Slow Me Down, Lord

Monday: the last monday of Jesus' earthly life as He marched inexorably and resolutely to the cross which spelled His doom and our salvation. How inadequate are mere words of "Thank You, Lord." But what else can we say, save "Thank You, thank You, thank You for saving us."

It has been a terribly busy few weeks, and, frankly, I am weary. So much rushing around, so much to do, so many items on my agenda that "had" to be accomplished, so beleaguered and frantic. Forgive my pace, Father. Forgive me, Lord, for so often failing to be still and know that You are God. For failing to slow down and relish the terrible beauty of the cross. For failing to walk with You at an unhurried pace, even as you walked calmly, lovingly, in a harried, busy, desperate world. Who could ever have more to do than securing mankind's redemption, yet, with such an unimaginable burden, You never seemed rushed or impatient or busily preoccupied. Indeed, You walked deliberately, obediently, but joyfully to the cross but yet always with time to teach or heal or pray or bless.

The words of an annoymous poem, "Slow Me Down Lord," have really challenged me:

Slow me down Lord

Ease the pounding of my heart

by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace

with a vision of the eternal march of time.

Give me amid the confusion of the day,

the calmness of the eternal hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles

with the soothing music of the singing streams

that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking MINUTE vacations,

Of slowing down to look at a flower,

to chat with a friend,

to pat a dog,

to read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down, Lord

and inspire me to send my roots

deep into the soul of life's enduring values

that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

Yes, Lord, slow me down and help me gaze with wonder and adoration at You and Your cross. Help me to walk unhurriedly with You this Holy Week. Today, I think of You as You cleansed the temple of the moneychangers who transformed Your Father's House of Prayer for all the nations into a den of robbers. (Mark 11:17) O, Lord Jesus, show me where my preoccupation with all that this world values--accolades, accomplishments, accumulation of things, achievements--has stolen my heart, damaged my witness and diminished my intimacy with, and prayer to, You. I don't want to be anything like those faithless ones who missed You in their relentless quest to look good and sound good but with hearts far far from their Messiah.

Slow me down, Lord, to choose gratitude this day. Gratitude for the neon yellow buttercups on my walk this morning with our dog, Moses. Gratitude for the crimson cardinals soaring across our path--a reminder of Your blood and Your love. Gratitude for the showy violet beauty of Bluebells in my neighbor's yard--so nearly perfect, so lovely. Gratitude for the peace of a quiet hymn playing in our house, glorifying You with notes of joy. Gratitude for hot baths and precious children and faithful husband and undeserved safety and health. Gratitude for our sweet old black lab, resting at my feet at any and every opportunity... just content to be wherever I am. Help me to learn that Lord--to desire to simply be with You wherever you are and wherever You walk... with a focused, peaceful, grateful heart.

Gratitude for memories of mountain streams and forests alive with birds and crickets and creatures that all pour forth the music of Your glorious creation. Gratitude for moments to read Your eternal, powerful, endlessly nourishing Word. The Word that makes my old dead, dry bones rise from the dust and live again in hope and joy. (Ezekiel 37:1-14) Gratitude for friends and family who bring the songs of laughter and love into my life--and the privilege of messy, challenging, teaching, blessed relationships and connections. Gratitude for love. Gratitude for the cross. Gratitude for grace.

Slow us down, Lord, to see You, to know You, and to walk with You wherever you go, wherever You lead. Or just to be still with You. To our Savior who walks resolutely and joyously to the cross--our cross that became, instead, His cross--be all the glory forever and ever.

Just Do it!

Early this morning, as I read through my One Year Bible, I came across some rather unexpected and convicting words from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. Now I say "unexpected," because, to be honest, I tend to sort of "skim" through some--or actually a fair amount--of this challenging book. I know this reveals terrible shallowness on my part, but Ezekiel is filled with a lot of unusual and mystifying imagery as well as a fair amount of doom, death, and destruction. So, to my shame, being a poor Bible scholar, I read Ezekiel, but sometimes only half-heartedly pay attention in an effort to keep moving and get to the "good stuff."

