August 19, 2018

What Are You Avoiding?

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

– Psalm 46:10

Just how busy are you? Do you find yourself constantly on the go? Do you work long days and then fill your nights and weekends with other activities, such as meetings, kids’ sports or dance, church and volunteer work? Do you ever rest?

Many years ago I had a friend who never rested. This contractor worked hard. And when the day was done? Well, he continued to fill the hours. He didn’t do anything bad. It wasn’t that kind of thing. He went to the movies or a museum. He went out to eat with friends or planned an excursion somewhere fun. On the surface, it was a great life.

But I began to notice something about him. He never rested. Never. It was almost as though he couldn’t stand to be alone with his thoughts or, indeed, with himself. There was an underlying sadness about him, no matter how often he laughed. He was living life on the surface in a desperate attempt to avoid what was inside.

I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately. I’m in a different state, with a different life, but I’ve met a woman who reminds me of my old friend. I’ve known her for several years and she is a delightful person. She is quick to smile, quick to volunteer, quick to get involved. She is one of the busiest people I know.

I didn’t realize it until I tried to schedule a meeting around her schedule. She works all day, then almost every night is filled with some activity. The weekends are no exception. She seems to thrive on being busy. But there is an emptiness to her.

She tries desperately to control everything she’s involved in. Her conversations are sprinkled with gossip. Her tongue bites anyone who disagrees with her. She has no patience with those who don’t meet her standards. She is one of the unhappiest people I know.

I look at my own life. I think of the times I filled my days in a desperate attempt to avoid facing myself. Unhappiness is an awful companion. Reality can be a hopeless trigger to truth we’d do anything to avoid.

We will never find true satisfaction in busyness. We will never be content on the frantic treadmill of life. Our only peace comes in those quiet moments of solitude we spend with our Creator.

Sooner or later we all come face to face with that reality. We can’t ignore truth forever, no matter how hard we try. We’ll eventually burn out, our bodies will give way, our crammed days will open up with time. God won’t let us avoid Him forever.

Conviction is a powerful weapon God uses to draw us toward Him. It’s when we realize we’ve been avoiding Him, failing to live up to His standards, and trying to hide our unhappiness, that we finally look in the mirror to see who we are and, more importantly, who He is.

Be still. His words beckon to us. We shy away. Who wants to face unhappiness? But the only way to get to the other side is to deal with today. He’s right there.  You won’t be alone. God will never leave you alone to face whatever you are desperately trying to avoid.

Sometimes the hardest steps are actually the easiest. Slow down. Fall to your knees. Cry out to Him. Let His Presence wash over you. Let yourself be held in His everlasting arms. Trust Him. Creator God can heal you from the inside out.

June 23, 2018

What Really Matters?

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

– Mark 8:36

It’s the little things that get us. We don’t plan to commit murder. We don’t plan to rob a bank. We don’t plan to ever deny Jesus.

But, well, we don’t have a problem with hate when someone has done us wrong. And we understand anger and revenge when someone “deserves” our wrath.

We work hard for what we have and we keep it for ourselves. We “need” so many things – a new car, a long vacation, several nights eating out. We might not be able to tithe – money’s tight you know – but we can take care of ourselves.

We would never deny Jesus, not officially anyway. But we don’t have time to help the poor and the elderly. We can’t offer ourselves up as sacrifices. There’s barely enough hours in the day to get done the things we must get done – job, kid’s activities, socializing, household chores.

We try to show up for church on Sunday. Sometimes we’re just too tired or we need a mini-vacation to the beach or mountains. God understands, we tell ourselves. We try to volunteer. Okay. Maybe only when it something that directly benefits us or our children. Let someone else care for those who are alone or have long-term needs.

We pray most days. It might just be a quick moment before bed or a muttering before we head off to work. There’s just no time for serious Bible study or true alone time with God. He understands the demands of our lives. God loves us anyway. He knows we’ll get around to it one day.

