The Letter

As I do most mornings, I opened my Bible while eating my breakfast. There is just something about a big green smoothie with a dash of Jesus that sets my day. Today I am in Isaiah 37.

The king has received a letter proclaiming his nation's impending demise from an army known for it's brutality and war-time success.

 

What the king does next is what speaks most to my heart.

 

He does not call an emergency session.

He does not demand strategies from his top warriors.

He does not surround himself with his Heads of State giving him council.

 

He went to God and spread the letter in front of Him.

He took that piece of paper and laid it in front of God.

 

All the words telling him exactly what would be done to him and in which he had no reason to doubt. He knew what that army had done to other nations.

He laid it out in front of God.

And then he prayed.

 

What's your letter my friend?

What do you need to bring to God?

What worry or stress or decision needs to be laid on the altar in front of God?

 

Follow King Hezekiah's lead.

 

Lay the burden on the altar and pray.

And just like the king, begin your prayer telling God of who He is.

This isn't because God needs reminding.

 

We do.

 

Telling God how great He is, places our burden where it should be - at the feet of a very big God.

 

May we all remember our King already conquered what it is we lay on that altar.

With 3 nails and an empty tomb He destroyed our letter.

And He stands victorious.

 

Today, give Him your letter.

 

______________________________________________

Isaiah 37:14-20

Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying, “Lord of armies, God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made heaven and earth. Incline Your ear, Lord, and hear; open Your eyes, Lord, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to taunt the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the countries and their lands, and have thrown their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but only the work of human hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. But now Lord, our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, Lord, are God.”

 

Ashes

I sat in the raw that day.
A phone call of unrehearsed, unprepared and unspoken real.
Where your mind searches for answers and you know there are no answers to give.
You listen and you sit in their now.
You listen and feel every turn of the stomach.
You listen and feel every streak of the tear.

"Give me the words God, give me the words." played on repeat in my mind.

His voice was clear, "You know the story to tell."
"No God.  I don't like that story."

"Tell it.  There's a reason it was your phone that rang."
"But God...."
"There is a reason those chapters in your story happened.  I make beauty from ashes, remember?  While you can't see the colorful beauty in it, I can.  Offer your ashes."

We often don't the 'why' of what we face.
We do know that God works all things to good if we love Him.

You may be in the thick of the muck and the mire.
You may be barely keeping your head above the quicksand sucking you down.
Or maybe your story has more miles in the rear-view mirror than you ever want to talk about.
Because you'd rather not talk about it thankyouverymuch.

Your chapter - your story - your ashes, hold beauty.
Even if the story is still being written, there is buried beauty that will emerge.

Offer your ashes.

Even if you can't see how a pile of ashes can be anything but dusty, offer your ashes.
You aren't the artist.
God is.

See what beauty rises.
For He makes all things beautiful.
He makes all things new.

Two Men and A Tomb

Two men stood at the body of Jesus.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.

They took a risk to be there.

Both were members of the Sanhedrin; the very group which orchestrated Jesus' arrest, trial, beating, and stirred the emotion of the crowd to yell, "Crucify Him". Both men feared the power of the Sanhedrin if they were to be seen with Jesus.

Even when Jesus was dead.

Yet here they are risking it all. Joseph asked Pilate for Jesus' body, which Pilate granted. He took the body to a tomb where Nicodemus came with myrrh.

Sometime previous, Nicodemus had come to Jesus. In the dark of night, so as not to be seen, he asked Jesus what he needed to do to be saved. Jesus' answered him to sell all he owned.

Because Jesus knew.

Jesus knew Nicodemus loved his wealth.

It was his stumbling block and Jesus has a way of removing stumbling blocks.

Nicodemus walks away sad as he was a man of great wealth.

But something changed in Nicodemus that day and it's evidence is here as he is risking it all to be at the broken, beaten, dead body of Jesus.

And He comes with myrrh to bury Jesus.

Nicodemus comes fulfilling the very prophecy presented by the Wise Men as a gift at Jesus' birth.

Joseph and Nicodemus. Two powerful and wealthy men, too afraid to be seen with Jesus, are the last two people to witness Jesus' dead body.

They touched it.

