The news began early this morning…another mass shooting, really two today…it consumed the whole day in the media…in between there are encounters with people who are frazzled, upset, disturbed, worried and anxious.  I work in a place where I encounter people with problems daily.  That doesn’t even include the issues and problems that pop up in the day with computer glitches, hardware malfunctions, staff, budget woes, traffic tie-ups, personal concerns and relationship rifts.  It doesn’t take much to get ourselves wound up tight, just thinking about what goes on around us, much less what we experience in a day.  If we allow ourselves, we will quickly find ourselves frazzled, upset, disturbed, worried and anxious.

Early in my Christian walk, I grabbed a hold of Psalm 46.  It opens with these powerful words: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (v. 1)  Near the end are the calming words for my soul, “Be still and know that I am God…” (v. 10)  In days like today, it is what I gravitate to.  I am reminded that there is nothing that happens on this earth, God is not already aware of.  As the verses in between remind us, God as creator and maintainer of the universe, sits in the middle of all the mess we create as humans.  He is unshakable in His character and being.  No matter what comes our way, if we can just take a few minutes to breathe and remember this, perhaps we won’t get so frazzled, upset, disturbed, worried and anxious.  But in the event we find ourselves going there, we have a very simple piece of instruction;  be still and know that God is God.  The problem all too often is that we don’t like to be still, don’t know how to be still or we are uncomfortable with being still.  Our nature is to do something about anything, even when it is out of our control.  A truer sense of the phrase ‘be still’ is ‘cease striving’.  That says speaks volumes to me.  As a person whose mind is always running, whose always got multiple things happening at once, to cease striving lets me know that I just need to stop sometimes and absorb the sovereignty and power of God and trust that He knows how to fix the things I cannot.

One morning I went walking and the fog was lifting off a creek.  My surroundings were completely still, no breeze, no birds, no movement.  It was in that very moment I remembered Ps. 46:10 and grasped the calmness and assurance of the Psalmist’s confidence in God.  Today, as the news was rolling, the issues were mounting around me, God graced me to remember that morning scene, take a deep breath and reminded me that as crazy as life gets, He is right here, a refuge, a strength and help in times of trouble.  When I can’t fix it, mend it or make it better, I can stop trying  and just let God do His work.  I think He might know what He is doing considering that the sun has not fallen out of the sky, the moon and tides are still on schedule, my lungs are still inhaling and exhaling oxygen and even if for some reason I don’t wake up tomorrow, I am pretty sure that all these things will still be happening without my help.  I’ve decided in the midst of this craziness, I will take a few minutes and BE STILL.

“God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.  Thus the heavens and the earth were completed and all their hosts.  By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on\the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Gen. 1:31-2:3, NASB)

Sabbath, in its simplest translation is rest.  Not sleep necessarily, not lazing about, not mindlessly buzzing around on the internet but rest, a cease striving state of being.  Now as a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a bi-vocational pastor, I understand the difficulty in finding that state of being.  This teaching of Sabbath was given to me when I also had on my busy plate, the role of being a seminary student.  I thought my professors insane to think I could ever possibly carve out Sabbath in my schedule but it was their insistence that made me look at Sabbath with new eyes.

If we look at what the Bible says about Sabbath, we see there is no designation of what day Sabbath fell on.  It doesn’t say that we shouldn’t cook or play or enjoy the fellowship of one another.  It doesn’t even say we should be in church all day long.  What it does say is that God worked six days, created everything, looked around and assessed the work was very good and then rested on the seventh day.  Furthermore He sanctified the seventh day, set it apart for rest.  What God did was set a pattern for us to live by.  And this is where seminary had me look at Sabbath differently.  Because they knew we were students, many of us married, many of us working; the stress was on building a pattern of rest like God did so that we would have strength and joy for the work and calling God had put in our lives.  It’s not just for seminary students, we all need a pattern of rest!

