CwC: The Blog

The weather in the mornings has been lovely. It isn’t stifling or too humid. There is a breeze with a nip in the air. It is the beginning teases of Fall. I welcome it with open arms.

It is a mystery why each Fall I reflect on the seasons of life unlike any other.

Perhaps it is because Fall is so obvious in it’s arrival; a welcomed relief from the heat and oppression of Summer. It comes in like a lady: glorious in her dress, gentle, gracious, and making everyone smile with her presence.

Spring makes her entrance as well, but she is more like the popular girl in school: beautiful in her blossoms but demanding, impatient, and entitled to have her way over Winter.

It is a slow fade into the other seasons with no clear sign of their entrance.

Winter – on the wings of Fall – slides into place like an old man slides into his recliner.

Summer eases into place as a toddler slowly evolves into a child ready for happy adventures.

So it is with the seasons of our lives.

Some come in markedly putting up a fight to have their way over us and our routines. Others drift in more gently – steady and silent -until one day we wake up and realize our scene has changed.

Like the seasons – the phases of our lives are temporary (Glory to God!).

Some are happy.
Some are celebratory.
Some painful and oppressive.
Some are grief stricken.
Some are forged in the heat of refinement.

But they all end eventually morphing into the next season to come.

Each one is necessary for growth, and it reminds me of one of my favorite verses: Isaiah 55:10-11

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty;
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

I’m wondering what season you are in?

Is it happy and joyful?

Or challenging and hard?

Whichever it is, embrace it – because God is growing you.

People will try to convince us that love is not supposed to be painful.

“Love does not hurt,” they will say.

How many of us associate love…

with comfort,
with ease,
with happiness and joy?

And it can be these things, but the Bible says it is more.

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” – Ephesians 5:1-2

Here is a call for those whose sins have been forgiven by God. It is a call to imitate and to follow.

First, we are to imitate God (to act like Him).
Second, we are to love by following the example of Christ.

Without a doubt, as believers, we would all agree that God is a god of love.

He loved Jesus as his only son.
And Jesus loves God.

Jesus imitates God by only doing what He sees the Father doing (John 5:19), which is love.

God’s love for us called Him to sacrifice His only son so that we might have fellowship with Him.

Did you catch that?

Love caused God to sacrifice.
Love caused God pain.
Therefore, love does not equate to comfort.

God, in his love towards us, sacrificed his only son for our sake.
Jesus, in his love toward the Father, offers himself as THE sacrifice.

Did you catch that?

Jesus was sacrificed.
He was crucified.
Jesus’ love for the Father caused him pain.

I dare anyone to tell me crucifixion is not painful.
But it was not just physical pain Jesus endured for the sake of His Father, it was spiritual and emotional pain as well for…

He bore the burden of every sin in the world – past, present, and future.
He bore the burden of having God turn his back on him because of that sin.

Sacrifice is associated with…

suffering…
yielding…
surrender..
loss…
enduring.

1 Corinthians 13 confirms it:

…It is patient (long-suffering);

…It is not self-seeking. Love sacrifices its desires, its wants, its needs for the desires of the one it loves.

…It keeps no records of being wronged. It forgives. To forgive is to sacrifice what is owed whether it be an injustice, a wrong, or a debt.

…It endures all things. It continues on in the face of trials or opposition. It stands its ground in the face of burdens.

While the world tells us love equates to comfort, happiness, and ease. God tells us, it equates to suffering and pain.

If we are His children…
If we are Co-heirs with Christ…
If we are to imitate God’s love…
If we are to follow Christ’s example…

Our love for others must be sacrificial.

It must hurt.

It must be painful.

Who are you called to love sacrificially?
Who are you called to endure?
Who are you called to forgive?
What are you called to sacrifice for the love of God or the love of another?

Remember, the way we love is the way we show God’s love to the world.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:35)

Is yours sacrificial?
Is yours enduring?
Is yours laying down your desires for the sake of another?
Is yours forgiving others their debts and mistakes?

These are hard questions!

Yet we should always remember, the way we love is the way we show God’s love to others and what separates us from the way this world loves.

What does your love look like?

 

“It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” (Lamentations 3:26, NLT)

 

God’s salvation takes many forms.

And it comes.

Eventually.

 

In the meantime, we learn.

To sit quietly.

Waiting for the Lord to save us.

 

“Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD’s demands.” (Lamentations 3:28, NLT)

 

Not complaining.

Not wincing.

Not commiserating with others.

 

Sitting alone.

In silence.

Beneath God’s demands.

 

Let them turn the other cheek to those who strike them and accept the insults of their enemies. (Lamentations 3:30, NLT)

 

Not fighting back.

Not striking out.

Not justifying.

Accepting.

 

Such difficult demands…
…the waiting…
…the sitting…
…not fighting back…
…not lashing out…
…not justifying…

 

Just waiting for God’s salvation and trusting…

“…no one is abandoned by the LORD forever.
Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.
For he does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:31 – 32, NLT)

I’ve been reading in Deuteronomy lately which probably seems strange.  I mean…who says, “I’m having a hard time figuring out what to study in the Bible.  I think I’ll hang out in Deuteronomy?”  If you do, in fact, say this, please raise your hand because I need to shake it.

If you are like me and don’t tread down the steps of Deuteronomy much, the first couple of chapters recount Israel’s history prior to entering the Promised Land.

God was all prepared to give them this land flowing with milk and honey.  He was going to hand it over to them.  He was going to fight the battles required to occupy it.  All they had to do was trust and be obey.

That sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Afterall…

These people saw God inflict ten plagues on the Egyptians because Pharaoh would not let them go.
They heard the Spirit of God pass over their houses and save their firstborn sons because the doorposts were tinged with the blood of a lamb.
They saw Him lead them with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
They saw Him split open the Red Sea so they could cross on dry ground.
They saw Him swallow up their enemies by closing that same sea.

So, of course God could fight the battles for them.
Of course he could deliver it into their hands.

They had seen it first hand.

But as you may know, that is not what happened.   As they were standing near the Promised Land, they wanted to send spies over to see who inhabited it and if the land was, indeed, flowing with milk and honey.

So, they sent spies over instead of going with God and taking His word for it.  Their intel, it seemed, was more reliable than God’s word.

The spies came back and confirmed the land was bountiful and beautiful, but the people there were scary and some of them were giants.

All but two of the twelve spies sent did not believe God would do what He said he would do.  The enemy was just too strong and their odds weren’t that great.

And because they saw the obstacles through their own eyes and not through the eyes of faith, they didn’t trust.  They didn’t obey when God told them to go fight.

This did not go over well. God was angry with them, and he swore that unbelieving generation would never enter the Promised Land.

It was over that quick for an entire generation because they did not trust the LORD.

How often am I guilty of the same?

So, for forty years, the entire nation wandered in the wilderness waiting for the last of that generation to die.

In Deuteronomy 2, God tells them they’ve wandered long enough and provides directions for their next steps:

• Go North
• You’ll go through the land of Edom & they will be threatened (so be careful)
• Do not bother them because they are on the land I’ve given them.
• If you need anything…pay them for it.

And then the most beautiful of verses smacked me in the face:

“For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”

Even though God had allowed them to experience the consequences of their faithlessness, He had not left them.

God blessed them even though they were wandering in the wilderness because of their sin.
He watched over their every step.
He took care of them so they lacked nothing.

Despite their sin.
Despite their stubbornness.
Despite the fact that their willfulness and disobedience got them into the wilderness in the first place, God did not abandon them.

Even then, God was watching where their feet stepped. He was supplying their every need supernaturally from food to clothing and everything in between. He stayed with them even when they deserved abandonment.

What a merciful and gracious God!

Oh, Lord, that I might be merciful simply because you have shown me mercy.
Oh, Lord, that I might be gracious simply because you have extended me grace.

Father, forgive me when I have been…

willfull…
stubborn…
disobedient…
and self-reliant.

Forgive me when I have trusted my own intel instead of Your word.

Thank you for never leaving me despite these things.

In a couple of weeks my oldest bonus son will graduate from high school.

It’s kind of a big deal.

I’ve had the privilege of being part of G’s life since he was a Sophomore, and My! How he has grown!  Now…

I see a man instead of a teenager.
I see someone who used to wreck my kitchen and now cleans it up for me.

He is determined and strong.

And he is on the precipice of change.

Recently, my husband was out of town and G dropped by the house. He forgot his dad was out of town, so he’d “come by to talk to Dad.”

That statement melted my heart.

If you’re a parent of a teenager (or maybe any parent) you’ll understand the tenderness of that statement:

He wanted to hear his dad’s advice.
He cared about what his dad had to say.
And he trusted  his father with his heart.

Here was a young man about to go off on his own for the first time, and he loved his dad enough and cared enough about his dad’s opinion to want to talk to him. What a HUGE, GIGANTIC, special thing!

Man! I’m a sucker for these Father-Son moments. It makes me teary just thinking about it.

And I love how much it means to my husband.

I love how he jumps at the opportunity.

It makes his day.
He listens with baited breath.
He drops everything.

I wonder if it means as much to our Heavenly Father, who loves us far beyond our earthly Father’s capabilities…

When we want to talk with Him not at Him.
When we trust Him with our fears and questions.
When we listen to His counsel.
When we trust Him with our hearts.

Does He love it when we say, “I just came by to talk to Dad.”

Does it make His day?
Does He listen with baited breath?
Does He drop everything?

I think He does.  Afterall…

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! – Matthew 7:11

Confession: I am struggling with sin in my life right now. And frankly, I am sick of myself…

Sick of being lazy.
Sick of not having energy.
Sick of being a victim of my body and mind.
Sick of letting my flesh control me.

I try to do better.

I mean…really, really try.

And something thwarts me.

Every.
Single.
Time.

Sometimes it is myself.
Sometimes it is outside circumstances.

But I’m sick of it.

So, I prayed this morning…

Lord, do I need more self-discipline or do I need more of Your strength?

I waited silently for an answer.

Then, a verse came to mind…

”…not by might shall man prevail.”

I opened my bible to the passage and read Hannah’s words of worship.

“the LORD has made me strong.” (v. 1)
“I rejoice because He rescued me. (v. 4)
“…not by might shall man prevail.” (v. 9)

Is that my answer?

God doing the work?
God making me strong?
God cutting the wicked off in darkness?
God rescuing me?

I don’t know what that looks like, frankly, because it is so ingrained in me, and in this culture, that I must WILL myself to victory.

I must do.

Then, two words roll through my mind.

“Be still.”

No. No. No.

No.

No.

That can’t be right.

But I am familiar with those words.  They repeat to me frequently most often in the form of Exodus 14:14.  But today those words brought this verse to mind:

“Be still and know I am the LORD.” Psalm 46:10

That phrase “be still” in Psalms actually means to cease from striving; to drop; to relax.

Y’all, I admit, I don’t even know what that looks like other than looking lazy and giving up.  Honestly, it looks like defeat.

So, help me out here….what does being still look like to you?