I'm betting that right about now you're thinking maybe you'd better just stop reading this fluffy, shallow blog right now! And if so, I don't blame you, but, heck, I'm just being honest here. Seriously, if you're anything like me, sometimes you read some of those Old Testament prophets, and think, "Good grief! I think it's time to flip to Philippians!" (which in my humble opinion, is always a great option, since it is such a jewel! Thank you, Lord and Paul!)

As usual, I digress.

But this morning, as I was reading the Lord's word to the prophet Ezekiel about the fall and utter destruction of Jerusalem, I came across these words: "As for you, son of man [referring to the prophet Ezekiel], your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the Lord.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice." (Ezekiel 33:30-32)

Busted. Not just the faithless Israelites, sadly, but yours truly. How often does this describe me? I listen to a message--whether a sermon or a Bible study lecture or a passage from the Bible--and talk about how great it was, how encouraging or convicting or enlightening, how important and life-changing, blah, blah, blah, but then God's Word to me makes no difference in my life, because I fail to put it into practice. If we're not living it, putting it into practice in our daily, routine, regular days, then it doesn't matter how many great Christian books or blogs we're reading or how many hours we spend reading God's Word or how many church activities we're engaging in--we've got to LIVE it, aka OBEY what we hear.

I love how James--good old James, so practical, so real!--puts it: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:22-27)

Now, there are plenty of times I want to forget what I looked like in the mirror, but the point here is, don't be foolish! Only a fool looks in a mirror and immediately forgets what she just saw. Rather, God calls us to live wisely and intentionally and blessedly by hearing His Word and then putting it into practice--as the Nike slogan says, "Just DO it."

I tend to forget everything. Truly. I have the memory of a gnat--although that may be unfair to gnat species. But I've found if I do something with or about what I've just heard, I will remember it. Jot down notes, repeat somebody's name several times, act on something immediately when I suddenly remember it by doing whatever is needed then and there. You know, there's just no substitute for obedience and simply doing whatever God tells us to do.

I have a confession to make. Unfortunately, I am a very (and I mean VERY) mediocre cook. Yes, it's sad but true, since no one enjoys eating more than I do, but my cooking prowess is less than legendary. I tend to cook the same boring things over and over again--typically involving some variation of chicken which my whole family is sick of, but what choice do they have? But here's the thing, I really really want to be a great cook. I own myriads of cookbooks--I'm a sucker for the latest book, since surely this will solve my dilemma and enable me to cook gourmet, nutritious meals that my family will actually eat (of course, we all know this is a lie from the enemy since all of my family would not eat the cooking of Martha Stewart, Paula Deene, or Giada whatever-her-name even if they perfectly prepared their favorite meals for us in our kitchen). I dream of being a great cook, with my family gathered around the table, lingering, laughing, talking and LOVING my delicious cooking. In pursuit of my dream of being a great cook, I cut out recipes, I buy cookbooks, I read the cooking blog of "The Pioneer Woman," I jot down recipes from friends.

But here's the problem--most of the time, I don't actually cook the recipes I cut out or jot down or read! I just plan to cook them, sometimes even purchase the ingredients I need to make them--but then fail to do so. I continue to collect them in a big pile until it's time to clean out clutter and then, "whoosh" out they go into the recycle bin! Forgotten. I'm sure they would have been delicious, but we'll never know because they weren't tried and found wanting... they were simply untried and thus found useless.

Sigh. Forgive me, Lord, for so often being a hearer and not a doer.

I know that You tell me not to complain: "Do all things without grumbling or questioning," (Phil.2:14) but how often I forget to put this into practice and find myself complaining about the weather or my team losing or my aching back. I know that You command me to be overflowing with thankfulness and to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say 'Rejoice." (Phil.4:4) But instead, I grow complacent with your manifold, extravagant grace and goodness to me--shame on me--and therefore find myself discouraged and defeated. I know You exhort us to love and serve others: "Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 2:3-5) But how often I forget--or just plain fail--to love and serve with self-abandon and self-sacrifice, and thus forfeit the joy and peace and fruitfulness that comes from truly and obediently loving and serving as our Lord Jesus did over and over and over.

