“He tends the flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11
“I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Isaiah 66: 12-13
“Often I have thought there should be – for grown up people – some place where they could go – when badly hurt – and find the same kind of assurance that a little child experiences in his mother’s arms.” from The Robe
Today I simply pray that God gathers you in His arms … dandles you on His knee … so your heart can be assured. You are in His grip.
I’ve heard all of us talk about days that we just feel off. I know for me those days seem to come after a time when I’ve been on a “high” and then for some reason I seem to crash. How do we snap out of that mood … or avoid it entirely? I have an idea.
I learned years ago that when I’m feeling out of sorts and not sure what to do in order to get sorted again … I should HALT. I recently came across the story of Elijah and it made me realize that, like everything else, this was originally God’s idea.
Many times when we are feeling “off” we will find that we are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. We may even be all 4 at once. We may have been that way for a short time or it could be going on months. No matter how long you’ve felt those things it’s important to understand that God takes care of us in those times. He doesn’t get irritated because we’re in THAT mood again. Look at how He dealt with Elijah during a similar time.
In I Kings 18 we see Elijah and the Baal prophets go at it … altar for altar. Of course God shows His power and Elijah’s God is shown to be THE God. Elijah has just been shown God’s amazing power … He was given victory … and yet that victory means that now people want him dead.
In I Kings 19 we witness Elijah giving up. He tells God, “I have had enough Lord, take my life.” What?! I look at this and think, “Okay Elijah, God just showed you that He’s on your side and that He’s got your back. How can you now tell Him you’re done?! How can your faith not get you through this? What could bring “the great Elijah” to this point?”
I think he might be hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. Keep reading.
1st … He lies down under a tree and falls asleep. People are wanting to kill him and he falls asleep? That’s tired!
2nd … An angel appears and tells him to get up and eat. He finds bread and water there for him. He eats and then falls back asleep. That’s tired and hungry!
3rd … God asks Elijah, “What are you doing here?” His reply, “”I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” That sounds to me like he might be a little angry with the Israelites.
4th … God calls Elisha to come help Elijah out. That sounds to me like God heard Elijah say, “I am the only one left.” Maybe he’s feeling lonely … a little overwhelmed … so God sends him a partner.
What about you? Next time you’re feeling in that “funk” for no apparent reason try God’s remedy. Allow yourself some time to rest and eat something healthy. Pray to God about any lingering resentments that may be festering. Then find a friend to hang out with … someone to help give your spirit some strength.
By doing this you just may be able to put a HALT to that mood that’s creeping up on your heart.
When I was getting ready to move to Portugal, my roommate and I labeled our apartment. Anything that we could stick a label on had a label. It was really helpful in learning vocabulary and it’s a strategy that many people use.
At our church building there is a closet that has labels on the shelves. The building was a restaurant before we moved in so the labels were left over from them. One of them says, “Cing Wrap”. Every time I see it I laugh. My sense of humor is easy that way.
Another humorous mis-label was at a thrift store that I frequent. I walked by some bins one day that had these labels taped to the front. One of them said, “Panty Holes”. Now that one really makes me laugh.
Labels can help us know what we’re looking at … and know what goes in which spot. They are mostly used to “identify”.
I watched a movie awhile back where a couple was preparing for their honeymoon. They had labeled the apartment with vocabulary words so that they wouldn’t be completely lost while on their trip. Only they never take the trip. The beautiful bride dies a short time before the wedding.
The movie shows the lives of those left behind. They struggle with moving on and choosing a new direction for their lives now that this loved one is no longer present.
The labels are seen throughout the movie … until the end … when the woman’s fiance finally makes a decision to move on. The labels begin to peel off. It’s almost like a symbol of the “newness” that lies before him. He’s moving ahead to a place that has not yet been “labeled”.
Labels are helpful even when we apply them to people. They define our position at a job, and in a family. They can help someone identify the right person to talk to if they have a specific need. I’m not going to talk to a “chef” about my car. So a label can be pretty handy in that instance.
But labels can also be hurtful. Labels can put a limit on someone if we’re not careful. A label can also cause you to “judge” someone based on a few things while missing the person as a whole.
What role do labels play in your life? Have you ever been hurt by a label? Have you missed an opportunity because you labeled someone? Any positive experiences with labels?
Please check out this website and read about the work being done in Honduras. If you are able to give even the smallest amount it will help.
When I was in college I had the opportunity to go to Houston to work with people who were homeless. Each day we had different assignments. One day our group went and helped clean and paint for people who lived in abandoned apartments that had no electricity or water. Another day we were given 50 sandwiches and we passed them out to every homeless person we could find. My favorite, most challenging day, was the day we were given only 5 sandwiches. Our goal that day was to find someone … give them a sandwich, and then spend as much time as they would allow, just talking.
That day was the day I learned a little about what circumstances can take a person to the streets. I saw how difficult it could be to climb out from that position without serious help. I also saw a hopelessness I hadn’t witnessed before. The people on the streets of Houston became human to me that day.
There is a man I pass everyday that stands on the corner, with a sign, waiting for someone to give him something. I never know the best reaction. Should I give him something or not? I don’t know.
It’s so much easier for me if I’m on a spring break trip and my purpose is to help the homeless. In my own city, my own neighborhood, it seems I just try not to make eye contact and drive away as quickly as possible.
