Sometimes it takes Pain, to have Gain.

Once upon a time a bird was in our garage...

It would not fly out.

I grabbed a broom and tried to navigate the bird in the right direction.  I remember thinking that he probably thought I was trying to kill him.

After all, put yourself in the bird's place. A human is coming after you with a broom, or so it would appear. But in reality, I was only trying to direct it to freedom.

pause.

We're currently facing a situation with our youngest son.  He has had some issues with anxiety.  He's done exceptionally well at navigating through many of the issues that "trigger" anxiety for him, but there's one area left that we are trying to guide him through.

We've tried gentleness.  And counseling.  And prayer.  And understanding.  And now we've gone to tough love.

Last night as we were working through some things I said, "I know it seems like I'm against you right now, but I'm not.  I am FOR you.  You will thank me when we get to the other side and you find freedom."

Trust me in this.

And so it is with God.  He loves us too much to leave us as we are.  He knows that HIS ways are the only ways that will lead us to the abundant life that He has promised us.  Sometimes the road to "freedom", the road to "change" is bumpy. I'm not smart enough to know why that is...I just know it is.

for instance:

it typically takes someone offending us (painful) before we learn how to overcome an offense (freedom)

it takes someone hurting us (painful) before we learn how to forgive (freedom)

it takes facing your fears (painful) before we learn how to trust Him in all things (freedom)

Are you walking through something right now??  What is the pain? and what is the potential freedom?

As you enter the New Year, may you walk with Him.  Closely.

I don't know about you, but through the good, the bad, the adventure, the risk, life's twists and turns, the unexpected, the expected....I want to trust Him in all things.

"My help and glory are in God...granite-strength and safe-harbor-God...So TRUST him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for Him.  God is a safe place to be."  Psalm 62:7-8

We're Wired to Respond to Encouragement, but what if no one is encouraging us...

It seems they haven't  been playing quite up to par.  As if you know they have more in them, but it's not coming out.   I'm speaking of the Lions Varsity Volleyball team.  I'm not criticizing them, at all.  It just seems they haven't gotten off to a great start.

I asked Maren after Monday night's game, "Do you think you all are playing as aggressive as you can?"

"I don't think so"  she replied.

Me, "why is that?"

Maren, "the crowd is not encouraging us."

"well...it seems a little off base to be blaming the crowd for your losses don't you think?"  I chuckled.

"that's not what I mean" Maren replied.

She went on to explain that all of their games, thus far, have been "away" games.  It's a different "feel" than home games.  When the announcer introduces the "away" team, he does so in a monotone voice.  But when you're the home team, you run out to loud upbeat music, the announcer introduces you with MUCH enthusiasm, the crowd goes wild, and the team gets EXCITED!  pumped up!!  and ready to play!

Once she explained this, I totally understood it.  Not that it's a great excuse, but it does make sense.  We RESPOND when others encourage us.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says for us to ENCOURAGE one another and to BUILD each other up.

It's important.  We need to speak encouraging words to each other.

But what if we don't have someone there to encourage us?  Do we just walk around hanging our head and have a pity party?

We could, but I'm not sure that would benefit anyone, especially ourselves.

When no one is there to encourage us, I think we should follow David's example.  His people were upset with him, they were far from encouraging him, in fact what they wanted to do was stone him.  David was at the lowest of lows and he knew he needed to have a different outlook.  So what did he do when no one else would encourage him?

"David encouraged himself in the Lord His God" 1 Samuel 30:6 KJV

He worshipped the Lord.  Sought Him.  And in doing so, the Lord strengthened Him, revived Him.  It's more than David "willing" himself to be encouraged, it's submitting yourself to the One who is all powerful, forever capable, and able to do exceedingly more than all we could ask or imagine.  It's about believing that.  Getting excited about that.  Getting pumped up about that....and thus we become GREATLY encouraged!

I pray that you always have someone who will encourage you.  But if you don't have a crowd cheering you on, may you know that the God of all creation IS cheering you on!  That He is FOR YOU!  That His plans are to prosper you!  And that with Him, all things are possible.

Fear and Negotiations from Genesis 18 and 19

The drama.   The love.  The relationship.  The lies.  All the stuff that makes up today's soap operas. Well, who am I fooling, all the stuff that makes up our lives today, we find in  Genesis 17, 18 and 19.

It's impossible to touch on every point, the intermingling of God and man is so detailed...so deep.  But I want to share some things that I love about these chapters and some things that I ponder over, mull over, wonder about.

Some things that I love are, how the relationship with God and Abraham is so. very. real.  I love that God speaks a "timeline" to Abraham pertaining to when He will have a son.

 "About this time next year you will have a son..."

And he not only says it once, but twice, almost as if to confirm to Abraham.  Because we're like that right?  In our human-ness.  We hear God, but we seek confirmation.  I like it that God OFTEN gives confirmation.

I also like that Abraham could express his feelings to God.  Negotiate even.  For right after God speaks of Abe having a son, he then moves on to,

"and by the way, we're on our way to Sodom and Gomorrah, to, well, basically, destroy the city."

 God had heard the cries of the victims there.  The city was vile.  Steeped in sin.  God was going to see if it was indeed as bad as He thought it was, and if so...He was going to destroy it.