So, the time has come to stop just talking about it. Stop just thinking about it. Stop just discussing it. And start doing it. Of course, I can't, you can't, actually "do" it--only God has the power to truly and consistently put it all into practice. But for this we have Jesus! We have His Holy Spirit within us, enabling us not only to talk about being thankful, but actually choosing gratitude in any and every circumstance, not matter how difficult or disappointing. He gives us the power not only to read about agape love or talk about how nice it would be if we would love sacrificially, but to actually DO it. To love like Jesus, because we have His Spirit within us, loving in us and through us.

I'm tired of collecting good recipes. It's high time I started cooking those recipes I've got! Who knows: maybe there's a Martha Stewart (less the perfectionistic streak) trapped deep--waaaaaaay deep--inside me. But I'll never know unless and until I start putting into practice what I'm reading and hearing. Time to start doing what we know. And then watching how the Lord will go to work doing what we cannot. Can you imagine: if we all starting living out our faith, daily doing what we know and believe, how we could turn this world upside down for Him, for good, and for His glory?!

Get cooking! Let's do it! Let's roll! In other words, the time is now to put what you believe and know into practice in your everyday life. Just do it! To God, the One who wills us and enables us to do all He commands, all for His glory and all by His grace--to our Great Gracious God be all the glory.

The Two Thieves

I have often been convicted, challenged, and encouraged by the fact that our Savior hung on the cross in-between two thieves. What a clear picture the Lord gave us of the eternal choice facing every single human being who has ever lived or will ever live as to what they will do with the Lord Jesus. Accept or reject? Saving faith or scoffing skepticism? Poverty of spirit or pride of self? His way or my way? Depending upon Him or depending upon self or anything other than Christ? Looking only unto Jesus to find salvation or looking unto all else save Jesus to find satisfaction?

There simply is no middle ground. He does not leave us that option. Either we look to Him for salvation and sustenance or we refuse and go our own prideful, determined way.

The first thief, incredibly, rails against Jesus and joins in with the chorus of blasphemous insults. "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" he demands. (Lk 23:39) But not the other thief. I have often contemplated what that second thief must have been feeling as he hung on that cross, naked, bleeding, humiliated, in agony. He knew he deserved this most horrific and terrifying of deaths on a cross. He recalled all the mistakes, all the sins, all the callousness and carelessness of his debauched life, and he knew his hated cross was ultimately, for him, inevitable and deserved.

But this second thief watched Jesus beside him. What drew his eyes to the Savior? Was it Jesus' inner strength even in the agonizing weakness of physical pain? Was it the Lord's compassion even as He was shown nothing but hatred and humiliation? Was it the quiet dignity and regal bearing of One seemingly from another world? Surely this thief observed that as others mocked and spit upon Him, Jesus responds with bewildering love and shocking forgiveness.

And so the second thief rebukes the first thief: "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." And then in the one of the most poignant moments in the Bible, this poor, lost, wasted soul appeals out of his utter poverty of need, his desperate lack of anything to offer, and simply says to the Perfect Savior: "Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." (Lk.23:42) He couldn't even bring himself to ask for more: just "remember me." He knew he deserved nothing, and so he asks for just the merest scrap of remembrance by the One who had created and known him before he was yet born.

Surely at this moment, the Lord Jesus could not be bothered with such an insignificant, undeserving, undesirable wretch of a human. Surely the work of redemption would require all Jesus' focus and effort, and this waste of a man could not begin to dream he would be given even a passing thought by the Creator and Sustainer of the world. Surely this was far too much to ask of the Perfect One.

Not this Savior. Not our Savior. "And He said to him, 'Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.'" (Lk 23:43) Who can begin to understand such forgiveness. Such compassion. Such love. Such grace.