They covered it in myrrh.

They wrapped it in linen and sealed it in a tomb.

The Sanhedrin would stop at nothing to discredit Jesus' resurrection.  And now two of their own become the strongest witnesses to it.

Isn't that just like Jesus?

He has a way of taking the most unlikely of people and giving them a front row seat to His greatness.

He took their fear and turned it into a fire to fuel their faith.

And He still does.

Friend, Jesus will take your Unlikely and fan the flames of your faith with it.

When your Unlikely overwhelms you, Jesus takes it to the cross and makes something powerful with it.

Your fear doesn't stop Him.
He has bigger plans for you.

Even if the only place you meet Him is in the darkness of night.

____________________________________________

John 19:38-42

Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

 

In The Garden

Ever have one of those mornings in which nothing goes right?
Today was one of those mornings.

While brushing my teeth, I tripped - on what  I have no idea - and my knee smacked the open vanity door causing it to hit the bathroom door jamb.  The glass nob of the vanity door broke.  

I sigh.  I pick it up.
I slice my finger open.

It's been 2 minutes.  I've been up for 2 minutes.
The rest of the morning wasn't too much better.

By the time I sat down to have my breakfast I felt the day already won and I hadn't even left the house yet.  I open my Bible; John 17 is the passage I'm to read today.

Jesus is praying.  He prays for Himself as He knows the crucifixion is coming, He prays for the disciples in front of Him, and He prays for all believers.

As He faced His imminent death, Jesus prayed for us...He prayed for me. 

After praying this prayer in John 17, Jesus leaves for the Garden of Gethsemane where He would begin to make right what happened in the Garden of Eden.

Contemplating this wonder, I look up and see the gardens outside my window.

Jesus and the story of 2 gardens.  One perfect in beauty marred now by sin and death; the other watered by the dusty tears of the One who's death would soon bring beauty.

I begin to think of my own garden.  The one no one can see except Jesus.  When was the last time I even weeded?  I sure felt the pruning.

Friends, maybe right now your garden is lush with the life of summer.
He prayed for you.

Maybe your garden is nothing more than the leafless, barren sticks protruding from the frozen soil of winter.
He prayed for you.

He prayed knowing the winter garden becomes spring's hope and knowing the lush garden of summer would soon give to the harshness of winter.

No matter what your garden looks like, He knows the season you're in.

And He prayed for you.

_______________________________
John 17: 13 - 16 But now I am coming to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves.  I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from  the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.

 

A Winter's Walk

Sun was streaming through my window.  I lace up my boots and head outdoors.  I don't remember the last time we had blue sky without the bitter north-east winds.  

The sun feels good on my face. 

I decide to take a walk.

Snow still blankets the yards.  The sun causes melting snow to drip off roofs.  I hear birds chirp. 

We are all ready for spring.  Winter has been brutal.

Walking past a field, I notice a tree in it's midst. 
I am struck by it's stark grandeur as it stands alone. 
It's branches barren with snow at it's roots.

God tapped me on the shoulder and said, "The tree looks dead, doesn't it?  It is not.  The tree is very much alive.  If you could only see the life it holds inside then you would know spring's leaves are always there.  Fruit comes in it's own season.  And so will yours."

 

Be encouraged my friends.  Be encouraged.

The Apple Tree

When we first moved into the neighborhood,  this apple tree stood regal.  It's branches reached out in symmetrical unison; seemingly to the sky.

On many early morning runs, I'd find the ponies from across the street had broke through their fencing and stood munching on the tree's fallen apples.

Winter storms have stolen many of it's branches.  It no longer stands as magnificent as in years past.  Critters have made holes in it's trunk and call it home.

And yet today as I ran by, it's solitary branch was loaded with apples. 

After all the broken, after all the losses, the tree still does what God created it to do.

Be encouraged. 

Thorns

It was well into the evening.  The summer sun had almost set. 
There was a knock at the door.
It is my neighbor.
Opening the door, I joined her on my porch.
She was struggling.
Words were not needed to tell me this.  I could see it on her face.

She talked.  I listened.

She was not tired from the battle, she was weary from the war.