So yes, I am writing this on a Sunday evening, after a morning worship experience, after a nice dinner with my husband, a good nap on the hammock feeling the summer breeze blow over my face and taking a walk around the neighborhood to survey the beauty of God’s handiwork and also to release any stress in my body.  I will start a hectic work week in the morning along with ministry responsibilities and household duties.  So this is my Sabbath.  It happens to be on Sunday.  It is more about focusing on the handiwork of God (worship) taking time to restore my physical body (dinner & a nap), meditating on the work of God and thanking Him for all He does and is (walk) and also as I write this and perhaps start another drawing, it is about glorifying God through the gifts He has given me.

My point here is that in this crazy, busy world we live in, too many of us never take time to rest.  We sleep but we don’t necessarily rest in the terms God has given us, Sabbath.  How much better would your day be?  How much better would your week be if you took the time to find the terms and conditions of God’s meaning of rest for your life?  Don’t expect anyone to give it to you.  You have to seek it for yourself.  I am not advocating taking off from worship services or checking out of your life for a day.  But I am advocating that you find a way to find that cease striving focus for yourself, not just once or twice a month or year but on a regular basis.  And once you find it, guard it like God guarded His Sabbath, sanctify it, set it apart for rest.  The kind of rest that puts all your focus on God even as you eat, sleep and exercise your body and gifts.  I believe you will find a renewed relationship with Him when you do.

Walking past this partially open gate one day made me think about this passage from Rev. 3:8, “Behold I have put before you an open door which no one can shut…”  For various reasons I feel like I am about to pass through some open doors.  Doors I cannot see, but still doors that have been opened up just for me.  As I try to figure out what God is up to, I also find myself knocking on some doors, trying to make opportunities happen…testing the waters so to speak.  What I find is that sometimes closed doors are as much of an answer as to what to do next as open doors of opportunity.

Too often we miss this point and waste a lot of energy trying to kick in a door that was never intended for us to pass through.  Sometimes it seems like people are busy working to slam doors in our face and we get angry.  Wasted energy.  I have decided to wait patiently on God and pass through only the doors He intends for me to go through.  In the meantime, I will continue to do the work that has already been put in my hand to do, pray and be thankful for all the opportunities that I have already had.  What about you?

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

I often take walks in my community where there is a wide variety of foliage and flowers.  In the summer months, the ditches fill up with large, beautiful flowers that bloom early in the morning.  To the untrained eye, they may seem to be some sort of morning glory but in fact they are weeds.  As beautiful as they look I would not bring them home and plant them in my flower beds because I know that as weeds, eventually they will overrun any flowers I may have intentionally planted.  If they showed up randomly in my flowerbeds after scattering seeds, I wouldn’t be able to tell if they were part of what I planted or not until they begin to either take over my garden or bloom.  Once they get up to a size of determining they are weeds, then I would have to uproot them and get them as far away from my flowerbed as possible.

This is what often happens to us.  We allow people, habits or things to come into our lives that at the outset seem to be a good idea.  The relationships seem to be a perfect fit, the habit started out as a harmless activity, the things seemed like they were good for us yet somewhere along the way we realize that the relationship is more draining than helpful, the harmless activity is now an obsession and the things are cluttering our space.  What we don’t always realize is that the “weeds” in our life were planted to disrupt us on our walk with God.

The text above is a parable told and a parable explained.  Jesus lets us know that in this life time, “weeds” crop up in our life.  His resolution is to let them grow alongside the wheat until such time that it is plain which ones are which.  At that point, we need to let Him intervene, uproot our “weeds” and take them away.  This means that relationships fall to the wayside, habits become distasteful and things loose their importance.  Instead of mourning the losses, we need to be thankful that our Father who knows what is best for us, weeds our garden so that we may become the beautiful flowers in His garden that we were intended to be.

Take a minute to consider what may be a “weed” in your life.  Ask God to uproot it and to clear your mind so that you may flourish and grow in His perfect garden.

Today is a day I wait for every year.  It’s not the date that matters but it’s that moment in the atmosphere, when the sky is the perfect Carolina blue and the trees are almost completely in their first shades of budding.  The hues of green and yellow green contrasted against the stark bareness of darkly colored tree trunks all glistening in the bright spring sunshine, brings a sense of awe and wonder at God’s creation that is unparalleled.  Invariably, traveling down any country road in South Carolina on a day like this you will find a place where the tree tops arch across a winding road, creating an ethereal effect that is holy and inspiring.  Today was that day.