And can you imagine what this meant to that thief? From devastation and desperation to deliverance. From despair to hope. From a certainty of hell to a certainty of heaven. From the knowledge of what he deserved--death for his sins--to the knowledge of what he would receive--grace and redemption by the Savior. Unfathomable.

Might we never forget, however, that we, too, are those thieves. "For there are many ways to steal. We take back our promises, rob the truth of others' reputations as we slander them, and run away with a friend's joy when we argue--so we often break God's law." (Carmen Butcher) And just as with that second thief, Jesus will never ever ever turn away a heart that comes in poverty of spirit, in child-like need and trust. The desperate need and trust that recognizes: we cannot... but He can. That we are weak... but He is strong. That we don't know what to do.... but our eyes are upon Him. That we have nothing to offer save our sin... but His forgiveness and grace are infinite and freely available to all. Yes, might we all emulate that second thief and come to Jesus with our need and our weakness and our sin and find salvation and redemption and hope.

What I have not often considered, however, is that we can also be like that other thief--the unrepentant thief. How I hate that--I don't want to be associated in anyway shape or form with the first thief who, to the bitter end, rejects and mocks the Lord Jesus and refuses to turn to Him by faith. Nonetheless, the sad, terrible truth is in my impatience, my pride, my self-sufficiency I can also be that petulant, "irascible thief, demanding, 'Are you not the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!'" Stamping my foot and declaring, "I want it now, Jesus!" or "I want it my way, not your way!"

As one writer, Carmen Butcher put it, "Whenever we encounter hardship, we ought not let ourselves grow impatient, instead we should embrace this image of God hanging on the cross between a penitent lawbreaker and an angry one, and pray that we will always be the one turning to Christ in suffering and sin asking Him, 'Remember me.'"

Turning to Him to meet our need. Turning to Him to forgive our sins. Turning to Him for strength and sustenance. Turning to Him in gratitude and dependence. Rather than looking to any lesser thing or any other idol this world claims will satisfy our restless souls... and never ever ultimately does.

So today, consider the two thieves and choose well. Choose wisely to Whom or to what you will turn. Where will you seek satisfaction today? Where will you seek strength to see you through the hard, dark places in your life? Where will you turn for grace and joy and love and forgiveness? The choice is clear. Look to the cross and live. And choose daily, hourly, to go to the Redeemer, handing Him your moment by moment need and sin and accepting His strength and grace. To our Savior, our Sustainer, our Strength, our Redeemer, be all the glory.

A Costco Picnic

I've just returned from my home away from home: Costco. Yes, I always get that warm, fuzzy, family feeling when I walk through that cavernous warehouse lined to the ceiling with boxes of cereal that would feed an army of Jethros and cans of baked beans whose size simply defies the imagination. It kills my husband when I come home with a fabulous "deal" consisting of a crate of green beans that would last us until until the year 2040--or the arrival of our first great-great-grand child, whichever comes last. The storage of said items continues to be a bone of contention at our house.

All that being said, I love to cruise through the cement halls of Costco seeking out the latest deals on ginormous packages of paper plates and flavored Perrier water. And honestly, the place may be mighty sterile, but the employees there are always incredibly nice and helpful (and, as I mentioned to the friendly checkout guy today--unbelievably fast!). Today, after zipping through the checkout line (like I said--fast), I pushed my cart past the little food court they have set up there. It's really something--lots of picnic tables, complete with umbrellas, and awfully clean with a number of folks eating their pizza or frozen yogurt sitting under the umbrellas.

But still... sitting under the umbrellas in the middle of the Costco... in the cavernous warehouse... with the cement floors... and the florescent lights overhead. No music. No chorus of birds. No sun. No breeze. No blue sky. Just Costco--and like I said, I really like Costco... a lot... but gee whiz, eating under an umbrella at a picnic table inside Costco?

