The Time Machine

There is a song by Kenny Chesney called "Better Boat" that has some great lines.  My absolute favorite line is, "I let God do what he does." Here is a link to that song if you would like to listen.

Better Boat

It would be so freeing to let go and let God do what he does.  I pray to God for so many matters but many times fail to see the answers he gives.  Sometimes it is because I have tunnel vision and the answers don't look like I expect.  Often I don't see what he is doing because his timing is not my timing. Watching for change is like watching the motion of the hour hand on a clock.

So to get a different perspective, at the end of a year I like to go back and review my journal.  As I was reading my 2018 journal I realized that it was my time machine. It is easier to see change when I looked back to compare.  I could see God doing what he does.  I saw my silly worries.  I was reminded of the deliverance he provided.  I saw the "no" answers as well as all the "later" and "yes" answers.  I saw the painful mistakes followed by victorious days.  It is like time lapse photography on the growth of a flower.  It changes the pace and lets me see miracles that are easily overlooked.   I saw change and growth in my relationship with Christ and I saw his amazing patience and love for me.

Due to arthritis in my hands, writing is painful, so journaling did not come naturally to me. I started it by chunking and summarizing months in a little tiny spiral over 14 years ago.  As time went on, I was further inspired by the character Aibileen in The Help who wrote all her prayers, and made this practice a big part of my journaling. When I went digital I found that the task was not painful on my hands and errors were easily edited. My thoughts began to flow onto the digital page like a break in a dam.  I began the digital journaling by using a journaling app.  Here is a little advice: after losing the bigger half of 2016, I learned to use a reliable company that backs up in the cloud! Currently, I journal every morning in my iPad using the notepad on iCloud.

If you choose to record 2019, many days all you may get written down is the date and a sentence.  That is fine.  If you skip, that is fine.  Come up with a system that works for you and each year you can improve on it.  Soon you will be able to look back and see God doing what he does.  Then maybe you will be able to better trust Him with your tomorrow.

Warriors

My job in school technology provides me the opportunity to view many coworkers throughout the day. It is the dedication of those who work under the area of special education and counseling that constantly amaze me. Some of their daily challenges include children that are autistic, hyperactive, nonverbal, limited in mobility, homeless, pregnant, abused, unloved, angry, aggressive, lacking basic social skills or in need of a bath and clean clothes.  They have endless meetings with parents and guardians to keep them informed.  Then back in the office, they dot the i’s and cross the t’s on tedious government rules, regulations and paperwork to defend against lawsuits that are inherent to dealing with these issues.  

They also must keep up-to-date on the newest state and federal rules and regulations which involve many tiresome conferences.  In their free time, many of them work on their own continuing education in their field of specialty.  At the end of the day they see precious little results for their efforts.  Then they get up and do it again. Many of their cases seem hopeless yet they persevere. They are warriors. If you think that makes them a sad, depressed group, you would be wrong.  They greet everyone with a smile, laugh and enjoy the people around them.  

They do this job as if working for the Lord himself and it is obvious to me that they have a deep faith in God that keeps them going against such overwhelming odds. What I have observed is that their lives are not separated into secular and Holy.  What they do every day is done through the power of their faith in God. They are missionaries in the truest sense.  Their work life is a continuum of their faith.  What they do daily, they do out of a love for God and his children.  

I see them as described in these verses.  

Colossians 3:17,23-24 NIV

[17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 

[23] Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, [24] since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

We could all learn from these educators.  Do we separate our lives into the secular and the Holy?  Is a mail carrier, mechanic, or lawyer less in need of doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus or should they separate their lives so that a relationship with Christ is left at home? Should God be reserved for high Holy days?  Unless you are a telemarketer or a thief, your job is probably an answer to a need! And what is more, you probably have a need for direction, wisdom and guidance. Know that you too are appointed by God and very much require his presence and direction throughout your day.  

The life of Jesus was not divided into secular and Holy.  Wherever he was, whatever he did, it was with and for his Father.  I know what you are thinking.  “But that was Jesus and applying that to our vocation is going from the sublime to the ridiculous.”  It seems that way when we compare our life to Jesus' life.  However, we all know we need patience in our job, doing what we do, dealing with issues and people that are difficult. We all need to view our work as Holy and appointed by the Lord.  We need to make every day a take-God-to-work day.  We need to be reminded of this scripture often:  

1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

[31] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

According to the Apostle Paul, we are not to divide our lives up into secular and Holy because it is all for the glory of God. Whether we are taking care of our bodies by eating and drinking or at work answering to a boss, we are to do it as if for the Lord. What if before leaving for work, we checked to see if we are taking our lunch, keys, phone, wallet and our relationship to Christ with us?  Can you imagine the change in our workday if we remembered He loves us, appointed us, and is in control?