While returning from three and a half days of intense worship and spiritual workshops, I found myself on such a road.  It struck me that while I had just spent the morning in an awesome worship experience, felt the presence of the Holy Spirit upon me, heard the voice of God whispering to my heart and soul, sang hymns and anthems, prayed and absorbed an awe-inspiring sermon followed by a friendly lunch in fellowship with acquaintances and peers in the ministry, it was right there on that winding country road I felt I was in a more holy place than all the time I spent in an arena transformed into a church.  In the midst of His creation, the trees reached over the road to form gothic arches that no man could duplicate in any church structure.  The beauty of the sunlight bouncing on the leaves could not compare to the most elaborate candelabra.  The brilliant blue sky and various shades of green, brown and yellow did not match the beauty of the most intricate stained glass.  And more importantly, the peace of the moment could not be produced in any other setting than to be in this divine cathedral on a winding country road.

We expect our holy experiences to be confined to churches and worship services but sometimes I believe He wants us to experience His holiness in burning bushes in the desert (Ex. 3:2), hiding in cave entrances (1 Kings 19:13), on stormy seas (John 6:18-19) and on winding country roads where trees in first bud meet under crystal blue skies.

A few days ago I was reading a devotional that spoke to my heart about stepping out on faith.  Since it was not long after the previous two posts, it really spoke to my heart and helped me to understand that action is a faith move.  One thing I enjoy doing is walking, especially early in the morning, pre-dawn if possible.  There is something inspiring about moving about, breathing in and absorbing the sounds and sights of a day awakening.  Often it is on these walks, that I get my direction, my Spirit moments when I feel and know God’s presence is with me and speaking to me.  As I walk, sometimes I get the bigger picture of where I am going in this life, not just the view of my neighborhood or the world around me but a glimpse into what God has in store for me.  Then there are plenty of mornings when my face is looking to the ground, and given that I live in the South where snakes and critters are not uncommon to be in one’s pathway, it is a wise thing to keep an eye on the ground, the next place you put your foot.  Herein lies a bit of a paradox.  When we keep our eyes on our feet, our view is narrow and limited to where the next step is going to land.  When we keep our eyes on the broader view around us, we may miss the small holes in the road that may trip us up or miss seeing the snake or critter that is soon to be at our feet.  A wise person learns to look both at the broader things around and the narrow view of what lies just ahead.

Now transfer that imagery to your walk with God.  He wants you to see the bigger picture (Jer. 29:11) but there are times when we have to walk just one step at a time as a faith exercise (Gen.22:8; 2 Cor. 5:7).  I have envisioned this project for a long time.  I didn’t always know how it would get done or by what means.  But the concept of combining words to encourage and pictures of things I see has been in my heart for a long time.  I understood that when I put this out publicly, I would be challenged to keep creating, keep envisioning and with that came fear and doubts that it couldn’t be done, it wouldn’t be received.  And then I went for a walk…I have the bigger view in front of me, but sometimes I just need to keep my focus on one step at a time, because sometimes that is all we get.  It is a bit of a paradox, how can I know where God is taking me if I don’t look up and how can I have faith unless I take things one step at a time?  Like a wise walker, I have to do both, keep my eye on the vision and keep my eye on the path that God is leading me on, trusting that through it all and in it all I will meet my “expected end”.

You are invited to go on this journey with me through the random thoughts of my mind.  Hope you enjoy.

Luke 5:1-11

Perhaps the hardest part of doing anything new, setting out on a new venture or following your dreams is taking the first step, that first action that defines in our hearts and minds that this is it and there is no looking back.  I live in a community where boating and fishing are common activities.  In that moment when a boat is loosened from its dock or trailer and begins to float ever so slightly, there is that moment that passes through my mind to remind me I’ve committed to the trip and nothing quite compares to the feeling of taking off over water to find that special spot where fish are biting, where a place can only be reached by water or where nature is totally surrounding me.  Yet in that first moment of floating, there is also apprehension, “What if the motor fails? What if the boat takes on water?  What if we get lost?”  Still, unless we push off from the shore, the adventure cannot begin.