I guess the contrast with the day outside was just so dramatic. I walked outside and gazed up at a sky that was such a spectacular shade of blue it hurt your heart. It was a cool spring day--truly, just the ideal temperature of slightly warm but still the hint of a chill and refreshing. And the birds, heaven help us, the birds were putting on a show! I've never heard such singing and trilling--it simply took my breath away. The air was so clear and clean after all the rain. As I filled my lungs, I simply couldn't do anything but thank the Lord for the gift of life and the privilege of witnessing His daily miraculous show of creation. All for free. No membership necessary. No fees. No requirements... save an observant eye and a thankful heart.

How often do we settle for the Costco picnics in our lives when God has a sumptious banquet of His free grace and joy and peace and power and glory ready and waiting and available for us? So much beauty and how often do we miss it? So much grace, so much love, so much peace, so much joy, but we choose instead to huddle in our little fears and shallow dreams of more stuff or more success or more money.

He has so so much more for us! Why would we settle for the Costco picnic when we can go outside and watch the waves of the ocean or frolic on the beach or hike up the mountains or sit in the sun and smell the new cut grass? Why would we settle for the temporary and empty applause of the world when we can have lasting and loving relationships and laughter with our precious family and friends and with the God of the Universe? Why would we think we need more achievements, more accumulation, more accolades that always always always disappoint when He longs to give us more depth of love, more joy and more true soul satisfaction in Him?

As I drove home, I suddenly saw the azaleas that marked my path nearly all the way back. It seemed every yard bloomed with the extravagant, showy blossoms in brilliant purple and pink and orange. How on earth had I missed them before? Too busy. Too preoccupied. Too self-concerned to see all that God had freely bestowed to give us pleasure and bring Him glory. Forgive me Lord. Forgive me for daily settling for so little when You yearn for us to enjoy so infinitely much more in You. Help me, help us, to leave behind the sterile indoor picnics of our lives and seek out the wild, adventurous life of complete trust and faith in You and in Your plans for us. To God, the generous, gracious Giver of all that we see and all that we cannot see, be all the glory.

Still Learning Gratitude!

This is just so pitiful to even admit, but even as I was writing yesterday's blog about not grumbling or questioning, I failed the test! Sigh. I was happily typing away, thinking lovely thoughts about how I would unfailingly choose gratitude and trusting over grumbling and questioning... until, heaven help us, an interruption. (Isn't it always life's interruptions that get us?) My husband told me it was time to get ready to go somewhere, and I needed to get off the computer pronto. And so, of course, I joyfully complied and thanked God for the gift of interruptions which are actually His divine appointments.

Uh, no, that would not be how I responded. Just ask my husband. Actually, don't ask him.

Instead, I immediately GRUMBLED! Okay, maybe I muttered semi-quietly but with great irritation under my breath. But let's face it: selfish, want-my-own-way-little-old-me grumbled about being interrupted right in the middle of my happy, happy thoughts about doing ALL things without grumbling or questioning. And even if nobody else in the house knew it... I knew it and so did my Lord. (Well, and probably so did my husband unless he was blind and stone deaf. Fortunately, none of my children were home or they probably would've known it as well--great parenting, huh. But I really really think our dog, Moses, did not know it, since he loves me and thinks I'm the best no matter what--so I'm feeling vindicated. Gee whiz.)

I share this to point out how naturally and quickly we default to the grumbling mode... or at least, I do. We have to constantly guard against this sinful bent, and the best way to fight grumbling is with gratitude. Nature abhors a vacuum, so it's just not enough for me to say to myself over and over and over again--don't grumble. Don't complain. Don't gripe. Nope, I need to instead train myself to choose gratitude in any and every situation. Look for the reasons to give thanks, rather than focus like a laser on the few grounds for grumbling.

We have to be students of contentment. Paul writes that he had "learned in whatever situation I am to be content." (Phil. 4:11) We can learn to be content in all circumstances--or another way of putting that would be learn to rejoice and be grateful rather than grumble and question--but learning requires time and effort. To be a student requires intentional and tireless effort, but we can do it. If Paul could learn contentment, if Paul could choose gratitude rather than grumbling, then so can we! After all, we have the same Savior and the same Holy Spirit.