What if one day never comes? What if today is your last day on earth? What if your child gets cancer and everything you thought was important suddenly isn’t? What if life knocks you to the ground and you find yourself in quicksand?

The Bible tells us to build our lives on the rock of faith. We are to nourish our roots so that they grow strong and deep in the fertile soil of faith. We aren’t to wait until desperation hits. We’re to do it now, before we hit the wall.

How many of us do that? How many of us attend church occasionally and call ourselves good? How many of us do the minimum and think we’re covered for whatever might come? And how many of us truly know that we are one moment away from a life-changing event?

We somehow think we are insulated from the truly bad. We work hard. We’re believers. We are. Well, maybe we don’t always live like it. We like to have fun and, well, we’re just so busy.

Just remember this: Possessions won’t hold you up when the world tears you apart. Good intentions won’t carry you when you’re in need and the world has better things to do. And faith that isn’t nourished when life is good won’t sustain you when everything you thought you knew is gone.

You may end up with the whole world but what about your soul? When the day is done and you are heading home, will you finally realize that Jesus really was all that mattered after all?

April 26, 2018

God Reaches Out

When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, LORD supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

– Psalm 94:18-19

Some days are just hard. Do you know what I mean? A child gets sick. Nothing major but it sure does rearrange your day. The grass needs mowing – again. A vehicle breaks down and you’re faced with an unexpected bill. The list goes on and on.

It’s nothing major. It feels selfish to whine about it all. A little girl is in Birmingham fighting for her life. A dear man in Florida is grieving his constant companion and facing a void he isn’t prepared to face. Another man lost his job and desperation creeps in. How will he provide for his family? There are things that put ordinary challenges into perspective.

Life just feels overwhelming sometimes. There is so much to do. The hours seem few and the labor feels long. I am tired. How about you? Do you ever find yourself just getting through the days, afraid to look beyond because you can’t see anything different? That’s scary. Will it always be this way?

Our joy comes from the Lord. The Bible says so and I believe what it says. I feel guilty. Where is my joy? The birds are chirping outside my window this morning. I have bird houses and bird feeders everywhere it seems. My Mother loved to watch the birds and now I do too. On good days, a red bird brightens the day. A visitor from heaven is what they say.

Today is another beautiful day. The sun shines brightly. Not too hot and not too cold. The kind of perfect day we’ll be dreaming of when summer comes our way. It is hot here in the South. Humid hot. So perfect days are a treasure. Why am I sad?

Every day I awake and soldier on. I imagine you do as well. There are animals to tend and chores to do. There is a living to be made. I don’t know how to rest anymore. How about you? Is your day so filled with obligations and activities that there is no time to sit, to think, to contemplate, to simply enjoy the day that God has given to us?

We are busy. All of us are. Children have school and activities seven days each week. Their parents are right there in the middle of it all. Those who are retired find themselves busier than ever before. There is no end in sight. We fill our days and nights with things that seem necessary and yet we wonder why we are so empty inside.

God told us to rest. We will, we promise. As soon as all the chores are done, as soon as the children are grown, as soon as we enter another season of life. But each season brings its own challenges and we find that we don’t rest there either. We have forgotten what it means to be still before God. We don’t know how to embrace the small things because we’re so focused on getting through yet another day.

Another hard day. When does it get easy? It doesn’t. Not words you wanted to read. Truth is neither pleasant not inspiring but it is necessary. We alone make the choice to slow down, to say no, to take time to be with God in quiet stillness. We can rush along at the world’s pace or we can slow down and rest in God’s embrace. Our choice. We’re all slipping away in our busyness. Reach out to Him. God is waiting to grasp your hand and bring you safely to a place of rest.

April 20, 2018

Embrace Sabbath Rest

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

– Hebrews 4:9-11

It’s a study I need. Desperately. It’s titled Breathe and it’s led by Priscilla Shirer. What’s the topic? Sabbath rest. Or, maybe I should just say rest. It’s about God giving us permission to rest.

