January 6, 2015

Hope in the Lord

 

Why are you downcast, O my soul?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise Him,

my Savior and my God.

-- Psalm 42:5

Another day in darkness. The stress is almost overwhelming. Almost. I pretend all is fine. Doesn't everyone? And yet the terror of what might come lies just beneath the surface.

I am afraid. I am not supposed to be afraid. It is lack of faith. Pure and simple. The Bible tells me again and again not to fear. God is with me. I know that. I do. But it doesn't feel that way.

Feelings have a way of going haywire. They're undependable and prone to exaggeration. I list the many, many things I have to be thankful for. I am grateful. I am. And yet here I am. Worried. Overwhelmed. Because I can't see a way and so far He's refusing to even show me a glimmer of hope.

And, yet, my hope is in Him. No matter the circumstances of my life. It is what keeps me going on these tough days, when others drain my time and energy. I desperately need to focus on earning money, on supporting myself, on taking care of my needs. Why am I the only one that can see that?
Why must I continue to sacrifice myself for a person who can't see beyond herself?

The answer isn't too hard. And it likely isn't what you think. I do it because I believe God has called me to this task. She doesn't deserve it but neither do I deserve what Jesus did for me.

Will I survive it? Probably not. I'll likely one day die from something entirely treatable because I put my needs last. Isn't that what we are told to do?

My soul is downcast. But I am reminded of the words of David. My hope is in the Lord. He can make a way even though I can't see a path. I trust Him. I don't trust anyone else but I trust Him. And He is all I need.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Seeking God’s Path For Your Life

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?” -- John 4:11

I am overwhelmed. Totally. Completely. Just overwhelmed. My mind is scattered in a thousand places and I’m struggling to bring it all together and do what I’m supposed to do.

But am I supposed to do it? Isn’t Jesus supposed to step in with that living water and make it all easy? Or isn’t someone else supposed to step up and take over? Why me? And why now?

I am a person of ideas. Many of them I try to keep to myself because I simply can’t do it all. There aren’t enough hours in the day and there isn’t enough of me to go around. I’m sure some of you can relate to this.

That said, every now and then I get an idea that simply won’t go away. I know it’s from God because, let me repeat, it won’t go away. So forward I go with God’s idea and it blesses people. It does. Because it’s God’s idea. He saw a need, put it on my heart, and now an idea has become a blessing to many people. Just not a blessing to me.

I understand that doing good isn’t always supposed to be an immediate blessing to us. That’s not why we do good. We do good because God calls us to do good and because we’re supposed to love those around us. And I do. So following God means caring for others.

I tell myself this again and again. But the bitterness and unhappiness keeps rising up. Someone needs to do what I’m doing. Someone needs to help those who are hurting and in need. But does it have to be me? Surely someone who has fewer family obligations, doesn’t need to work, someone who isn’t already doing enough, should step up. Surely someone else could do the job better, with more kindness and compassion. Surely God didn’t mean for me to do this forever.

But no one is stepping up and I’m becoming more and more overwhelmed. How can one person coordinate the needs, and volunteers to meet those needs, all alone? I understand that I don’t have to do it alone. I’m supposed to do it in the Spirit, allowing God to carry me down this path.

My question then becomes this: What does that look like? How do I know if I’m even called to do this? I know God put the idea in my heart but did He really intend for me to do it all? Somehow I don’t think so. I’m just not sure where to go from here.

So I’m sitting down again today for some more of that living water. My hope and my prayer is that somehow, someway, in the Scriptures I read and the prayers that I offer up to God, that He’ll light my path so that I can truly see His will. I’m overwhelmed and I need Him more than I can say.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Make Time With God A Priority

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

-- Luke 5:16

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles.

-- Luke 6:12-13

A dear friend was frazzled. Okay. She was overwhelmed and burnt-out with all that fills her life. She was juggling everything just fine until something unexpected required her immediate attention. And then she had a melt down.

After she had vented for a while, I asked if she’d been spending time alone with God. Absolutely, she assured me. She’d spent a good five minutes that very morning praying and talking with God.

Five minutes. Umm, that’s not nearly enough time with God when life is going good. It sure doesn’t begin to be enough when life is falling apart. I began to understand why she was overwhelmed and out of sorts with her life. She’d put what should be her number one priority to the fit-it-in-where- and-when-you-can category.

I gently reminded her that five minutes with God couldn’t begin to satisfy her craving for time with Him. I urged her to make quiet time with God a priority in her life. And not just five minutes.

I also suggested she spend time reading the Bible and reflecting on its words. God speaks to us when we listen. But we have to make time to listen.

It’s hard sometimes. I know that. Life gets away from us rather quickly. We don’t want to turn off the TV or the cell phone or the laptop. We’re so plugged in to everything and everyone that we can’t imagine turning it all off for, well, silence.