The narrative in Luke 5:1-11 tells of how Jesus finds two empty boats  while their owners were washing their fishing nets.  One of the boats belonged to Peter.  Jesus boards the boat and begins to teach the crowds from the boat.  He then tells Peter to launch into the deep.  Peter balks at first, noting that he had been fishing all night long and caught nothing, but at Jesus’ word he casts his net.  The result was that he had a catch so large it could not be brought on board and Jesus commissions Peter to become a fisher of men. 

As I began contemplating how I would launch this blog, what would I begin with, my mind ran back to this passage and I was reminded that until I make the first posting, it is all just an idea.  I’ve been writing for years and had this idea for years in some form.  But by my own power, might and strength have gotten really nowhere.  The same applies to my love of art and being creative.  It seemed like I could never push myself or apply myself enough to make art or art related things a career to depend upon for myself.  I am not sure I was ever supposed to profit off of art but ideas continue to come to mind.  I began to understand that Jesus was calling me to utilize my gifts in a unique way and that He is calling me to launch out.

The thing about a boat is that as long as it is tied to the dock it’s not fulfilling its purpose.  To experience the wonder and power of the wind in a sail boat you have to unfurl the sail. To know the freedom of paddling down a river you have to be willing to glide with the current.  Or to feel the rush of riding over the top of the water you have to turn on the motor.  I’ve come to realize that to keep my thoughts, my gifts and talents to myself is like keeping a boat tied to the dock.  There is an uncertainty in launching out, but I’ve come to understand that unless I launch out, I will not truly experience all that God has for me to do and all that He has for me.  So this is my moment of untying my boat, floating for a moment and then taking the journey I believe God has set for me to take.  I pray that you enjoy the adventure.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Life throws at us some hard storms and calm days.  Sometimes we break or bend or stand tall.  God promises that if we seek Him at all times, we will flourish and grow and bloom in season, despite “broken limbs” and “twisted stumps”  What an awesome promise!

     It was a hot mid-July afternoon as I was pulling up to a busy intersection.  Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.  Since I was stopped waiting on the light, I turned and saw more clearly a large yellow and black butterfly fluttering along down the middle of the road.  What struck me was the peaceful meandering it took in the midst of a steamy, busy mechanical world of cars and trucks.

My first thought was of how the Holy Spirit is always present even when we are not paying attention.  Then I remembered that butterflies have Christian symbolic meaning.  Afterwards, I proceed to look that up as soon as I could and found references to the fact that the butterfly is primarily an Easter symbol representing the resurrection of Christ from the grave but also it speaks to the Christian heart of the promise of each individual’s resurrection when God will judge all mankind.  Our bodies which are buried in corruptible flesh will one day be raised in an incorruptible spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42-44; 1 Thes. 4:13-16).  But butterflies also speak to the way in which that resurrection power is at work in us when we become saved and live for God.  Like the caterpillar that eventually becomes enclosed in the darkness of its cocoon, where God transforms their bodies into butterflies, we who were lost were enclosed in the darkness of our sin, God opened up our hearts and transformed us to be new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).  It is God alone that has that power to resurrect and transform us into what He needs us to be.  Our ‘cocoons’ are often trials and tribulations, circumstances and choices that appear to have no value or good in them.  We were once as repulsive as a caterpillar but by God’s grace, wisdom and yes, even mystery, he encapsulated us to form us and mold us into creatures of wonder and awe; ‘butterflies’.

            So in the split second of sitting at the intersection, one beautiful butterfly fluttered by and I was reminded again that God’s resurrection power is still at work today.  It may seem to be meandering through our daily life, but God has set the course and continues to raise up sinners.  His power is at work in sick rooms and hospital beds.  His power is transforming lives in jail cells and mental institutions.  Most importantly His power is at work in us daily, tenderly and gently fluttering through our souls in the still small voice of the Spirit extending grace and mercy, guiding our thoughts and our actions if we will just take the time to notice His presence in the minute details of our day.  The problem is that we are more like the busy intersection, on a course of our own, hot and bothered about unimportant things, always in a hurry to get somewhere to do something all the while we miss God’s presence in the midst of it all.  God gave me a butterfly to remind me of Himself and to be grateful for the resurrection power He has given even to me.  God gave me a butterfly.