Mirror, Mirror…. May 26, 2010

It is good to reflect. It is necessary to review. It is valuable to re-evaluate.  It is vital we consider where we have been and what tomorrow looks like based on lessons learned.  The operative phrase being, ‘lessons learned.’  What a sad referendum on our lives if we do not learn lessons from our life experiences. If we do not learn then we are destined to retake the class.

Everyone has experiences but not everyone ‘learns’ from those experiences.  That then is the key…not just retelling the experiences themselves but rather what was learned from those experiences.  That is where reflection, review, and re-evaluation comes into play…nothing must be wasted.

If you have ever spent much time with those who have lived through the Great Depression of the 1930′s you will see one common trait that has stayed with them through their life…they do not want to waste anything.  They find value even in the most obscure items; match boxes, bottle caps, buttons of various sizes and colors etc…nothing must be wasted.

Our lives are full of obscure events, disconnected dealings, and seemingly senseless battles but nothing must be wasted.  We ‘must’ learn from these aspects of life and embrace the revelations that accompany our times of reflection.  “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face…”

We want to see things that are not able to be seen, we want to understand things that are not understandable…yet, “but then face to face…”

Now What? May 13, 2010

How many times have we cried out, ‘Lord, if You would just ‘tell’ me what to do, I’d do it!’  It’s not that we want to be uncooperative but rather we are, many times, just not sure ‘what’ He wants us to do now.  After we have prayed, fasted, cried, thrown temper tantrums, repented and then prayed again then what?

Slowly the Lord begins to unravel some confusing thought patterns in our lives and we realize that what we really need is not mere instructions of what to do but a renewed, refreshed, ‘vision’ of what is His heart.  We sometimes confuse ‘vision’ with just setting goals, but there is a difference.  Goals can be anything from losing weight to learning a new language (both are good ideas of course) but ‘vision’ on the other hand is what makes your heart beat just a little faster, what makes your thoughts ascend beyond the temporal with a renewed ‘wonder’ of  it all.  It is in times like these that we speak with a hushed awe from our wounded souls the question that calms all storms “How great is our God?”

How are we to be restored to His ways and not our ways, to His thoughts and not to our thoughts, to His plans and not to our plans?  In times when His voice does not seem clear, when the clouds of unbelief try to cast a shadow over all you know to be true, when things once clear seem a little foggy we must continue to lean on Him and His word.  His word is Who He is and it is trustworthy because He is trustworthy.

“He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)

Lord, renew and refresh our vision with Your vision.

The storm-watcher! May 1, 2010

It’s spring time here in Texas.  Along with the beautiful blooms and the long awaited green on the trees are troublesome and sometimes fierce thunderstorms; one of those storms woke me up early this morning.

From time to time, like many of you, I have ‘flash-backs’ to my childhood and whenever there is one of those middle-of-the-night thunderstorms my childish fears re-appear.  But along with those moments of remembered fear I also have the very comforting memory of my mom being up and awake, looking out the window, checking the conditions and assuring us that all was well.  When I knew she was keeping watch I fell peacefully back to sleep with all confidence that my safety was in capable hands even though the thunder, lighting, wind and rain continued.

It did not seem so threatening when I knew someone else was watching the storm.

While those natural storms can be downright scary, the storms of life can be downright debilitating.  Winds and waves of fear and apprehension try to manipulate our thoughts as our imaginations create tormenting visions and voices with messages of threat vie for our attention.

While taking a walk around the neighborhood this morning a phrase from an old song broke through the chaos of my thoughts and it brought comfort to my soul.  It’s an old hymn of the church and the line that replayed in my mind was, “Keep me safe til the storm passes by…” When I got home I immediately ‘googled’ that phrase and found the song.  While several well-known gospel singers have recorded this song , it was written by Mosie Lister and here are a few of the words to her song:

“In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face, while the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place. ‘Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry, keep me safe till the storm passes by.”

Chorus
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

“Be merciful to me, O God…; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” (Psalm 57:1)

“And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, peace be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:3)