Sleeping

Sleeping… I haven’t done much of it the last couple weeks.

I remember when sleep was my escape. When I was stressed out about anything at all, I’d get sleepy…I could sleep right thru most anything.

When I was sad or mad, sorrowful or worried, I could just close my eyes and turn it off. I’ve slept thru bad storms, barking dogs…those days are gone.

I have joked that God wakes me up at night just to have some time alone with Him. I really believe He does that sometimes.

This morning, I read that Jesus slept thru a storm. “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” (Matt.8:24)

Do you ever feel like Jesus is sleeping when there’s a storm raging in your life?

I know the answer to that.

The accuser and enemy of our souls would have us believe that Jesus is sleeping and even that He doesn’t care about the storm. He is a liar. (Rev. 12:10, John 8:44)

“Lord save us!!!” (Matt.8:25)

Jesus may have been asleep, the storm may have been frightful, but all was secure. The storm raged, the waves crashed….but all on the boat with Jesus were safe.

Hard for us to feel safe when there’s obvious danger. Even harder when circumstances bring harm, destruction, even death.

Hard for us to look past the storm. Not hard at all for Jesus.

Stay in the boat with Him. When the water is calm, don’t get out for a swim. When the storms come, don’t bail out to try to escape them.

And if you’re not in the boat….get in!! Then when the storms come, the waves crash and beat….call Him.

He is ‘Sar Shalom’. The Prince and Keeper of Peace.

Abba

Abba… In the language of scripture, it is the equivalent of ‘daddy’. Jesus called God ‘daddy’……

“Daddy, everything is possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I want, but what You want…” (Mark 14:36 my translation)

I have so often thought about the relationship of father and child, and how our perception of the relationships with our earthly fathers colors our perception of our heavenly Father.

I have a good father. I call him ‘daddy’. I obeyed him without question. I never feared for my safety, but at the same time, never questioned the consequences of disobedience.

As an adult with children of my own, I’ve learned more and more about my daddy. My perceptions of him as a kid growing up were often so wrong. I thought he was too strict, when he was in fact enforcing boundaries that provided safety not just for the moment, but even now, continue to bring me security. I continue to be thankful for those boundaries.

All daddies aren’t good. That is a horrible truth. Some just walk away. Some are abusive in devastating ways. I pray especially for those people.

There was a period of my life when I thought my daddy was unapproachable. (He never was really..)

There was also a period of my life when I was not confident in approaching God. I assigned to God the image of my daddy. While I was hesitant and afraid to go to daddy with certain things, I was terrified to go to God ! (‘Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Heb.4:16 ‘In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.’ Eph. 3:12 Hallelujah.!!)

Let’s not make God into the image of our daddy. Whatever fault there is in the relationship, ( and there are faults in all human relationships…) let’s not forget the tragedy of the garden. Humans all suffer from the disease of sin, we all share the incapacity of achieving perfection, especially in our relationships.

Our Daddy in heaven does not mirror our daddy on earth.

But we are so very blessed when our daddy here mirrors the Perfect Daddy of heaven.

I thank you Daddy for my daddy here, and for his commitment to You and to the family You entrusted to him. Give him long life and health.

Lost

Lost… Destroyed. Wasted. Employed to no good purpose. Mislaid. Cannot be found… Forgotten.

This past week has brought many losses. Much was destroyed. Many things were wasted and made unusable, no longer suitable for any good purpose. Belongings can’t be found.

But the loss will not be forgotten. Ever.

Those who mourn their lost begin to count…marking the passing of time.

Jesus’ purpose in coming was ‘to seek and save what was lost.’ (Luke 19:10)

He is the One to turn to with our loss. ‘Salvation has come..’(vs.9)

He is Savior.

He is Redeemer.

Lord help the brokenness. Bring spiritual wholeness, a capacity to accept and continue…and an assurance that this is not the end of the story.

Today

Today… Now. At present. Not future. Not past….

“..encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Heb. 3:13)

This verse has always haunted me. ‘Today’. That’s all we have. No promise for tomorrow, yesterday is certainly gone…and even today may be short-lived.

I don’t profess to know all things, my mind struggles to wrap itself around concepts like this. My life is so defined by time. I can’t understand how it will be, to be free of those limitations. I can’t grasp that God is not in this time box with me, He is not limited by anything, even time.

The only limits God has, are the ones I choose to set. He allows me that freedom, and will never take that choice from me. Even when I make bad ones…

And the part about sin being deceitful and the danger of it hardening my heart….what’s that all about?

New meaning on this ‘today’.

Sin has no pride, is not put off by circumstances….in fact, cashes in on each opportunity.

When we are at our lowest, ‘like a roaring lion’ it creeps in to devour.(1Peter 5:8)

We need God’s strength and protection even more during those times…we need encouragement from our spiritual siblings to help us keep our eyes on Jesus and not our situation. We need to live ‘today’ while fully expecting the promises of His tomorrow, trusting Him without reservation with our future. (we certainly can’t secure it..)