After she left, I thought of our talk well into the morning hours.
The Apostle Paul came to mind.  He spoke of a thorn.  A thorn he asked God to take away.

God didn't.

I thought of my neighbor's thorn and how she, like Paul, pleads with God to take it away.

Friends, I wish I had magic words to make it better.
I wish I could tell you words that bring immediate peace.
I wish I could tell you my neighbor left feeling a hundred times lighter.

I can't.

Beloved, Paul found his answer in God's grace.
And in God's power to take the weaknesses and make them strengths.

And that is the hope He gives us.

Maybe you feel the fresh cut of the thorns.
Maybe your hands touch the long-ago healed scars from thorns.
Maybe, like my neighbor, you are so very, very weary of the thorns.

Friends, it is your thorns that fashioned His crown at the cross.

And He did not take it off.
He died with the crown of thorns upon His head.

Your thorns were nailed to that cross.
They died there.
When He rose 3 days later the thorns were gone.
The only thing He held was victory in His nail-pierced hand.
 

And His victory is ours.
Be encouraged

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^{2 Corinthians 12: 8-10}
Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in distresses, in persecutions, in difficulties, in behalf of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

The Letter

The letter was sent to me.  The return address reads the state penitentiary.  

Upon opening it I recognized the name of the sender.  A quiet, hard-working man who had been employed by our company.  He now found himself in a cell counting days.  He was on day 284.

It's true what they say, you know.  Bad things happen to good people.  

I read the letter.
I am touched by it.
There is no earth-shattering information, nor deep emotional words. 
No hint of anger.
No whisper of self pity.

Only gratitude.

His words tell me of his arrest, his sentencing and what he hopes for over the next several months.  He lays out his goals and speaks of his accomplishments.

He offers thanks for the promise of employment. 
He confides he has no words to convey the magnitude of what he feels around that hope.

As promised, upon his release we brought him back.  He's now been employed with us for several years.

I still have the letter.  I pull it out every once in awhile and read it.
Like today.

The letter is a tangible thing I can hold reminding me what God asks of me in each today. 
Show gratitude, find hope, seek joy and be thankful in all things.
This has nothing to do with circumstance.
It has everything to do with God. 

Did he become a rags-to-riches story?  Has he become successful despite his past?

Sometimes success is measured in the height of the corporate ladder climbed.
Sometimes it is measured in the journey one takes.
And sometimes success comes simply in the strength one gains from the battle.

The world doesn't define your success.
God does.

And in Him we are all a rags-to-riches success story.

 

The Pivot

 We have all had those pivotal moments.  The moment when your life changes whether you want it to or you don't.

It was Christmas Eve in the ICU.  We were in the waiting room listening to the surgeon deliver the grave news of Daddy's condition.  He asked for a directive in a decision that had to be made.  Keith asked the question and looked around the room for an answer.  

Every set of eyes turned to me.

The pivot.

My siblings, our spouses, and the eyes of our dearest faithfuls turned and looked at me. The enormity of that moment seared into my forever.  To this day, I do not recall what he asked or the decision we made as a family.   But I do remember every emotion of that moment.

That is the moment God injected into my quiet time this morning as I read Joshua 5.

Moses is gone. Joshua is now preparing to lead the people into war.  With all the people around him, Joshua looks up and sees a man off in the distance with a sword in his hand.  I reckon with all eyes on him, he and I share a bond.

Joshua went to him.

Don't lose that part of the story.  What appeared threatening, Joshua approached.  He didn't stay in the comfort of the crowd.  He left them and approached the threat.

Joshua asks the man if he was friend or foe.
Here Joshua finds out it's Jesus and Joshua falls on his face in worship.

Jesus tells him, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” 

Joshua's pivot.

In the wilderness, Jesus met him.
In all his uncertainty, Jesus met him.
In his fear, Jesus met him.

And it was holy ground.

Maybe you are faced with a room full of people turning their eyes to you or maybe it's the eyes staring back at you from the mirror, Beloved, Jesus is there.  His eyes are looking at you too.

He will lead you.
He will protect you.
And He will bring you to His favorite spot - holy ground.

Beloved, whatever may be happening in your today, do what Joshua did.
Take off your shoes, feel the carpet between your toes.
Then bow down.

