As Storms Calm

“Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you that the sea may be calm for us?’ – for the sea was growing more tempestuous.” Jonah 1:11-12.

Yesterday I rode with Bruce to get his hair cut, but I sat in the car with the windows down and the beautiful breeze wafting through the car.  I was doing a crossword puzzle on my phone when I suddenly heard a man yelling into his phone.  I looked up and saw a man pacing beside his truck completely oblivious to people around him.  Three or four times he yelled into the phone that he didn’t have the money for whatever the person on the other end was requesting.  He went on to yell that he was done with being used and begged the person to just take their things and leave him alone.  His voice was full of despair and pain and the last thing I heard him yell was that his head was about to explode over the situation.  I was suddenly transported back to a time when I could relate to this man being controlled by a dysfunctional situation to the point of rage and feelings of betrayal.  This man found himself ‘on board a ship with a tempestuous sea threatening his life.’  He just wanted the sea to be calm and out of exhausting desperation he was willing to ‘throw that person overboard.’  I sat in the car with tears streaming down my face reminiscing about times aboard my own ship with the seas fiercely crashing over the sides. 

There are times in all of our lives when we share a charter with someone whose presence creates chaos and fear.  Sometimes the charter is an illness that makes us physically sick and sometimes it is a broken relationship that we desperately try to hold onto.  I can’t get this man’s plea out of my head, and I found myself in prayer for him, with fresh awareness and gratitude for the calm in my own life.  No matter what storm rages around us God is in control.  He stirs up the waters and calms the sea…He created the ebb and flow of life to ensure we would look for Him in all circumstances.  God will call us to let go of things that create havoc in our lives whether they are people, attitudes or situations.  When we carefully examine our troubles against the backdrop of the cross, we remind ourselves that surrender and trust in God will topple any situation. 

“So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.  Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the LORD and took vows.” Jonah 1:15-16.

Dare to Believe

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” Psalm 139:7-8

This passage is one of my favorite verses throughout the Bible and a promise to which I always cling.  But several years ago, I experienced the last line of this passage.  I had to make one of the toughest decisions of my life, and I knew the answer before I ever asked God the question.  I knew that I had to inquire of the Lord, but I wasn’t ready to hear what He was going to command of me.  At the time I was involved with a ministry that supported people in San Pedro.  The leadership of this ministry needed me to meet them in Belize for a fundraiser we had organized.  Bruce was working out of town at the time and was unable to travel with me.  I made the trip by myself and had a cute little bungalow to myself… a place where I ‘made my bed in hell.’ Although I brought my Bible and Bible study, I purposely watched it go unopened on the bedside table for 7 days.  In the early morning I didn’t listen to my worship music.  I never opened my heart for prayer during that week.  My goal was to ‘go from His Spirit…flee from His presence.’  At the end of the week, I was exhausted and empty, and still had to make the decision.  It took another couple of weeks for me to finally spread out the dilemma before God inviting Him to speak to me.  God did ask of me what my heart feared the most and I walked it out.  Charles Stanley states one of the principles by which He lives.  He encourages people to ‘Obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.’  With the endurance and power of God in that tough season He took care of everything.  He went before me and made every detail acceptable.  He allowed me to feel the approval His approval and protected me on all sides.  He gave me such spiritual and emotional gain by releasing my life-long pursuit of people’s approval.  I am so thankful that there is nowhere we can flee where the feet of God aren't already standing. 

I know many of you are going through very difficult times right now.  You are being asked to walk out something you never dreamed you would have to. Maybe you feel like this season is your ‘bed in hell.’ Perhaps you need reminded that God is never further away than His name on your lips.  The Message has a beautiful translation that I pray will bless you this morning. 

‘I am all around you, hovering over you even as you seek My Face.  I am nearer than you dare believe, closer than the air you breathe.  If My children could only recognize My Presence, they would never feel lonely again.  I know every thought before you think it, every word before you speak it.  My Presence impinges on your innermost being.’  Psalm 139:7-8.

Killing Me with Mercy

"And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, 'Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.' And he went out and wept bitterly." Luke 22: 61-62.