It starts with choosing to be intentional and recognizing when we are indulging in self-pity and grumbling. And then we must go to our Savior, seeking forgiveness, and asking Him to enable us to choose gratitude, choose trust. Ask Him, by the power that raised Christ from the dead, to enable us to be contented, joyful, grateful students of His grace and goodness and glory.

After messing up, we need to remember to watch our thoughts... cause, seriously, we all know it begins in our minds. In what kind of thoughts are we indulging? Critical thoughts? Irritated thoughts? Thoughts about how unfair or unenjoyable our situation is? Thoughts of envy or prideful comparison? Thoughts of what we have that we don't want or want that we don't have?

We can choose our thoughts! Again, good old Paul, in that gold mine of the book of Philippians urges us: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me--practice these things and the God of peace will be with you." (Phil. 4:8-9)

So, the more we think about that which is good and true and honorable and the more we practice thinking right thoughts and choosing gratitude rather than grumbling, then the more we will consistently live out what we believe and profess and desire to be true in our lives. And guess what--the more contented and joyful and peaceful we will be and the more we will glorify Him. Pretty much a win-win, if you ask me.

Maybe nobody needed to be reminded of this, but me. So, sorry, if you wasted your time reading this! I, however, am one slow learner and needed the reminder. But I have a mighty patient, loving, gracious Teacher who never gives up and never quits. Never--not even on His slowest, most intransigent students! So thank You Lord for teaching us contentment and encouraging us to choose gratitude with our thoughts and our words and our actions. Help us to "practice these things!" To our gracious, all-wise and all-loving Redeemer and Savior, be all the glory.

Grumbling or Questioning

"Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." (Phil. 2:14-16)

There is so much in these verses, but for today, let me just linger on Phil.2:14--"Do ALL things without grumbling or questioning." Brother, I have a long way to go on that one. I'm betting that if I were some Greek scholar, I would be able to give the definition of "all" in the original Greek. And I'm also betting it would be... ALL. As in, don't grumble or question anything, nada, nothing, not even the weather. Not even when the star point guard for your beloved tar heels basketball team is injured and unable to play in the NCAA tournament. Not even when someone else eats the rest of the ice cream cake. Not even when life breaks your heart or changes your plans or steals your dreams. Not in the hardest, most challenging of sorrows nor in the smallest, most shallow of disappointments.

Don't we all default to grumbling? It's too warm or too cold. The music is too loud or too slow or too something or other. Our home is too old or our yard is too full of weeds or our car is too unreliable. Our weight is too heavy or our eyes are too weak. Or we grumble about our insufficiencies, our "not quite enough's"--not enough gratitude from our loved ones. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough sunshine. Not enough rain. Not enough time or energy or love.

Forgive us, sovereign Lord! All things, all circumstances--good, bad, challenging, exhilarating, exhausting, encouraging--all come from Your hand, filtered through Your mysterious but always ultimately good plans and ways, and prompted and permitted only through Your love. Calvary love. We simply cannot always understand. Why the death of a child? Why tragic accidents? Why handicaps--physical, mental, emotional? Why war and pain and famine and turmoil?

We will never know the why's this side of heaven.

But we know the Who... and that is enough.

I find the more I focus on the Who, by fixing my eyes upon the Savior, then the "why's" don't seem so important anymore. And I am able to praise the One who came and lived and bled and died and rose again and who lives that we might truly live. Live the abundant, joyful, non- grumbling life! When I'm grumbling and questioning, my focus is upon big me and my big circumstances. But when I refuse to grumble and instead choose gratitude, my focus is upon my big, huge sovereign God and His glorious grace. And the result is trusting joy and a life in which we "shine as lights in the world." (Phil.2:15) If you want to stand out, try choosing gratitude rather than grumbling; try trusting rather than questioning, and, believe me, in this jaded, dark world, your light will shine!