God has you on holy ground.

And He promises victory.

 

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joshua 5:13-15
Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, he raised his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” He said, “No; rather I have come now as captain of the army of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the ground, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?” And the captain of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

 

Pinions of an Eagle

 True confession : sometimes I test God.

Like the other day, I needed some encouragement and I told God as much. Sitting at the breakfast table, I told God I was going to flip open my bible and would He please let it land somewhere that would give me a whisper of comfort.

It landed in Deuteronomy 32.

Really God? Deuteronomy?

That’s when God took out the 2x4 and smacked me across the head. Hard.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,

That hovers over its young,

He spread His wings and caught them,

He carried them on His pinions.

Deuteronomy 32:11

When an eagle wants to teach it’s young to fly, it pushes them out of the nest. The eaglet learns what her wings are for. If the eaglet comes in danger of not spreading her wings soon enough, the parent eagle will swoop down and carry them in its pinions back to the nest.

Dare I admit the tears that welled up in my eyes friends?

But God, I’m comfortable in the nest.

Push.

But God, I’m warm in the nest.

Push.

But God, it’s safe here and I’m fed.

Push.

In our today, there is no mistake we have all been pushed out of the nest.

The gut-wrenching feeling of free falling is followed closely with confusion.

God, why?

His pinions grab and we are returned to the comfort of the nest.

Until the next push.

It is in the free fall Beloved that we learn the strength of our wings.

It is in God’s faithfulness in which we are taken back to the place of rest.

The eaglet would never know the power of flight, if it wasn’t for the push.

The eaglet would never know it was meant for great heights while in the comfort of the nest.

The eaglet would never know its magnificence in which it had been created.

Friends, maybe today you feel the free fall.

Maybe you long to feel the comfort of the nest.

Maybe you cry out for the safety of His pinons.

Stretch your wings.

Know we have been created for magnificence.

And His pinions are always near.

IN THE QUIET : The King

The enraged king made the decree.  Murder all the baby boys 2 and under.
A piece of the Christmas story no one talks about.

My mind is unable to move past it.  Such immense evil seems out of place among the greatest story ever told.  I'm hard pressed to recall a sermon ever given on this piece of the story.  The story of Christmas is about joy and Good News and Peace among men.

Not murderous evil.
But here it is.

Woven in this story is evil and pain and mourning; why God?

"Evil is unreasonable; therefore needs no reason."  The words spoken from my instructor in a training class not long ago.

I mull on that while thinking of the weeping cries from broken mothers rising above the Christmas story.
The weeping cries of that first Christmas...and today.

This year Christmas brings sadness, anxiety and tears for many; dare I say most.
Christmas will look different than any other before. 
Changed or cancelled traditions.
Empty tables.
Empty chairs.
Empty cupboards. 
Even loved ones nearby may experience Christmas alone.  
My heart is heavy for those; the ones I know the darkness of night holds cries in silence.

Friend, it is in the Silent Night the glory of God shown all around them.
Your sadness is as much a part of the Christmas story as the joy it heralds.
The King in the manger holds the Peace that passes over any thing a king decrees.

He is your Joy in the tears.
He is your swaddled Hope.
He is your Peace in the night.

So let your tears fall.
For The King will once again come down.
The King of kings.
The Lord of lords.
He, Beloved, He is the One who will once again come down.

And wipe each tear away.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew 2: 16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

 

Drawers & Memories

While cleaning out my dresser, I broke my nail.    Deciding I would need the nail clippers in my nightstand, I walked over and opened the drawer. 

There it was staring at me.  My youngest son's binky.

It caught me off guard.

My youngest is 19 now.  The binky is old and well past it's prime.
Yet, all these years, I could never throw it out.

I remember the day he gave it up.  He had made the decision he was a big boy and didn't need it.

I wasn't so sure.

He loved his binky and I envisioned long sleepless nights without it; for him and for me.
I placed it in my nightstand drawer just in case.

The just-in-case never came.
Despite changing nightstands a couple of times since then, I was the one who couldn't part with it.

Funny how that works.

