Courage

Life can be a hodgepodge, an ebb and flow, a maze – of inspiring, enabling promises and, broken ones – of fulfilled dreams and shattered ones – of successes and failures – of carefully planned and achieved hopes and seemingly random, often cruel, perversions of what is good. Life is a journey that reaches for a destination, but the journey may be detoured, or abruptly interrupted. What do we do when that life is our own? Most of us walk forward rather nonchalantly when our world is quiet, even if it may be busy, intense with pursuing or at least, meeting the expectations and plans we once laid out. Even as believers, we gain a theological stance, a set of beliefs we are comfortable with, a God who fits nicely into our well managed lives. But then, shattered, broken pieces intrude on our calm. Marriages are threatened. Finances can no longer be stretched. Mental health or physical health perplex both us and the doctors trying to help us. The child we love lies cold in a grave. Or, the child we love makes choices contrary to beliefs we have always rooted deeply in our hearts. What do we do when that life is our own? The church is learning that real people living in the reality of a real and broken world need a real God who loves and cares and provides. And we are learning how to face the reality of our needs, acknowledge the effects of those needs on our lives, and we are learning how to journey forward with our very real and caring God and asking Him to do what we cannot do. We are learning it needs to be a journey of utter dependency on our God, waiting for His leading and His enabling. There is an element though of courage that must still permeate the journey, because although courage too is a gift from our God, there is still a choosing on our part that embraces the gift of courage. When we embrace the gift of courage, we choose to walk forward when confronted with loss, pain, emptiness, inadequacy, personal challenges, the darkness and insecurity of the unknown. The gift of courage chooses to walk forward even when I know that in myself I have nothing to give. It knows that I must find something, someone, bigger than myself to cope with the waves, the triggers, that want to engulf me and smother any resources I thought I had. Courage is really faith in action because faith too is a choice, and faith chooses God in the middle of all the muck, reaches for His hand, responds to His heart, and chooses to put all the pain, the inadequacy, the darkness, and the emptiness in His hands, and leaves it all with Him. Courage is wise enough to know when the rawness scrapes again and courage is wise enough and dependent enough to know that the over and over of courageously choosing to stay with God is okay. It’s more than okay. It’s essential. It’s vital. And that courage helps me continue to walk forward on my journey, finding others who will journey with me, but more importantly, continuing to choose my God and let Him hold me, keep me close, comfort my broken spirit, and saturate me with His hope that gives light and purpose for all of my tomorrows. God has not promised days without pain, laughter without sorrow, nor sun without rain, but He has promised strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. When we courageously choose to walk forward with our God, we make the choice not only for courage, but also for faith, and our faith becomes a vibrant, courageous choice for God. – Bev (Related Bible reading: Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:9; Psalm 31:24; Isaiah 57:15; Matthew 14:27)

Still Small Voice

1Kings 19: 11-12 “‘Go out and stand before me on the mountain,’ the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake ,there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.” Elijah needed to hear from the Lord. He was discouraged and exhausted. He was running from Jezebel. She was trying to kill him so she could carry out all the evil she wanted on the people. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. The Lord instructed him to go out and stand before Him on the mountain. It wasn’t in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire that God revealed Himself; it was in the gentle whisper. It was in that gentle whisper Elijah received his instructions. Katie, please don’t forget to send out your thank you notes. That was the only time I had mentioned writing out her thank you notes to friends and family. It was right after her graduation from high school and she only had a week to get those done before she left for camp. I figured she probably wouldn’t have time to get them written before she left. This would probably be something I would have to remind her to do when she returned home. Being seventeen and just graduated, she was in the throes of all the events of graduating. So away to camp she went. Little did we know that three days later, we would receive the phone call no parent wants to get. My beautiful seventeen year old daughter would not be coming back to her earthly home. She was now in her heavenly home. What I didn’t know is that my seventeen year old daughter listened to me. Or did she listen to a gentle whisper? My guess is that those thank you notes getting sent had nothing to do with me. The day after she died each person who had given her a gift for graduation received a beautiful thank you note from her. How sweet of Jesus to place this on Katie’s heart to get them sent out. The Lord knew she wouldn’t be coming home to write those thank you notes. He knew they needed to be done before she left. She listened to that still small voice. How blessed were all who received this last act of kindness from my daughter. What comfort that brought me to hear the comments from others who received those cards. So has the Lord been speaking gently to you to reach out to someone in need? Do you have thank you notes to send to someone who has gone out of their way to walk alongside you through difficult times? Is He asking you to offer forgiveness to someone? We often put off what we should do today and say we will do it tomorrow. Like my daughter, we never know if tomorrow will come. So today, listen to His gentle whisper. You never know how that will change someone’s day. It might even change yours. – Michele

Sometimes we do have choices............