Because that’s what alone time with God is all about. Silence. Oh, sure, we talk to Him. But it’s like any relationship. It’s a give and take thing. We talk awhile and then we listen awhile. If we keep telling God what we want from Him, we’ll never be able to hear what He wants from us.

Sometimes I think maybe that’s the point. We’re not sure we want to hear what God has to say. We’re afraid He’ll call us to do something we’ve never done before. We’re scared that He’ll demand more of us than we’ve ever given before. And how could we possibly fit anything else into an already overcrowded schedule?

By depending on God. By spending time alone with the One who gives us strength. By opening ourselves up to the peace that only He can give. Time with God should be the most important part of your day. And not just for five minutes. Give it try and see how much better everything works out when God becomes the priority in your world.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Develop A Sustainable Rhythm

Each day Jesus was teaching at the temple, and each evening he went out to spend the night on the hill called the Mount of Olives, and all the people came early in the morning to hear him at the temple. -- Luke 21:37-38

There is no balance in life. I don’t care who told you it was a wonderful goal, it just isn’t possible. Oh, we know we need a little of this and a little of that, time for work, time for play, time for family, time for friends, time for self, time for exercise, time for … well, you get the point.

What ends up happening is a juggling act that is destined to fail. There is absolutely no way a normal human being can keep all those things going, let alone in balance. Whatever that means.

So if we can’t “balance” all we need to do, how in the world will we ever cope with it all? In his book, The Jesus Life, Stephen W. Smith calls us to develop a rhythm in our lives, much as Jesus illustrated for us in how He lived His life on earth.

The crowds flocked to Jesus during His ministry. He gave and gave and gave. So did His disciples. But nobody can be “on” all the time without eventually running the well dry. Most of us have been there, done that, in our lives.

Jesus took time each day to spend time alone with the Father. Let me repeat the crucial part of that sentence: each day. Not just on Sunday. Not only when He had time. Not in a frantic few moments reading a Sunday school lesson or a chapter in the Bible.

In fact, Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry. He always seemed to have time for everyone and everything. Yeah, He is God but He is also Man. So how did He do it all when most of us can’t seem to get out of the starting block without stumbling?

Again -- Jesus spent time each day with His Father. Not rushed. Not tidbits here and there. Not while He was trying to watch TV or help the kids with homework or check e-mails or facebook. Each time Jesus spent time alone with God, the source of His strength. The source of our strength.

We want to do everything and be everything for those around us. We want to be a dedicated worker, a marvelous spouse, a terrific parent. We want to have fun and read and travel. We want to coach little league and cook like Martha Stewart and have a house that is always picked up and perfectly decorated. The truth is we never will have all those things. At least, not at the same time.

But we can have peace where we are. We can have strength to do the things we must. We can give beyond what we ever thought possible. So long as we stay focused on the source of strength and wisdom, patience and grace.

That’s the lesson Jesus taught us. Not balance. Certainly not juggling a million things at once. But filling the well every day by spending time alone with God. So life your life as Jesus did. Get off the treadmill and develop a rhythm that will revitalize and sustain you, no matter what life brings your way.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

The Impossible Is Possible With God

“I am the LORD, the God of all the peoples of the world. Is anything too hard for me?” -- Jeremiah 32:27

Some days are just overwhelming. You’ve heard that old cliché about not knowing whether to laugh or cry. I had one of those days last week and it just about did me in.

Juggling used to be something I was really good at. But somehow juggling business things and personal things are two separate things all together. Probably because one is just dollars and cents and another day at the office. The other is lives and health and people who matter to me.

At times I’m afraid that the stress of it all will draw me toward darkness, even as I cling to the light. How can anyone do it all? How can anyone be all things to all people at all times? The answer is: they can’t. But God can.

The problem comes when I start trying to do it all by myself. Maybe you’ve been there before. The tasks all seem so simple that I don’t want to bother God. And the tasks are simple. But simple task on top of simple task on top of simple task adds up to something that appears overwhelming. And then I’ve got to bother God anyway because I just can’t do it by myself.

I figure He’s up there shaking His mighty head and wondering what took me so long to figure it out. He was there all along, just waiting for me to realize that He cares about the details of my life just as much as the major stuff that happens every now and then.

Other times I can’t see the way. I’m convinced there is no light at the end of the tunnel everyone is telling me about because I just can’t see it happen. I tell myself that there is just no way. How silly? I know better. I do. But still I doubt. I question. I give up without even trying.

Because all I can see is that I can’t do it on my own. I forget about the power behind what I’m called to do. I forget that God has my back. I forget that God will never call me to do something without also giving me and providing me with the power, wisdom and resources to make His will happen.

God can do anything. I know that. I do. He is the God of the universe. The Creator of all things. My LORD. My Savior. My everything. He can do anything. All I’ve got to do is show up.

What has God called you to do today? What have you already given up on without even trying? What has you overwhelmed? Give it to God. Just hand it over and watch what happens. Because there is nothing you can’t do when God has your back.