Wow. There is power in that. Freedom. We know about Sunday. We talk about the day of rest. We just don’t think it applies to us. We haven’t earned a rest. We have too much to do. And don’t forget the kids. Their activities never cease, even on Sunday.

I’m not sure where I acquired the notion that it’s not okay to rest. Maybe it came from my parents, who questioned me pointedly if I sat down for even a moment to rest. I was expected to always be working, to always be serving, to always be doing their bidding. Few people realized how long my days were.

Now my parents are gone but their voices linger in my head. I don’t want to be lazy. I can’t be lazy. There are too many animals to tend, a farm to manage, and an income to earn. But I am tired. And I feel like I can’t sit down with a book or magazine and simply rest. Even on Sunday.

How about you? When do you rest? I know there are people who veg out in front of the television. We always hear about those people. I don’t personally know any of them. The people I know are too busy juggling life’s demands to sit down and do nothing, even for a short period of time.

I look at our children and wonder if they will ever understand the concept of rest or Sabbath. They attend school five days each week. They also have ball practice or dance or other after school activities. Even Sunday is now filled with dance competitions or ball tournaments.

I asked one mom, “When do they rest?” She looked at me as though I’d lost my mind. “Oh, they enjoy it,” she assured me.

Seriously? How can they not be tired? They never have down time to simply play and enjoy being a child.

It’s a vicious cycle. And we don’t want to set boundaries, for them or for us, because what would people think? Do we truly believe that the more we do the better people we become? Do we think we have to fill every waking moment with some activity?

I get it. I do. I’m there with you. I’ve only made it through one week of this study and my eyes have opened. It doesn’t mean I’ve changed my behavior. That’s a habit that will take some time to reprogram. But it really does reveal to me how destructive being busy all the time can be.

It also tells me that God never intended for any of us to be overworked and stressed all the time. He created Sabbath for us to rest and recharge. God modeled that behavior for us. He gave us the freedom to do nothing for a time. We have His permission. It’s time to embrace rest, to allow ourselves to be filled up again so that we might continue the work God has called us to do.

February 10, 2018

Meet With God First

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

 – Luke 5:16

The text message alert went off. Again. I have increasingly learned to cringe at the sound. I wanted to ignore it but I was expecting someone to alert me before they stopped by to pick something up.

That wasn’t the text. Instead it was someone dear who was bored and ready to have a “conversation.” Oh, how I hate that.

I spend my days working. I know that shocks some people. They assume if you aren’t punching a time clock or sitting at a desk somewhere, then you aren’t really working. You’ve got plenty of time for them. You’ve got time to text and talk and run their errands.

I have tried to be accommodating. I learned with elderly parents that my days rarely go as I planned. (God means it when He says He will determine our steps!) But it’s not okay to assume that someone who is self-employed is always available to you.

A sweet lady who volunteers at the church office commented on this recently. She wanted to know if since I worked from home did I ever stopped working. I laughed and explained that I try to end about 8:30 each night. And, no, I don’t sleep late. I get up earlier than many friends who must drive to their jobs.

My one gift to myself is the quiet time I spend with God. It’s one of the first things I do every morning. It matters more than anything because it is what gives me the strength and guidance to make it through the day.

Sometimes it seems selfish to claim this time. I certainly have plenty of things to do. The list never ends and I never get caught up with it all. Then I remind myself that Jesus also took time to spend alone with the Father. If He needed it, how much more do it?

It’s so easy to get caught up in the busyness of life. There are always people demanding our attention. Sometimes we have to rearrange things. A baby must be cared for so we get up earlier or sit down when the baby naps. But when it’s important – and alone time with God is THE most important thing – then we find a way to make it happen.

You don’t agree? Do you find time to eat each day? Do you make time for watching television? Do you talk to your friends or go out to eat? We make time for the things we find valuable. How much do you value spending time with God?

For many of us there will never be enough hours in the day. There will always be people who think their needs or wishes should be at the top of our list of things to do. There will be people who steal our time, our peace, our joy.