If we do not have Him, we push our way thru the difficulties of this life, depending on self, and callous ourselves against the pain of living.

And living in this place can be so painful. It is a dire mistake to try to stop that pain.

If we choose to slowly protect ourselves from that pain, we wake up one day having slowly calloused ourselves over, so that we no longer hurt…but we are just as insensitive to God as we are to the hurt that comes from living in this world.

“If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. These words keep ringing in our ears: Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear…” (Heb. 3:14,15 The Message)

Difficult

Difficult… Easier to define in the negative…what difficult it NOT.

It’s NOT easy. NOT compliant. NOT accommodating. NOT yielding.

Life seems to get more and more difficult. The longer our stay here, the further reaching our relationships become, the more entangled we are with each other. It is difficult at times, but I wouldn’t have it any other way would you?

I’m glad I hurt when others hurt. I do not want to have a heart that is not touched by others pain.

And I am so grateful to the Divine Helper. If there was no Hope past this realm and all it holds, how and why do we go on in the midst of difficulty? If there was no Help, would anyone be able to rise above the difficult times?

“Is anything too hard for the Lord” (Gen. 18:14) No!! Hallelujah. I’m so thankful, because I don’t go thru a day when I’m not faced with circumstances that are too hard to ‘me’.

I have witnessed and experienced the fulfillment of the promise…. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” ( 2 Cor. 12:9)

At our weakest point and greatest need, His power in our lives is stronger than ever. We are limited, He is not. Our Father does not intend for us to be weak and ineffective. But when we are, when circumstances of life knock the wind out of our sails and disable us, He can be depended on, never to fail.


Grace is there in proportion to need. I don’t have the grace at this moment to face a tragedy… But I am absolutely certain that were tragedy to strike, there would be abundant grace to see me thru.

I have no doubt that abundant grace is available to those who do face tragedy right now.

I pray each one finds The Source and clings to Him as they ‘walk thru the valley of the shadow of death’. (Ps. 23:4)

Beauty

6-15-10
Beauty.. What makes something beautiful? Is it a permanent condition?

I’ve been to Albert’s Pike many times. I considered it beautiful. I haven’t seen it since the flood except in pictures, but it’s not so beautiful now. The rocks and trees are still there. There is still water in the river. All the things that defined it as beautiful to me…they’re still there.

What changed? Nothing really…everything just got re-arranged. Including people and all their belongings.

God thought up beauty in the first place. It reflects His character. But to be beautiful there must be harmony, balance, symmetry, perfect rhythm… Like Him.

I can’t achieve that on my own. How grateful I am that He has made provision for my failure.

“He is my refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. I will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

There IS a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

God is within her, she will not fall. God will help her at break of day….

Be still, and know that I am God. ..The Lord Almighty is with us…” (selected verses from Ps. 46)

Father, as families bury their dead, remembering the horror of this flood, and grieving over the precious ones who are snatched away, I beg You to make Yourself known thru these circumstances. Lord, I ask that You bring not only comfort and healing, but new and deeper dependence on You. Protect them from lies of the enemy, make them to see truth, never doubting or questioning Your love.

‘Hear O Lord, and be merciful, O Lord, be their help, turn their wailing into dancing, remove their sackcloth and clothe them with joy…’ (Ps. 30:10,11)

Suddenly

Suddenly… I don’t like suddenly. I like slow and easy. Expected, not surprised.

I like ordinary. I find comfort in routine.

I’m finding new meaning to one of my favorite verses. “ I will extend peace to her like a river..” (Isa. 66:12) I’ve used that verse on my Facebook page since I opened it. I use it on my blog. I think of it every time I am near water.

Water has always brought me such a feeling of peacefulness.

This past week, I saw some stagnant water. Dead fish were everywhere. I found no peace there.

This past week, I heard about the devastation from a flash flood. People I love are gone…suddenly. There is no peace there for sure.

I’ve sat and looked at water for hours on end over the years. He has spoken to my heart so many times during those moments. Sustaining my life. Cleansing me. Healing me. Refreshing me. Exciting me. Calming me. Soothing me. Providing for me. Nourishing me. On and on the list could go…

But then the circumstances of nature and life bring a cold hard reality. Water can kill….suddenly.

Our Father provides many blessings here. My mind can not stretch to understand when and why it seems as though those blessings are withheld and circumstances often feel like curses. I don’t understand why one is taken and another left.

There is a negative side to every physical aspect of this realm. There is no absolute security except in the eternal realm. I am thankful to Him for that truth. I find my peace and security in Him, and commit myself afresh this morning to His care, whatever my future may hold.

“Alongside Babylon’s rivers we sat on the banks we cried and cried, remembering…
Alongside the quaking aspen trees we stacked our unplayed harps…
Oh, how could we ever sing God’s song in this wasteland” (Ps. 137:1,2,4 The Message)


I will never again sit by water and not remember.

Father, as the waves of grief pound, “Restore the joy of Your salvation and grant a willing spirit, to sustain.” (Ps. 51:12)