Turning Fire into Rain

                Lately I have been experiencing one of those times in life where the world seems to be conspiring against me to make my life as hard as possible. I realize that statement is very conceded, but I think we have all had times when we feel like no one is kind and understanding and everything that can go wrong does. First this phone breaks, then that car breaks down. When they are fixed, that phone breaks and this car breaks down. The holidays come with many expenses as illness works its way through every member of our household (including the cat!) and right around this time we find out our health insurance is gone and our options for alternative healthcare are unaffordable. As we prepare to entertain every family member within driving distance over the holidays, my husband and I pray that the termites that live in the very thin walls of the very old house we rent have not weakened the floor so much that we all fall through it. Despite all of this, today I was challenged to open my eyes to the miraculous work God is doing in my life, but lately I have been struggling to understand why everything seems to be going wrong while my husband and I are trying so hard to be who God made us to be.

                First Peter 4 was the passage my husband and I chose to read with our coffee today and in it Peter begins by reminding us of the suffering that Christ endured. He makes the bold claim that the one who suffers in life is finished with sin because he has stopped trying to get all of the pleasure out of life for himself and turned his focus to doing God’s will (which is not always very pleasant). He challenges us to be hospitable and intently love one another while speaking God’s love into the lives of those around us. He tells us not to be surprised when life turns against us for doing this but to rejoice that we have the opportunity to do God’s will. He tells us in these times we should “entrust [ourselves] to a faithful Creator.”

                After reading this I felt very guilty for feeling sorry for myself. I began to realize that with every bad thing that has happened over the last few weeks has come an opportunity to show the strength of God’s love to others. How blessed am I to not just witness, but to have the chance to be a part of the miraculous work that God is doing? How can I take the next negative situation that comes into my life and turn it into a chance to speak God’s word and love into someone else’s life? And how clear is God’s faithfulness when things go wrong yet I am still cared for through His provision?

                God, please help me to trust in Your faithfulness when things go wrong. Thank You for Your great love and providing me with the opportunity to show Your love to others in my life. Help me to continue to become the person You made me to be. Amen.

Love Earnestly

                Black Friday has always been a special day to me because it marks the first day of the Christmas season. Every year on that day, my family would pull out all of our Christmas decorations and flood the house with Christmas music and now my husband and I carry on that tradition. Every year the news reports that, on Black Friday, sales are starting sooner and people are getting hurt because they were first in line for the latest and greatest doodad, and everyone reacts with disgust at society’s lack of concern for each other. I think in the midst of our disgust, we miss another major problem with this tradition in that we become very negative, judgmental, and full of gossip about “those people” who participate in Black Friday. The next time we face holiday shopping crowds, we expect someone to cut us off and push us out of the way so we start looking at all others as “the enemy.” As we do this more often, we lend ourselves to the creation of the society that we are disgusted with all because of our own negativity towards others.

                This morning we read from 1 Peter 1 and verses 22-23 really stood out to me. They are as follows: “By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure  heart, since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.”  When God’s word brings our attention to life, God is always more concerned with the people we interact with than the things we are surrounded with. Peter points out here that we were born again of things that will last and are now able to love one another earnestly. The kind of love that God has for us and teaches us to have for one another is a life changing love without boundaries or reservation.

                When I stop to think about God’s unrestricted love, it makes me want to do everything out of this love. How can I drive to the store in a way that demonstrates God’s love to the other drivers on the road? How can I open myself up to be warm and inviting to strangers I interact with over the holiday season? How can I demonstrate love without conditions to family members I will see very soon? How can I shift my heart from the harsh judgment of strangers in society to the mission of loving every person with the love that God freely gives?

                Dear Lord, help me to love with the love that You have placed in my heart. Help me to give Your love freely to those around me. Help me not to judge strangers but to focus on things that will last. Amen.

5 o'clock Traffic

                Psalm 2:7-9 says, “I will declare the Lord’s decree: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have become Your Father. Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance and the ends of the earth Your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; You will shatter them like pottery.’”

                In the highs and lows of our daily lives, it is easy to quickly lose perspective. This weekend I faced some of the most frustrating traffic that I have seen in quite a while. It seemed to me that everyone on the road was angry and convinced that all of the other drivers were out to get them. There were cars weaving in and out of lanes and then shooting down side roads to find the fastest route to where they wanted to be. There were other cars that did not seem to know which way they were going and may have even forgotten they were on the road at all. Everyone had an agenda and no one was going to get in their way. In the mean time, the sun was setting in front of all of the cars headed my direction. In the mists of everyone’s deep frustration, the Lord was painting a beautiful sunset in the clouds. I could not help but think that if the Earth were to be pushed slightly out of its orbit at that very moment and were just a bit further away from that beautiful sun, no one on earth would exist anymore. All of the problems that seemed so important would be quickly forgotten and everything on earth would stand still. It is only by the grace of God that we continue about our daily lives and it is easy to forget His strength.