So tonight I sit here, a little melancholy for days gone by tucked safely in the past.
Tiny fingers have given way to man size hugs.
Strapping in car seats have given way to surprise visits at work.
Bedtime stories replaced with texts and phone calls.
The "I love you" is the same; only the voice has changed.

While it's easy to get lost in the memories of yesterday, it's a gentle reminder how much parenting evolves in every one of life's seasons.  

The season of this year looks different for all of us.
But you know what?
Some day in our tomorrows, this will be our yesterday.

And My hope tonight is simple.  May this season in this year bring warm smiles from yesterdays that light into your tomorrows.

The tomorrows wait for us.
Just like old binkies in nightstand drawers.

 

 

At His Hem

The most dangerous place to be in a pressing crowd is on the ground.  Yet, this is where she placed herself.

 

Her bleeding made her an outcast.  Desperate for healing, she suffered at the hands of others for 12 years. 
 

She didn't ask for the bleeding.
She didn't ask to be separated from family and friends.
She didn't ask to be driven away from all human contact.

 

She longed for birthday parties and celebrations.
She longed for laughter at a dinner table.
She longed for a hug...a touch of any kind.

 

She is unclean.
She is lonely.
She is desperate.

And she finds herself at the feet of Jesus in a crowd that can easily trample her.
Next to her is the synagogue leader Jairus.  He is leading Jesus to his home after pleading with Him to heal his daughter.  I imagine the fear gripping her as she hopes to go unnoticed.

There is no place more dangerous for her.

She reaches out and touches the hem of Jesus.
This is not a straight hem stitched by Singer.  No, this is the tasseled hem of Jesus's cloak.
The tassel represents the holiness and divinity of God.
Her touch of the tassel revealed what she believed Jesus to be - holy and divine.

She was immediately healed.

Friend, find yourself where you don't want to be?

Maybe you are sick in need of healing.

Maybe you are drowning in the darkness of loneliness or anxiety or depression.

Maybe you taste tears every day.

Take courage.
These trials place you at the most dangerous - and most holy - of places.

 

You are at the hem of Jesus.

Cling to it, cradle it or simply touch it.
Jesus will heal you.
Jesus will call out to you.
Jesus will honor you.

And you too will hear the words, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

 

 _____________________________________________________________________________________

Luke 8:40-48
And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. And there came a man named Jairus, and he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus’ feet, and began to implore Him to come to his house; for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying. But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him.

And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped. And Jesus said, “Who is the one who touched Me?” And while they were all denying it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on You.” But Jesus said, “Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.” When the woman saw that she had not escaped notice, she came trembling and fell down before Him, and declared in the presence of all the people the reason why she had touched Him, and how she had been immediately healed. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”

The Blind Men & The Crowd

It's a short story; taking less than a minute to read.  Pastor Ryan had used it as an illustration in a sermon on service.  And although his sermon moved away from the verses, my mind camped in them.  

And pitched a tent.
And built a fire.
Which brings me here today with you my friends.

Two blind men sat on the side of the road.  A crowd had gathered as they were following Jesus on His journey.  Desperate to be healed of their blindness, they called out to Jesus as He and the crowd passed by.  "Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'

The crowd didn't like it and sternly told the blind men to be quiet. What did the blind men do?  They cried out all the more, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!"

And this my friends, is where my mind would not let go.

A crowd of people with good intentions, after all, they were there because they were following Jesus.  But the ones lost in the crowd - the blind men - calling out to Jesus annoyed and angered them.  The crowd had no problem telling the blind men to knock it off.

Seen any annoyed and angry crowds lately Beloved? 

Despite the crowd yelling at them, the men did not respond to the crowd.  No screams of "leave me alone" or "get out of my way" or "It's my Freedom of Speech."

No, as the crowd yelled, the men grew louder in calling out to Jesus.
They called out to Jesus and ignored the noise of the crowd.

Oh how today's world could use more of these blind men.

Make no mistake Beloved, Jesus could've heard their whisper.  He could have heard the unspoken cry of their hearts.  But today He chose to hear the loud cry in the midst of the crowd. Why?  I suspect maybe this wasn't just about the blind men, but also the crowd.  Jesus heard the voices of both the crowd and the blind men.