There is much in life I cannot control. The forward progress of the calendar. The rising and setting of the sun. The weather and the seasons. The choices of others. The constancy of change. The political, economic, or even religious climate. And, personally, I can be overwhelmed when I can’t control the issues in my own small world, and I can isolate myself, turn depressively inward, concentrate on the reflections of self in the mirror, and throw up my hands cause “there ain’t nothing I can do about it!” Yes, God encourages a dependence on Himself in response to the knowledge that all of our answers are found in Him. The word and action of “dependence” though is key to that statement of truth. I start with God-dependence and I maintain God-dependence, connecting all the dots from the raw honesty and vulnerability of my spirit, to the realities that threaten, or simply are void of the dreams I have pursued. And then, God-dependence opens my heart, my eyes, and my reasoning to see the options, the choices, the provisions God lays out before me. The man caught up in his religiosity climbed to the top of his roof to escape the rising floodwaters. His neighbor offered him a canoe ride. The police had a still bigger boat. The helicopter dangled a rope ladder to climb to safety. The floodwaters continued to rise, and the man drowned. Later, in Heaven, he had a question for God. God, why didn’t You save me from the floodwaters? The man’s dependence was on God, but he never opened his eyes or his thinking to the provision God was trying to make. I need to keep my heart, my eyes, and my reasoning open to what God is providing. Sometimes we do have choices in how we respond to all the issues in our own small world, even when that small world seems overwhelming. Some choices are more obvious. Faced with health needs, I can choose to ignore them, walk the maze of diagnostic testing, remember to take my meds, and choose or not choose to follow the doctor’s suggestion of surgery or other medical treatment. With rampant emotions and distorted thinking, I can choose to keep looking in the mirror, or I can ask God for His perspective, and find the counsel of a friend or even a professional. In my relationships, forgiveness is a choice that gives more to the giver than the recipient, and the choice is always there to build bridges or build walls, and bridge building can be constructed in a myriad of ways. Grief is real and valid, and it is part of the healthy journey we walk when death separates us from a loved one, but there are still choices we can make. Will we walk our journey with God and with others? Will we look for the good amidst the tragedy? We can be intentional, or not, in finding purpose after loss – purpose that will help us heal even as we help others and remember and honor our loved one. And tragedy, loss, or the constancy of change can all leave us stagnant, sensing aloneness in the darkness, blind to the choices God provides. The prodigal or special needs child. Finances that won’t stretch any more. Unmet expectations. Rejection. The failures of others. Although I can’t dictate my circumstances, my God-dependence often opens choices for responding. And if you see little in the choices God is giving you, the promise of His grace-filled presence is always yours. Father, keep my heart, my eyes, my reasoning, open to the choices You lay before me. Help me willingly choose to make those choices that will unfold Your best for me, even when life is overwhelming. – Bev (Related Bible reading: Proverbs 3:5,6; 2 Corinthians 12:8-10)

The Wise and the Fool

Ecclesiastics 10:2 “A wise person chooses the right road. A fool takes the wrong one.” God’s people had been in bondage under the fist of Pharaoh. God instructed Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to free Israel from slavery. Pharaoh was the most powerful man in the known world. Moses gave four objections why he wasn’t the one to go. He insisted he was a clumsy speaker and even his own people wouldn’t listen to him. So the Lord told Aaron to walk alongside Moses. So together they went and spoke to Pharaoh. They told him what the Lord, the God of Israel wanted, “Let my people go so they may hold a festival in my honor in the wilderness.” Pharaoh, not believing in the God of Moses, did not obey this request. God then gave Moses the ability to show Pharaoh what his disobedience would cost not only to himself but to his own people. So God sent the first sign which was water turned to blood. Dead stinky fish everywhere and no water for the people to drink. This lasted seven days but Pharaoh returned to his palace like nothing was wrong. Then came those nasty frogs that covered all the land. Frogs in the houses, the courtyards and the fields and they all died and then they were smelly dead frogs. Then came the gnats that covered the people and the animals. Still Pharaoh refused. His line to Moses was tomorrow. Come back tomorrow and I will do what God has asked. So many tomorrows came, along with plagues. Flies infested the land, tomorrow. A plague against their animals, tomorrow; festering boils, tomorrow; hail falling from the sky, tomorrow, Here a locust, there a locust, everywhere a locust, tomorrow, and then darkness covered the sky. It was a deep darkness so dark, people couldn’t see one another. Pharaoh had no idea the worse was yet to come. He was out of tomorrows. His next tomorrow, at midnight, grief and heartache would cover the land of Egypt. Moses announced that the Lord would pass through the heart of Egypt and every first born son would die. Even Pharaoh would feel the pain of losing his son. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened to the point where he put his people and his family through hell on earth. Both Moses and Pharaoh did not want to obey God. Moses was afraid to go speak to Pharaoh because he felt inadequate. Pharaoh didn’t want to let God’s people go because of his pridefulness. One felt less, and the other man felt more than. God had lessons for both men to learn. Why didn’t God just take Pharaoh and the Egyptians out with the wave of His hand? Instead God chose to slowly reveal His sovereignty. He gave Pharaoh chance after chance to let God’s people go and do as God commanded. Did God, who wants all to enter into eternity, give Pharaoh so many chances in hopes Pharaoh would finally obey God? When God saw that Pharaoh was dug in, He finally said, “Ok, you want to play God. I will now harden your heart. You will now get the full effect of my wrath.” Moses, on the other hand, watched God continually be faithful in what He said He would do. Moses saw God would be there with him. This gave Moses the courage to take God’s people into the promised land. How many of us are like Moses? We hold back on doing what God wants because we feel inadequate. We forget that if He asks us to do something He will give us what we need to get it done. He doesn’t send the equipped. He equips the sent. Can you look back on your life and see God’s faithfulness? Does this give you the courage to face your Pharaoh? Or do we react like Pharaoh? Are there times when we are stubborn and prideful? God is asking us to let something go and we refuse. I will forgive tomorrow. I will let go of my anger tomorrow. I will spend time with the Lord tomorrow. What damage are we doing to ourselves when we hold on to what God wants us to release? Are we keeping ourselves and others in bondage? One day we too might be out of tomorrows. Either we are wise or foolish. The choices we make are very important to our God who loved Pharaoh just as much as Moses. Lord, You love all of us whether wise or foolish, but eventually our tomorrows will run out. – Michele