an eternity...I am hypersensitive to every sound and movement around me...until finally the landing equipment hits the ground and I can breath again.  On the ground, I feel like I am back in control. My feet steady below me, much less likely to stumble into a fiery ball of flames.

This time while in my panic state in the air, the Lord reminded me that my tangible view of how little control I have while soaring through the air is actually completely accurate.  I may be more aware of it in those circumstances, but the truth is that I really am never in control.  My human brain wants to believe that if I take certain steps I can control my destiny, but there is only one "pilot" controlling the "plane".  Now He lets me make choices and take steps and I certainly have created detours for myself plus I'm flying around in a broken world, but my ultimate destination is His design.

I would love to tell you that this realization calmed all my nerves and I enjoyed the rest of the flight in complete peace, but that wouldn't be true.  I had to lay down the fear over and over again...minute by minute...reminding myself of my Savior's character, promises, and truths.  And, isn't that the life we should live as Jesus lovers anyway?  Maybe without that hint of fear, I would believe myself to be really good at controlling my situation and never lean into His mighty arms.  Maybe my peace only comes from this constant surrender...whether I am high in the air, or low in a marriage or trapped in the anxiety of keeping everyone safe around me.  Maybe deliverance doesn't mean complete comfort as many of us Americans idolize...maybe deliverance comes only in the form of dependence on the God who is the only one qualified to chart our course anyway.

The Fruit

You know, I don't have much of a green thumb.  My momma always did and my husband does, but when it comes to the patience and attention required for me to keep something other than my children alive, I just don't cut it.  I mean, if I can keep my kids watered and fed and get them out into the sunshine for at least a little bit a day, I'm really proud of myself.  But a plant just doesn't motivate me.  I might put in a good effort for like a week; forcing myself to get out there and water it and check on it.  However after that week, something sick in me loses the desire and I embarrassingly think, "Who cares if it dies?!  It was a good run!"

My husband on the other hand has planted a seed from a grapefruit our boys love to eat.  He has cared for it from a seed and it is now a full grown plant.  He checks on it daily, setting it outside when necessary, buying new pots for it as its roots expand.  When he started this process, he found out that it could take YEARS for you to have any fruit.  I would have been out immediately.  But not him; that didn't deter him in the least.  I think the challenge and effort needed was even more motivating for him.  He knows that fruit will take time...and if you know my story well, you really understand that he of all people understands that fruit will take time.

Recently, I was reading a book to my brood about how we get our food.  It was a sweet non-fiction book about the very beginning of seeds and bread and fruit and cheese.  As we read about one flower-forming plant after another: tomatoes, oranges, apples, there was one consistency that hit me.  Before the fruit could produce, the flower had to die.

How true is this about the fruit we are to bear for our Jesus?  Most people would believe the flower is the most beautiful part of the tree and the world would probably say the same thing about the part of us that needs to die in order for the real fruit to live.  The flower the world praises might look good from the outside bringing us praise and fluffing our pride, but it is actually going to have to die in order for the miraculous fruit to be created in us.  And, it's going to take time.  If you are a gardener of your "fruit" like I am in real life, your one week of watering and motivation will get you nowhere.  Your white-knuckled "I'm going to be soooo good, open my Bible, show up to church for a couple of weeks" mentality will only grow your plant the length of your motivation.

Real fruit stands the test of time.  It is produced when care and attention are given long after motivation fades, when storms come, when sunshine floods, when change and pruning is required, when being still is all that can be done.  And finally, the flowers will bloom -that must die- to create the fruit that nourishes everyone around.  Cultivate His vine, my friends, the world needs your fruit more than your flower.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5