Upon hearing the cries, Jesus stopped.
He stopped and healed.
He gave sight to the blind that day.
The two men and to the crowd.
Now they all saw Jesus. 

Once given their sight, the response of the blind men was not one of retaliation against the crowd.  Upon given sight, their immediate response was to follow Jesus.  They became part of the crowd.

Jesus did not scold the crowd for their cries against the blind men.  Their rebuke simply came in witnessing the compassion of Jesus on the blind men.  The blind men that stood in their midst healed by the touch of Jesus.

Now they all followed Jesus.

Friends, in the chaos of the noise, in the yelling of the crowd, be the blind men.  No matter how loud the crowd's loud is, be louder in calling out to Jesus.

And be humbled when He heals you both.

 ---------------------------------------------------------

 Matthew 20 : 29-34

²⁹ As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. ³⁰ And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” ³¹ The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” ³² And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” ³³ They said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” ³⁴ Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

Let There Be Light

 "Let there be light."
The first words God spoke in the Bible.
Let there be light.

Do you feel that way?  I do.  Often my prayer has been a simple, "God, let there be light."

In a world where we are hard pressed on all sides, God let there be light.
In a world where injustice reeks, God let there be light.
In a world of screaming and none listening, God let there be light.
Please God, let there be light.

One verse later the Bible tells us God saw the light was good and He separated the light from the darkness.

God separated the light from the darkness.
He separated it. 
He did not banish it.

Beloved, you are standing in the separation. 
It is a battleground.
And it is won on our knees.

In the weary, in the tired, in the tears that begin to taste of defeat the strongest voice is one that whispers, "God, let there be light."

For you see, the light destroys the darkness. 

Beloved, He is the Light.
We are the candle.
His is the victory.
Ours is the prayer, "Let there be light."

Then watch how brightly it shines.

________________________________________________________________

 

Genesis 1:3-4
Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.  God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

Rise Up

"People are tired.  I've counseled and I've talked with many people. The one thing I hear over and over again is that people are tired. The division, the emotion, the unknown - people are tired."  Pastor Ryan spoke one Sunday not long ago.

His words hit home. It wasn't just me.

Often I found myself trying to steal away in search of normal; the life we had pre-Covid.  It remains elusive.  The most bothersome is the haunting look in the eyes of others.  The worry...the fear...the lack of joy. 

I miss people's smiles.  Even on the worst day a stranger might smile and you, for a single moment, felt it might be all ok.  

We don't see smiles anymore.
People aren't ok.

Which leads me here.  An open Bible on my lap and more than a few words for God.  I sip my coffee and tell Him I really didn't envision my life to be like this.  I'm no stranger to difficulty, but this?  What is this God?  There is such division - how do we get back to normal God?  We can't even decide what normal is anymore.

God had no problem answering me.
He did so through the words of Mordecai.

Mordecai had raised his orphaned cousin Esther and she became Queen.  A law passed authorizing the killing of all the Jews.  Mordecai tells Esther she must approach the King to stop the killings from happening.  Esther reminds Mordecai  people don't approach the King, they must be summoned.  She hasn't been summoned and to approach the King could mean death to her.

Mordecai responds,"Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13b-14.

And there it was.  God answering all my questions.
"...And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

 
How can I believe God makes no mistakes and then question why I'm having to live in today's world?  How can I believe we are all made for a purpose and then question why my purpose is now?

God's answer stung a little today.
Maybe a lot.

We may not be all given the gift of leadership, but make no mistake Beloved, we are all called to lead.  As we follow Jesus, we are to lead others.

Even right now, when everything seems so dark and it's impossible to see, He is calling us to lead. And we must dust off our tired and rise.

Rise up.
Fix your eyes on the Light and follow Him.
He will direct your journey, and those who surround you.
Those around you - the ones you share life with - are the very ones you lead.
Rise up.

Rise up.
Do not be afraid.
When you are met with only fear in the eyes of others, fix your eyes on the One who abolishes fear. 
You will never find fear in His eyes.
Rise up.