I have drawn a line, invisible though it may be. I am no longer always available to people. Some aren’t too happy about it. It’s not my job in life to make them happy. I am nice but firm. My days are directed by God, not them.

I am so very grateful that God shows up to meet with me every morning. The creator of the universe actually wants to have a conversation with me. How awesome is that!

He wants to have a conversation with you too. What are you waiting for? Schedule the time and do it. You’ll find yourself with more energy, direction and joy as your day takes its course.

May 10, 2016

Be Still Before Him

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:

“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.

-- Isaiah 30:15

Some days are just busy. I’m frantically trying to get everything done, to meet everyone’s needs, and there just doesn’t seem to be enough time for it all.

Deep breath.

I don’t have to get it all done. As someone told me today, it’ll be there tomorrow. I laughed at the time. That’s what I know. Because at the end of the day, it’ll be me that gets it done or it won’t get done.

It creates a busyness that frustrates me. Do you know what I mean? I long for the days I could kick back and simply read a book without interruptions and without feeling guilty for all I still needed to do.

Then I am reminded that rest is available. It’s been freely given to me but I have to reach out and accept it. Sometimes I have a difficult time doing that.

I think it’s part of being human. We want to control our surroundings. We want to be productive people. We want to look pulled together. So we circle round and round on a merry go round that never, ever ends.

Priorities. What are my priorities? Are they that never ending to do list? Or is it to quiet myself before my Lord and Savior to be strengthened and savored in His Presence?

I am not a perfect person. No one is. So I take it to God. I tell Him about the mistakes I’ve made, ask for His forgiveness and then take a different path.

And then I rest in it. We often beat ourselves up about something long after God has put it behind Him. Follow His lead. Move on.

Walk in His strength. Trust Him to work it all out. Be quiet before Him and listen for His voice. Remember that it is in the quiet stillness that we can most hear Him speak.

I don’t have to get it all done. Really, I never will. And that’s okay. Because I’m okay in His Presence. I find rest there. Always.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Don’t Be Afraid To Follow His Call

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. -- Psalm 32:8

The woman agonized over her decision. I tried to be helpful and patient. She sought her mother’s advice. She stood back and gazed at the old wood paintings. After about 20 minutes -- literally -- she finally made her selection. As she walked toward the cashier, I heard her questioning her choice.

I felt sorry for her. I did. How horrible it must be to agonize over something so simple as choosing either a blue fish or an orange fish on an outdoor painting for a friend. She probably second guessed herself for hours. And, really, it wasn’t that important. I can’t imagine how she manages to make life-changing decisions.

Or maybe I can. A dear friend has been agonizing over one of those for almost three months. She’s finally decided but she’s having a hard time letting go. I understand. Leaving a job you like for something more satisfying is a risk. One place is comfortable because you know it and you know what to expect. The other is scary because it’s new.

We’re all about comfortable, aren’t we? Our Sunday school class has been studying John Ortberg’s book, If You Want To Walk On Water, You’ve Got To Get Out of the Boat. This is one of the topics he discusses. We get so comfortable that it’s easy just to stay right in the boat. Then we end up missing so many blessings because we never trusted God enough to follow His call.

Indecision is all about fear. Procrastination is all about fear. Busyness is all about fear. We don’t want to make a decision, a choice, to leave our comfortable place because we’re afraid that walking on water might not be all we thought it would be. But we’ll never know unless we try.

And, sometimes, fail. We don’t want to fail. Nobody does. But everybody fails at some point. Some of us manage to do it spectacularly. Others fail slowly by bits and pieces. But we all fail at something.

The key then is to learn and grow from the experience. God promises to use it if we’ll let Him. Then we can gather ourselves together and try again -- only this time with the lessons that we’ve learned. That’s the difference between those who succeed and those who don’t. Those who succeed learn from their failures. Those who don’t end up letting their failures define their entire lives.

Don’t keep waiting for a certainty that will never come. Nothing is guaranteed in this life except that God will be with you through the journey. So take His hand and take a chance. Get out of the boat and follow His calling on your life.