                This verse in Psalm 2 reminded me again of God’s power. He calls us His children and can offer us anything in the universe as our inheritance. How is it then that in just one day my perspective shifted so much? Instead of considering the God of the universe as my father, I had narrowed my perspective to just earth, just my country, just my state, just my city, just my home, just my life and my problems. How would my Monday be different if my perspective were not so narrow? If when I walked away from this computer, I remembered to consider that my Father is King of the universe…and He made it!? I think it would be a bit easier to let go of some of the little things.

                Dear Lord, thank You for making me Your daughter and giving me such a beautiful husband and son. Help me to remember Your strength in light of problems I consider immovable. Show me how to live worthy of the life You have given me. Amen.  

Gentle Wisdom

My son about to disappear behind the couch

                When was the last time you thought about the story of the sword and the stone? If it has been a while, here is a refresher (at least the way I remember it): Once there was a city without a real king and things fell into chaos. People began to look everywhere for a proper king, but the true air to the thrown could only be the one to remove Excalibur the sword from a large stone that it had been trapped in. Many men from all around came to try to pull the sword from the stone and were unsuccessful. No amount of strength could be used to free the sword. Finally, a young orphan boy came along and thought that if strength could not remove the sword, perhaps gentleness could. He very carefully pulled the sword from the stone and became one of the greatest kings that land had ever seen. This story came to my mind after reading James chapter 3.

                At the end of this chapter, James says that whoever has wisdom should show that wisdom through gentleness. If your goals are selfish, he says, than you should not try to brag about your accomplishments or deny that you are motivated by your own gain or pretend that pursing these things makes you wise because the type of wisdom that is selfish James says is demonic. True wisdom is without favoritism or hypocrisy and brings with it peace wherever it goes.

                When my life falls into chaos, my first reaction is to fight anyone who comes close. It is easy to lash out when we are upset, but I never thought about it being wise to respond to chaos with gentleness. What is my first reaction in the face of trouble? What do my actions reveal about my wisdom? Do I consider myself wise because of my own pursuits? How should my heart and attitude change in order to respond with gentleness the next time I am faced with chaos?

                Dear Lord, please help me to be wise and respond to some of the hectic things in my life with gentleness rather than anger. Help me to be patient with the things in my life that do not go the way I expect them to. Amen.

Selfish Faith

                I feel as if I was lied to when I was told by friends, relatives, and experts through their written works that my baby would start sleeping through the night between 6 and 8 weeks old. Around that age, he did start sleeping through the night…for about a month. It may have been closer to 2 months before he started waking up throughout the night again. My husband warned me that around 4 months he might start waking up again. I assumed that it would last about a month and then we would start sleeping again, but at around 5 months my son’s teething pains got much worse. Now, at almost 7 months, my son still has not started sleeping through the night again and he has no teeth to show for it. Last night was particularly bad because I only saw my own bedroom for a collective 4.5 hours. The rest of my night I spent begging God to put my little boy to sleep and take away his pain so that I could rest. It was one of those times that my mom used to describe as “feeling like your prayers are bouncing off the roof and coming back down just to hit you in the face again.” I kept reminding myself that one day my son will be old enough understand that he should not pull my hair, ears, and necklace in the middle of the night even though right now he only seems to understand what I can do for him, not how his behavior affects me.

                James 4 continues with a strong message for believers. James says that are at war with our own desires and they quickly lead us astray. We try to pursue our own selfish goals instead of asking God for what we need. When we do ask the Lord for things, it is with the wrong motives. We ask like we are infants only understanding what God can do for us instead of considering how it affects His plans and the work of His kingdom. James says we should humble ourselves instead of pursing wealth and greed like the world around us. He says we should not judge one another or criticize each other because it is not our place. He concludes by saying that we should pursue the will of the Lord rather than assuming we know what the next day will bring.

                Recently, my husband and I had a finder-binder up the road from our house. My first response from my heart was, “The Lord must have a reason for this! I am so grateful that no one was hurt, we have insurance, we were not in a rush to get anywhere important, and we are very close to home.” It is the small things in which I struggle to see God’s hand. Being up last night caring for my son, I was sure all hope was lost. After reading James I was convicted at my hesitance to believe God has a purpose for the many sleepless nights that come with raising a child. Rather than selfishly asking God to take care of my son so I can sleep, I should be asking for the strength and patience needed to stay up as long as it takes. What other “little things” have I let become road blogs to my faith? Do I pray selfishly or with the Lord’s will in mind? Am I pursing my own desires, or the desires of the Lord?

                Dear Lord, please help me to develop strength and patience in raising my son. Please help me not to be sidetracked in my faith by little things but to trust you in all things big or small. Help me to pray for your will rather than pursue what the world tells me I need to be happy. Amen.