When I was in my early twenties, I made a decision that really cost me spiritually. It was a faith failure for sure and I am so grateful that God is a forgiving God. I remember revealing it to my mother who patiently and lovingly guided me through the processing of the consequences. I felt that once it was out in the open with her, I would feel much better. But every time I was in the presence of my dad, I felt a barrier although I knew that mother was leaving it up to me to tell him. I knew by the end of the week I was going to have to have that discussion. I couldn’t take the emotional distance my sin had placed between us. I saw him reading the paper on the couch in our living room and quietly sat down beside him. With his loving eyes and smile he welcomed me to join him. Just being in his presence feeling the shame and regret, I was convicted even more than I had imagined, and he didn’t even know what I had to say. As I began to share with him what I had been going through his eyes filled with tears, but his words were filled with sadness for me instead of condemnation and judgment. I remember thinking that anger would have been easier to receive than his mercy.

I heard a powerful song this morning that brought this painful snapshot back to memory. It was a snapshot from yesteryear but a powerful reminder that our Father is waiting for us to bring our failures and sins to Him. Just like Daddy, He is waiting on us not to condemn us but to help us move beyond our bad decisions through His mercy. The difference is that He already knows everything that is creating a barrier in our fellowship with Him. He knows the vows we have broken to Him…He knows the lies we have told…He sees the unforgiveness in our hearts although we have been forgiven daily by Him. I remember the freedom and love that began to flow again between myself and my dad once we had talked through everything. When we withhold unconfessed sins from God a barrier will develop in our fellowship and prayer time with Him. It takes weakness to sin, but it takes courage and humility to approach God in truth and honesty. I would much rather be a courageous sinner dependent on a forgiving God than a cowardly self-proclaimed saint with a broken fellowship with my Father. At 58 I’m still learning these things but God’s track record with me is perfect. Just like Daddy, God can be trusted with our recklessness and faithful in His forgiveness.

You must take 3 minutes and listen to this powerful song. It will be the biggest blessing of your day.

https://youtu.be/7HSAl72CUMw

Warming our Hands

“When the people saw that Moses delayed…the people gathered together to Aaron and said, ‘Come make us gods that shall go before us; as for this Moses…we do not know what has become of him.’” Exodus 32:1.

One of the most applicable stories in the Bible is the story of the golden calf. The children of Israel had once again managed to frustrate the plans of God. Repeatedly we read about the manner in which they treated God with utter disrespect, turning their hearts to idolatry. Yet this morning I realized for the first time something interesting…something different…something eerily familiar. God showed me a different side of the coin today regarding the motivation of their hearts when they asked for Aaron to ‘make a new god’ for them. Their motivation wasn’t evil and disobedience at that point…their motivation was pure impatience. They had been waiting on the appearance of Moses to bring them a message from God. Their impatience is what put into place their sinful response to delay. This is where the story is eerily familiar to me and perhaps to you.

We would probably come up empty if we were searching for a single heart who was not waiting for God to move in their circumstances. The delay of the diagnosis of a medical issue that could change lives. The delay of a loving relationship that could finally fill the loneliness. The delay of a prodigal child returning home. And finally, the delay of a dream that has resided in our heart for years unrealized and unfulfilled. We will all be asked to ‘wait at the base of the mountain’ until God reappears with our resolution. How will we wait? Will we wait well? Will our impatience lead to our temptation to take matters into our own hands? Will our temptation prompt action, becoming sin or disobedience? We might not have a visible fire with a molded golden calf, but that is not to say we are not warming our hands near the fire.

God’s timing will never be our timing and the delay for which we experience must be met with intentional worship and patience. Patience is one of the foundations of Christianity and builds trust and confidence in God. Waiting on God in all areas of our lives is the ultimate act of worship and an offering that everyone can afford. If you are waiting on God to come down off the mountain and move in your situation you can be confident that He is faithful and perfect in His knowledge of every detail in your life. He will work every single thing to your benefit and for your good aligning it with His perfect will.

Arise and Go!

"Arise...go..." Jonah 1:2

It seems I cannot get past these first two words in my Bible study.  Every morning when I think I will cover lots of Scriptural ground my wheels continue to spin on these powerful words.  I remember one time Bruce and I had rented a place at Folly Beach.  It was mid-morning and I was sitting on the screened porch watching a few dolphins play in the water.  Suddenly my phone rang and on the other end of the line was my dad.  Previously, his cancer had metastasized into his liver and his body was declining.  He was spending a great deal of time in the bed trying to manage his pain with medicine and giving his body the care that it needed.  He had one request…PRAYER…but not for what you would think.  His coveted prayer was for the discernment, strength and endurance to go where God was calling him to go and to do what God was calling him to do.  His calling was to return to Child Evangelism Fellowship where he had volunteered as Director for almost 10 years bringing unchurched children to Christ.  His body was declining, but his spirit was soaring.  Daddy fully understood that his greatest weakness would allow God to display His greatest strength.  He asked all of us for prayers, and he ‘arose and went’ to serve where God was calling him at the toughest point of his life.  Daddy was able to serve for 8 months, long enough to lead the ministry at a much-needed point in time. 