Rise up.
Afraid of confrontation?  It may be the very thing you find yourself in.
Do you stumble in your words?  You may find a crowd listening to you.
You see, God does not discard your weaknesses.  He amplifies them.
Your weakness is the very thing that speaks loudest of His strength. 
Rise up.

Rise up.
Beloved, you are called to lead.  Even in the dark.
You may be tired, you may take rest.
You may not camp there.
Rise up.

Rise up.
The hands of the warrior may be tired; he still draws the sword.
The hands of royalty may shake from uncertainty; she still straightens the crown.
Beloved, you are called to be both.
God Himself goes before you.
Rise up.

In all this uncertainty, He is our certain. 
In all the uneasy, He is our steadfast.
We are His sons.
We are His daughters.
We are His warriors.
We are His royalty.

And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?

Dry Land

 "As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land."  Exodus 14:16

There they stood staring at the waters in front of them.  There was no way to go.  They were fleeing for the lives from a military indignant in their anger and now pinning them against an impassable body of water.

Their answer came when God told Moses to raise his staff, the waters parted, and they were given dry land. The solution God gave them wasn't a footbridge. It wasn't the ability to walk on water.  The answer to their problem was dry land. 

Dry land. The very mention of it brings to mind pictures of dust or dead crops or desert or thirst or sweltering heat.  Yet here God uses dry land to bring His people closer to the Promised Land.

Ever feel that way Beloved?
Living in the difficult and you pray and you cry out and you plead only to be given ... dry land.

"But God, I thought you'd give me abundant waters.  This is dry land."
"God, I asked you to bring healing.   This is dry land."
"Lord, I thought you'd make it all go away.  This is dry land."

In faith and obedience, the Israelites took their steps onto dry land.  They moved forward.  And you know what was waiting for them on the other side?  More dry land.  But that which angrily pursued them was gone.

Their journey through the dry land brought many lessons, much growth and it eventually brought them home to a land of abundance.

Take courage my friends.
Our journey is long. 
Our journey is hard.

We struggle, we scream, we cry.
The tired is etched on our face.
We hunger for fellowship.
We search for all that is good and true.
We long for the Living Water to quench our parched throats.

This is our today.
It is not our tomorrow.

We have a home waiting for us in a land of abundance, filled with all things good and surrounded in breathtaking glory where God Himself will wipe our tears.

But first, dry land.

Tattered

I slept in; giving me a much later start than normal.  Pulling in to town, I drive the main street to where I will start my run.

A group of 30 men are walking in formation; some in fatigues, some in camo, some in shorts and tee shirts.  All are carrying a flag. They are laughing among themselves.  I honk and wave as I drive by. They wave and yell.

I park my car and begin my run.

In a few hours a Freedom Parade would be rolling through town. A parade of nothing more than people driving their cars boasting their pride of our nation.

As my miles clicked by, more cars and trucks drive by with American flags flying in the wind.

Hot rods and daily drivers.
Farm trucks and show trucks.
Motorcycles and scooters.
Old, young, black and white.
Republican and Democrat.

Today isn't about policy or change or politics.
Today is about celebrating the freedoms we have no matter what our opinions.

I pause to take this picture.
A tattered Old Glory flying high above the cars gathering below.

Running back to my car, I think about that flag.
Her frayed edges show her wear as if she feels the turbulence of the current times.
One can see Lady Liberty take a haggard breath.
Yet the flag still flies.

Today, maybe now more than ever, we celebrate the flag and for all it stands.
Freedom.  Strength.  Courage.
The edges may be frayed, but we the people, will take our bruised and battled hands and raise you.

We the people, will always fly you.

 

Green Pastures & Still Waters

When my kids were little - and not so little - I would make them sit down and do their homework.  However, most times it became apparent I could not "make" them do anything.  

I could regulate them to the table, but I could not make them work.
I could punish them, but I could not make them complete their assignments.

And so the battle began.
One fighting in authority, the other fighting in independence.
Two Alphas with locked horns over a battle of wills and neither conceding despite the exhaustion.

Locked horns look different for everyone.  Maybe your horns are locked with a child, a parent, a spouse or a boss.  Maybe the Alpha you fight is an industry or a company or a system of injustice.  Maybe your fight is within, battling anxiety or depression or worry.