Abraham literally steps in front of God and begins saying,

 "but what if there are GOOD people in this bad city??  Will you save it on behalf of the good people???"

If you've never read this, believe me, it's worth the read.  click here.

Long story short, God says that yes, if he finds good people there, He'll save the city.

However, He gets there, and it's just as bad as He thought it was.  He destroys the city.  All but Lot, Abraham's nephew, and Lot's wife and two daughters.

God tells Lot to gather his wife and daughters, get out of the city, head to the mountains, and don't look back.  Lot, however, is too fearful to go to the mountains.  So, he "negotiates" with God to  seek protection in a nearby town instead.  On the way to that town, Lot's wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt. So, she's gone.  And oddly enough, even though they went to the nearby city, in the end, they end up in the mountains anyway.

In the mountains, the two daughters fear that their family line will end, for it is just the two of them and their father living in a cave.  SO, they come up with this wise plan to get their dad drunk, sleep with him and become pregnant so that their family line will continue.  One daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites.  The other daughter had a son and named him Ben Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites.

Here are the things I ponder.  Mull over.  Wonder about.

Abraham "standing" in the way of God and "negotiating" as God heads to Sodom and Gomorrah.  If not for Abraham would God have saved Lot?  For it says this in Genesis 19:

29...and that's the story; when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he was mindful of Abraham and first got Lot out of there before He blasted those cities off the face of the Earth.

and if Lot would have just had the faith to head to the mountains first, instead of negotiating to go to the other nearby town, might things have ended up different for Him?  God, after all, was SAVING  him.  Delivering him from imminent destruction and he didn't trust him to go where he was telling him to go???

Which brings up another great point; even when God is offering us a way out, it takes faith to take it!!!

So, because of Abe, God saves Lot, but in the end, Lot's daughter's sleep with their Dad and give birth to the Moabites and Ammonites who then become two of Israel's (Abraham's) greatest enemies.

In summary.  Though we CAN negotiate with God, does it always end up to our benefit to do so?

What if we choose NOT to negotiate.  What if we just choose to trust Him.  To trust His ways.  To bow to His sovereignty.  Even when we're scared.  Fearful.  Frightened.  What if we just trust Him, knowing that He is for us and not against us and that He'll do the right thing.

Would our lives perhaps, just perhaps, be messed up less if we choose to stay out of His way, instead of stand in His way?

Even the genealogy brings encouragement...

I'm reading in Matthew this morning.   Starting at chapter 1.  Good place to start, eh?

Except that, chapter 1 starts with the genealogy of Jesus.  BORING.  I sooooo wanted to skip it.

Except for, I felt like the Spirit was saying "read it."

So, drudgingly, I forced myself to read through...Abe was the father of Isaac, Isaac was the father of Jacob.  Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.  Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (whose mother was Tamar)...and on, and on, and on...

As certain names popped up, I was reminded of a couple of things:

1.  Jesus' family wasn't perfect either.
2.  God used imperfect people to do His will.

And...He wants to use you.... and me.

Though people messed up, and weren't perfect, God's plan continued and continues to unfold, and that plan, my friend, includes you.

You know the bible is alive and active when even a boring genealogy encourages you.

Relax...Breathe...Even in the Middle of LIfe's Craziness...

It was a hot summer day and my friend, Jennifer, had brought her boys over to swim in our pool.

Simon, the young toddler, not yet knowing how to swim, and in water over his head, had been enjoying the pool with his "floaties" fitting comfortably on his arms keeping the little man perfectly content in the water.

Until he panicked.

His Mom, sitting just outside the pool, kept asking him, "Simon, what's wrong?!"

Simon wouldn't answer.  He would only scream and cry.  The more upset he became, the more his body was also showing his panic as he began to wail and flail in the water. 

As he continued to panic, cry out, and splash around it indeed looked like he was in trouble, even though we knew if he calmed down he'd be fine.

His older brother Isaac was in the pool close by him, so Jennifer asked Isaac to check on Simon.  Isaac, annoyed by his much younger brother, turned quickly  to Simon and with much authority said these oh, so, wise words.  Words that I often need to hear when I'm wailing and flailing through one of life's circumstances...

"Simon!  You're FINE!"

Simon immediately stilled.

Jennifer, still concerned, followed up with a "Simon, are you okay?"

I will forever remember Simon's answer.

"I thought I wasn't okay, but Isaac told me I was fine."

Breathe.

Sometimes, in the middle of life's craziness, we just need to be told...

"you're fine"

"you're going to make it"

Maybe your world has been rocked.  Maybe you're in a panic state. 

I'm not denying that there are situations of REAL danger.  Nor am I denying that there are situations that are unhealthy for you and you might need to make some changes.

But most of the time for me, I panic over circumstances that aren't life or death.  They're just, quite frankly, unpleasant circumstances.

I may feel like I'm in over my head, and may indeed be treading water so hard that I can barely keep my head above the waves of life's circumstances.  But in that place, like Simon, I have to still myself...calm down...and in the stillness realize that I'm fine...and the reason I'm fine is because my hope is in the Lord.

Lord, my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty.

I don't concern myself with matters to great or too awesome for me to grasp.

instead I have calmed and quieted myself, like a weaned child who no longer cries for its mother's milk.  Yes, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

Oh Israel, put your hope in the Lord---

now and always.

Breathe. 

You're fine.