As I think about that time, my mind jumps to 2019 as my prayers involve people who are having to ‘arise and go’ into tough places.  One family is being asked to ‘arise and go’ into the diagnosis of something fearful.  Another friend is being asked to ‘arise and go’ into the looming death of her mother.   I have another friend who is being asked to ‘arise and go’ to the chemo room at the hospital.  Every one of these families have one thing in common that will get them through these tough seasons…the presence and power of God in their lives.  They are all Christians and have all called upon the strength of God to invade their ‘arise and go’ circumstances.  This morning I read a statement from Priscilla Shirer in her study, Jonah – Navigating a Life Interrupted.  ‘When God places an abnormal calling on your life, it is because He has abnormal results, He wants to produce through you.’ P. 33.

Whatever you are facing this morning that is requiring you to ‘arise and go’, please know that God is already there waiting on you.  He holds in His hands the very thing you will need to equip you for the journey.  God can be trusted and is faithful to His children.

Mercy Stones

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Back in 2015 Bruce was assigned to a year-long project at a nuclear site in Augusta, Georgia. It was a full-time assignment so we set up an apartment for him where he lived Sunday-Thursday. It was an extremely tough assignment, one that he still says to this day was the hardest one he has ever had throughout his career. Everyday was met with fresh determination only to be derailed by extreme frustration. Discouragement was his constant companion and it was tough to watch as his wife. One weekend while I was with him in Augusta, I went shopping at Hobby Lobby and found these stones of encouragement. Every time I went to the apartment, I would place these stones in different spots so he would find them after I had returned to Charlotte. I knew that God would settle Bruce’s eyes on the specific stone at exactly the time he needed encouragement most.

God places around us stones of encouragement to lift our hearts right when we need it. A text out of the blue from a friend…a card in the mail reminding us we are prayed for…an invitation for lunch from someone who makes us laugh…a rainbow in the sky from God Himself…a Bible verse that suddenly drops into our mind. We don’t have to look very hard to find the encouragement of God. His comfort is constant, and His love is boundless. Some of the seasons that we experience require so much more dependency on God. But He’s there in the calm and the chaos placing the stones of encouragement all around us. We must keep our eyes on the movement and mercies of God every day.

Overcoming

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

The other day I was driving around knocking out some errands listening to the radio. This woman began telling the story of how the band Fleetwood Mac weathered the storm of two of the band members during their breakup. Lindsey Buckingham was the lead singer in the song ‘Go Your Own Way’ which was directed at his band-mate and former love Stevie Nicks. It went on to become a top-ten single from their wildly successful Rumours album. What was interesting to hear was the advice given to the band by their wise producer. The band was in tumult and the chaos threatened the band’s existence. Their producer told them that despite the pain and the emotional upheaval the ‘show must go on.’ He encouraged them to pour their souls and sadness into their music instead of allowing it to destroy everything. They did just that and was the payoff remarkable! The album’s songs hit the top-ten distinction one after another and provided us with some of the most incredible music to this day. Their pain was their journey and their passion were their healing. I can only imagine the millions of broken hearts who played this song repeatedly trying to give expression to their pain.

I began thinking about everyone who faces various trials while walking on this earth. We all have been equipped by God to channel our experiences…to process our problems…to triumph over our troubles. He has given us His promise to never leave us whether our circumstances are relational, financial, medical or spiritual. Through our tests God produces our testimonies if we keep our eyes on Him and truly believe in the healing. We all have seasons where it feels as if we are walking around with exposed hearts and grieving souls. What will we do with our suffering? Will we allow it to destroy the song that God is writing in our lives, or will we partner with Him in creating beautiful music?

‘Your life is God’s story being told and His character being displayed. How does your life read? What is your life telling others about the God you serve? As a result of your decisions, do they get to see Him displayed in His best light? As we surrender to divine interventions (or not) each chapter of our lives puts God on display. You cannot reach complete satisfaction in life apart from your decision to engage in His predetermined plans.’ Jonah – Navigating a Life Interrupted, Priscilla Shirer, p.27.

When facing our challenges we can go with God or like the song says we can 'Go our own way.'