You Cannot Process Past Where You Are
To process something is to submit to a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result. Processing things that have happened to me means I put action on hold for the purpose of waiting on God for His perspectives. Processing and the need for it makes sense to me but waiting on God for often imperceptible degrees of change in thinking is a challenge.
Have you noticed that God does not work according to our time frames? Waiting requires patience. Waiting rooms, waiting lists, waiting games. Waiting is a part of life. Waiting feels like treading water, marching in place, feeling chained to wearisome or monotonous routines that eventually reveal cracks in our core character.
"One method of waiting means patience, hope, contentment, assurance that God will redeem His promises and make the heart strong; the other method of waiting is fretfulness, impatience, distrust, and complaining - and that kind of waiting wears out the soul." - Joseph Parker
They key to allowing a healthy process to unfold in my life is waiting while remaining expectant about the process itself, remaining hopeful of a favorable change or outcome, remaining in readiness to move out when the next step in the process appears. This kind of waiting does not wear out my soul but profits my soul.
Oh, guard my soul and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
Psalm 25:20-21
O Lord, help me to wait expectantly and to submit to the process you have ordained for me to follow in understanding the events of my life. Encourage me with the knowledge that as long as I remain faithfully focused on You, you will make the necessary changes in my processing to allow me to reach the full potential of profit for my soul. You alone supply the insight I need, Lord. I will wait on You. Amen.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
I've been thinking about FEAR...
A Storm of Fear
The opposite of life isn't death. The opposite of life is fear.
FEAR - that noxious stimulant that attacks our naked emotional nerve endings. That painful agitation in the presence of danger that sometimes attacks quietly by tucking itself away in the deepest corners of our hearts or attacks violently and openly, causing an extremely dramatic "storm of fear" smack dab in the messy middle of our lives.
One individual described a "storm of fear" this way:
The sun, moon and stars run away to hide. The world becomes dark and threatening. The wind whips crazily and the sky begins to fall. The earth moves off its axis and the laws of gravity cease to function. Wild erratic thoughts reach up like supercharged vines climbing for sunshine that cannot be found.
What am I to do with this kind of fear? Do I let it propel me toward a path of discouragement and depression? Many have chosen to dwell in depression's dark wood and they have known its inexplicable agony.
When William Styron, author of Darkness Visible and a survivor of deep depression, chose to return from the abyss, he described it as not unlike the ascent of the poet, trudging upward and upward out of hell's black depths and at last emerging into "the shining world."
We, as Christians, are empowered by the Spirit of God to choose the right path - a peaceful path where we are restored to serenity and joy by a loving, patient, ever-present God.
The opposite of life isn't death. The opposite of life is fear.
FEAR - that noxious stimulant that attacks our naked emotional nerve endings. That painful agitation in the presence of danger that sometimes attacks quietly by tucking itself away in the deepest corners of our hearts or attacks violently and openly, causing an extremely dramatic "storm of fear" smack dab in the messy middle of our lives.
One individual described a "storm of fear" this way:
The sun, moon and stars run away to hide. The world becomes dark and threatening. The wind whips crazily and the sky begins to fall. The earth moves off its axis and the laws of gravity cease to function. Wild erratic thoughts reach up like supercharged vines climbing for sunshine that cannot be found.
What am I to do with this kind of fear? Do I let it propel me toward a path of discouragement and depression? Many have chosen to dwell in depression's dark wood and they have known its inexplicable agony.
In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself in a dark wood,
For I had lost the right path.
When William Styron, author of Darkness Visible and a survivor of deep depression, chose to return from the abyss, he described it as not unlike the ascent of the poet, trudging upward and upward out of hell's black depths and at last emerging into "the shining world."
We, as Christians, are empowered by the Spirit of God to choose the right path - a peaceful path where we are restored to serenity and joy by a loving, patient, ever-present God.
And so we came forth, and once again beheld the stars.
- Dante
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I've been thinking about grace...
The Unforced Rhythms of Grace
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
The yoke was a wooden frame used to harness two animals together in such a way that the maximum pulling power of each could be exerted. By choosing the metaphor of a yoke, Jesus is acknowledging that a yoke, in fact, does exist when we come into relationship with Him. In Jesus' day it was understood that "taking up one's yoke" was used of studying with a rabbi. Jesus is clearly instructing us to "take my yoke upon you" meaning I am to become His student and make it my lifelong task is to "learn from Him."
One practical application of this metaphor is the concept that the stronger, more experienced animal would always get the "heavy" end of the pulling. In this sense Jesus' yoke is light because He always takes the "heavy" end. The yoke Jesus' places on us, that is, His teachings, are the "light" end not simply because He requires LESS but because He gives MORE.
He assures me of rest and peace as a child of His Kingdom and He has provided the very present help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit surges through my life, constantly bathing me in "unforced rhythms of grace." The Message version adds this beautiful phrase to the text to help me understand more perfectly the blessing of bearing the "light" end of the yoke.
Here is how this phrase can be broken down:
unforced - produced with no effort, exertion or pressure
rhythms - a movement or fluctuation marked by regular recurrence
grace - God's disposition to act with kindness or clemency toward me
When I read these words, I relax and take a deep breath. I choose once again to shed the laborious self-effort that keeps creeping into my walk with God and embrace the never-ending supply of grace flowing from the Father to me, over me, through me.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV)
The yoke was a wooden frame used to harness two animals together in such a way that the maximum pulling power of each could be exerted. By choosing the metaphor of a yoke, Jesus is acknowledging that a yoke, in fact, does exist when we come into relationship with Him. In Jesus' day it was understood that "taking up one's yoke" was used of studying with a rabbi. Jesus is clearly instructing us to "take my yoke upon you" meaning I am to become His student and make it my lifelong task is to "learn from Him."
One practical application of this metaphor is the concept that the stronger, more experienced animal would always get the "heavy" end of the pulling. In this sense Jesus' yoke is light because He always takes the "heavy" end. The yoke Jesus' places on us, that is, His teachings, are the "light" end not simply because He requires LESS but because He gives MORE.
He assures me of rest and peace as a child of His Kingdom and He has provided the very present help of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit surges through my life, constantly bathing me in "unforced rhythms of grace." The Message version adds this beautiful phrase to the text to help me understand more perfectly the blessing of bearing the "light" end of the yoke.
Here is how this phrase can be broken down:
unforced - produced with no effort, exertion or pressure
rhythms - a movement or fluctuation marked by regular recurrence
grace - God's disposition to act with kindness or clemency toward me
When I read these words, I relax and take a deep breath. I choose once again to shed the laborious self-effort that keeps creeping into my walk with God and embrace the never-ending supply of grace flowing from the Father to me, over me, through me.
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