The Voice

The Voice

This is so un-Texan that I am ashamed to admit it.  Please know that if I am driving and you wave at me, I probably won’t wave back.  And if I am driving and you honk at me, I won’t hear you because the music is too loud.  When driving, I am either concentrating on the task at hand, listening to music or concentrating on the world in my little head.  This makes me oblivious to the people in the cars.  They are just objects to be avoided. 

Last week while driving home from work on my usual commute, almost to my neighborhood, I passed a woman out walking.  I did not wave but I did not hit her either. That was a win for her and me!   At the time, I was thinking of what I would need to do first when I got home.  Then my thoughts were interrupted.  Maybe she was not just exercising and needed a ride.  This was a thought that was so unlike me that it was startling.  But of course, like a Pharisee, I did not turn around and I continued on my way home.  

About a quarter mile further, while going uphill on my narrow road closer to home, I was suddenly behind two road-hogging bicyclers.  While driving impatiently behind them at a slow crawl, the picture of the walking woman came into my mind and I clearly saw her shoes.  They were not walking shoes.  That was when I knew God was interrupting my day.  I could either keep following those bozos on bikes or I could turn around and ask that woman if she needed a ride.  

It turns out that she desperately needed a ride.  I won’t go into her story but I will tell you this: God loved her dearly to get this clueless unobservant driver to turn around and give her the ride she required. 

I once thought people were holier-than-thou when they said God spoke to them.  But God is a communicator and I believe he loves every single person dearly.  Why wouldn’t he speak to those he loves in any way he chooses?  God is defined in John 1:1 as the Word.  

John 1:1 NIV [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

A.W. Tozer in his book The Pursuit of God said that it is the nature of God to speak, to communicate His thoughts to others.

Have I ever heard a loud booming voice from heaven?  No.  But I have heard the words God had for me through the mouth of someone else.  I have heard his words through music.  I have heard through total silence.  I have heard them through the beauty of nature.  I have heard them through someone’s art.  I have heard them through written word on the pages of a fictional book.  I have heard them in a Facebook post. I have heard them through a movie.  I have heard them through an overwhelming peace that covered my heart.  I have heard them through a devastating lack of peace.  And I have heard them through physical hindrance of two bicyclers.  Most often though, I have heard God’s voice through prayer and Bible study.  This is what tunes my heart to hear him throughout my day and I pray to hear it more everyday.  

Season of Hope

Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV
[6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. [7] Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

This Christmas season brings many old familiar scriptures to light.  But the ones that mean the most to me are the ones written many years before Christ arrived in that manger in Bethlehem.  As a child I was unaware of the origin of the many scriptures from the Old Testament predicting the birth of Christ.  It is only in my more recent life that these scriptures have sprung to life. Floyd Hamilton, in The Basis of Christian Faith, writes, “Canon Liddon is authority for the statement that there are in the Old Testament 332 distinct predictions which were literally fulfilled in Christ.” 

That is a 'wow' moment for me.  What are the odds of 332 predictions to come true in one single person?  Mind boggling, that is what it is. Most of these prophecies were written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ in an age of hopelessness. To me, hope is so much more poignant in the Old Testament than the New Testament.  When reading the Old Testament we have the advantage of peeking in the New Testament and seeing how things worked out.  Today I want to highlight the hope of the Prophet Micah.  Here is his prophecy of the Christ.  

Micah 5:2 NIV

[2] “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

According to B. Elmo Scoggin in the Broadman Bible Commentary, Micah lived in approximately 800 B.C. “when morals were low, government was decadent, courts were corrupt, religion was formalistic, the nation had lost its integrity”.  Hmmm....sounds familiar.  So that is why I turn to Micah to learn about hope.  Here is his take on hope.

Micah 7:5-7 NIV

[5] Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips. [6] For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises up against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law---a man's enemies are the members of his own household. [7] But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.

According to Micah, when we hope, we need to be very careful not to place it in flawed humans, not even our own most trusted loved ones. Our hope must be placed in God himself.  Out of faith, hope and love, we know love to be the greatest but we often treat hope as the least.  I see hope as the foundation for the other two.  Those who have no hope have nothing at all, no faith and no love. So it is imperative that we find hope and place it in the one that does not disappoint.  

Romans 5:5 NET
[5] And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

If we place our hope in God, it springs to life in the times that are bleak, when our loss is devastating and our very soul is downcast.  I can remember a Christmas in 1985 that I spent alone.  I was totally alone yet it did not devastate me.  Now I know that was because my hope was in Christ, not the presence of my children in my house, or presents under my tree.  I was alone but yet comforted.  Deep down, it was OK.  The year that followed that lonely Christmas was one of the best of my life.  God is good. He does not disappoint.  

Lamentations 3:19-26 NIV

[19] I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. [20] I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. [21] Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: [22] Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. [24] I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” [25] The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; [26] it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.