Your horns are locked and you are fighting with every ounce of your being.
We are all struggling right now.  Each and every one of us.  

Which brings me here; staring at the pasture in front of me. The words from Psalm 23 come to mind.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside still waters,
He restores my soul.

"God, help me.  I'm tired of this fight."

"Lie down in the green pasture."

"God, I'm a little too busy in this fight to lie down.  Help me in the fight."

"I am.  Lie down."

"Can't you see I'm right?  Can't you see the fight I'm in?  I am tired God and can't do this on my own.  You need to help me."

"Beloved, this isn't your fight.  The struggle is yours, but the fight is Mine.  Lie down in the green pasture.  It isn't a request."

He MAKES me lie down in green pastures.
God knows my burden.  He knows my weary.  
And the answer is to lie down in the green pasture.  In the abundance of the field I am fed, I am nourished, I am given rest.

You see friends, it is after time in the pasture that one is strengthened enough to be led. It is then  when He leads us to the still waters; those life-giving, soul-quenching still waters.  We must recharge and strengthen ourselves before we can begin the journey to the water.

For it is at the still waters where He restores our soul.
He doesn't fix it.  He doesn't mend it. 
He restores it.

But first, He makes us lie down in green pastures.

Lie down friends.
Find His abundance in the pasture in front of you.

A Little Girl & A Valiant Warrior

When the Syrian army crossed into Israeli land, they took her.  We know nothing more than what we are told - she was a little girl and she now waited on the warrior's wife.

He, the warrior, we know a bit more.  He is a supreme commander in the Syrian Army giving him not only a big job, but much prominence and wealth.  Not many are described as "valiant warrior" and yet, he is.  He is loved, respected and adored.

How do we know this?   Because the nameless little girl taken as a slave cares so deeply for him she wishes him healed.  You see, the valiant warrior suffers from leprosy.  An incurable disease which will take everything from him; his status, his wealth, his prominence.  He stood to lose it all.

Perhaps his bravery and valiance rubs off on her for she finds the courage to speak to his wife.  "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria!  Then he would cure him of his leprosy."  This nameless little girl isn't dismissed as speaking nonsense.  The big important and prominent people in society listened to her.  The Syrian king granted the warrior's wish to find the prophet and writes a letter to the King of Israel.

A little girl spoke and warriors and kings listened.  This little girl had the courage to speak.

Receiving the King of Syria's letter stating his highest ranking officer was coming to be healed, the King of Israel became distraught and tore his clothes.  He held no power to heal him.  

The king was distraught.
The prophet was not.

Elisha told the king,"Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."  Elisha had the courage to speak up to the king.

Naaman, the valiant warrior, arrives with his horses, his men and his chariots to Elisha's house.   It is evident a man of importance stands in the doorway.  

Elisha does not meet him.  Instead Elisha sends his messenger to the valiant warrior and says, "Go and wash in the Jordan 7 times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."

Go and wash?  Go and wash??  This is what he says to do?  The valiant warrior is angry at such simplicity.   
He has successfully waged war on enemies.  
He successfully created war campaigns that captured kingdoms.  
The entire Syrian army was at his command.  

Simple was not in his vocabulary.  Simple would not do.

His men question him.  If he were asked to do something great would he not do it?  How much more then if all he is asked is to go and wash?

The men had courage to speak up to their commander.

Naaman washes.
His skin becomes clean.
He is healed.

The valiant warrior's healing came when others had the courage to speak up to those in authority over them.  Dare we say, the healing came because of the courage of a nameless little slave girl?  Had she not spoken of Elisha, the valiant warrior would not be washing in the river.

In a time when the world we know has been turned upside down, may we all find the courage of this nameless little girl.  The courage to speak of hope and healing.

God used a nameless little girl to show a valiant warrior who He is. 
He can use you too.


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2 Kings 5:1-16
Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. ² Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. ³ She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” ⁴Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” ⁵ Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.
⁶ He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷ When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”
⁸ It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹ So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. ¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” ¹¹ But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I hhought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ ¹² Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. ¹³ Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” ¹⁴ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.
¹⁵ When he returned to the man of God with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please take a present from your servant now.” ¹⁶ But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will take nothing.”