So today, tonight, tomorrow, even when things don't go according to our plan, might we choose thanking and trusting rather than grumbling and questioning. God's in complete control, but He's giving you the choice as to your response. "Do all things without grumbling or questioning." What are you excluding from "all things?!" He who has given all, forgiven all, and done all for us, deserves our "all." And to our Almighty, Sovereign God be ALL the glory.

Grace again... and again!

Might we never grow weary of the subject of grace! Isn't it funny how the Lord will sometimes seem to repeat the same message to you in a number of different ways and places? I guess that's just another example of His grace--He knows how frail and forgetful we all are, so He graciously, gently teaches and encourages us again and again! Since my brain has grown so forgetful that I often confuse my youngest child's name with the dog's (but hey, they are both biblical names--one New Testament and the other Old!), I'm mighty thankful for the reminders... and for His never-ending grace. His mercies are new every morning--especially when you can't remember anything from the day before.

The day after I wrote the previous blog on grace and glory, I read these words by William Gurnall, a 17th century English pastor: "If the provisions were left in our own hands, we would soon be bankrupt merchants. God knows we are weak, like cracked pitchers--if filled to the brim and set aside, the contents would soon leak out. So He puts us under a flowing fountain of His strength and constantly refills us... The Christian ought to rely on divine strength because this plan results in the greatest advancement of God's own glory (Ephesians 1:4, 12). If God had given you a lifetime supply of His grace to begin with and left you to handle your own account, you would have thought Him generous indeed. But He is magnified even more by the open account He sets up in your name. Now you must acknowledge not only that your strength comes from God in the first place, but that you are continually in debt for every withdrawal of strength you make throughout your Christian course."

And all God's people said "Amen!" We take so many daily graces for granted--the wonder of a child, the constancy of a spouse, the tail thumping love of a dog, the symphonic cacophony of birds in the early morning, the warmth of the sun, the cleansing of the rain, the soft leather of an old, beloved Bible, the laughter of a dear friend, the joy of answered prayer, the bloom of a dogwood tree. Forgive me Lord for demanding so much and thanking so little.

And then there is His supernatural provision of grace--the manna that is always always always enough, always just what is needed when it is needed--His power, His forgiveness, His love, His strength, His peace... Himself given to us, at all times and in all places.

You know, it is true: if He just laid that lifetime supply on us all at once, we would be stunned and overwhelmed at such extravagance, such utterly undeserved abundance. We would recognize our extraordinary wealth and blessing bestowed by our bank account of grace. But I wonder whether we might be tempted to worry, "When will it run out? How can I preserve and conserve it? What if there is not enough? Perhaps I need to hoard it and refuse to share it, just in case?"

So our all-wise Father gives us our supernatural abundance in gift-wrapped packages of grace on a daily, hourly, moment by moment basis. As Gurnall wrote, "He is magnified even more by the open account He sets up in your name." We need never worry His grace will be insufficient or inadequate. His grace flows freely and fully for our every need--right when we need it. All we must do is ask. Draw upon that never emptying account of grace by calling upon our Father in our emptiness and inadequacy and insecurity and fear and failings.

No wonder Paul could write with such conviction and joy: "...I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Phil.4:11-13) Yes, Paul "learned" contentment, because he had learned that God's grace is always and ever sufficient for his every need. Paul could do anything and everything through the grace of the risen Savior.

And so can we. Same Savior. Same grace. Same strength. Same limitless open account of ever flowing grace to meet our every need. We can learn contentment, as we, too, hand Him our exhaustion or discouragement or fear or failure or confusion and watch His grace meet yet another need or cover another seemingly impossible dilemma or strengthen us to face another struggle. We learn of the sufficiency and greatness of His grace and strength for our every need. And we discover joy and peace and contentment even in the midst of our storms.

We can do all things through Him who strengthens us... for the fountain still flows and flows and flows, and the grace pours down and spills over all our needs and fears and hopes. And then, the glory can only go to the Source of that continuously flowing grace, that endless open account written in your name, in His blood. Might we each day, each hour, each moment say, "Help me, Lord" and then "Thank You, Father." To God, our Gracious Infinite Provider and Strength, be the glory.