I’m open for suggestions. What could I do to help that man on the corner? How can I help him? How can I do something positive for him instead of just driving by looking the other way?
Genesis 16: 7The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
”I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered.
9 Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.”
11 The angel of the LORD also said to her:
“You are now with child
and you will have a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the LORD has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
13 She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” 14That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered.
15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.
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Genesis 21: 14Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the desert of Beersheba.
15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. 16Then she went off and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there nearby, she/he began to sob.
17 God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. 18 Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.”
19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
20 God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. 21While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt.
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I’ve been really enjoying our study of Genesis in ladies’ Bible class. A few weeks ago we were looking at Hagar and we saw something that has been really helpful for me this last week.
In Genesis 21 God hears the crying. He hears the heart cry out and He comes. I love that the question put to Hagar is “What is the matter Hagar?” We’ve learned that God asks questions for our benefit … not His. In this instance I put my own tone to it, to indicate that He’s almost saying, “What is the matter? Surely you are not crying because you think your son is going to die … didn’t I make a promise to you … don’t I keep my promises?”
I’m not sure of the tone … or the exact purpose of the question … but it has been good for me to think about.
How many times do I sit crying over something that God has promised He is taking care of? How many times do I feel like my world is collapsing around me and I begin to freak out … even though His promises say that freaking out is not needed?
I think of a child that is afraid of the monsters under the bed. As an adult … we know nothing is there … but the child’s fear is real. We see the senselessness in their fear as we ask, “What is the matter?” But we comfort them all the same. We don’t scream at them for being irrational … we comfort them. Just as God comforts us. He sees us. He hears our cries. He comes. He reassures.
A few posts ago I was also reminded that instead of looking at what’s wrong with me and my world I need to look at what is right with God. Last night I fell asleep trying to thank Him for specific things that were “right” about Him. It felt a lot better than staring at the ceiling listing all the things that are wrong with me.
Taken from an episode of Joan of Arcadia:
It has been suggested that we live in one of two states … usually alternating them throughout our lives. The state of consolation or desolation.
Consolation is when your life is flowing, makes sense, you are aware of God. You feel He is present and likes you. He has plans for you.
Desolation is the other thing. When you are scared, alone, out of step … you feel like God has retreated. You’re left with your own thoughts and they are extremely dark.
Consolation: relief, succor, help, support, cheer, to be consoled
Desolation: misery, distress, despair, gloom, sadness, woe, anguish, melancholy, unhappiness, dejection, wretchedness, gloominess.
I have lived in both states.
There are times when I feel consoled by God … by my belief in God. I sense that He has a purpose for me that I can’t mess up. He will have His will done through me … even if I don’t always cooperate.
Then there is desolation. That other thing. The state I seem to be most comfortable in because I keep taking myself back there even if I have to fight good things to get there. It’s a place where I can focus on the negative and all that is wrong. The place where I can be gloomy and unhappy.
I have dealt with desolation on two different levels. For so long I lived in desolation with no hope of life ever being different. I really did not see a light at the end of the tunnel … I believed this was all there is, was, and ever would be.
At that time I was drinking. Alcohol is like a sponge that sucks all the hope out of your heart. It creates tunnel vision that allows you to have sight for one thing … hopeless desolation.
I finally got away from that pit of desolation and had a taste of hope again. I began to live with hope … desolation only creeping in … not residing. I was able to overcome those melancholy feelings before the desolation fully took up residence in the spot my hope was currently living.
I feel as if I’m slipping back into that hopeless desolation. It’s what we call a “dry drunk”. Someone who is no longer drinking, but might as well be. Their hope is gone just the same. How do we get our hope back? How do we plant hope once again, so that it will grow on desolate soil, eventually transforming that soil into something fruitful.
Jim McGuiggan says, in his book Celebrating the Wrath of God, “Agony and fear can swallow us up unless there’s something that lies deeper than our pain and panic. And for this pain-filled worshiper the deeper reality is the character and faithfulness of God as seen in Israel’s hymns, narratives, and liturgy. We need the biblical stories of God’s faithfulness to get us through the wilderness.”
“Wilderness people live on these stories … these memories.”
The Israelites had stories of hope. They told them to their children … they told them to each other. They had to keep the stories alive because the stories reminded them that there was hope. They made the stories into songs and chants … anything to help them remember.
Something good has to lie deeper than our pain. Our hope must be better rooted than our desolation. Aha … that’s it. I have to be rooted in hope. So rather than coddling this desolation … protecting it and nurturing it. I must coddle my HOPE … protect IT and nurture IT. I must not myself or anyone else destroy the hope that my Father will someday pull me onto His lap and gently whisper, “We did it sweetheart … we did it.”
Please tell me a story of hope …
One of my favorite TV shows is Joan of Arcadia. It came on quite a while ago and is currently being re-aired on the Sci-Fi channel.
In the show a young girl named Joan sees and talks to God. He shows up in her day to day life and might take the form of a child, an old lady … even a tree trimmer.
He gives her assignments which are never obvious and always confusing. Sometimes it’s a straight suggestion like, “Join the debate team”. More often He is more allusive. He will tell her to “keep her eyes open” and then she has to figure out what she is supposed to see.
In one episode she adopts a feral cat and follows a pamphlet that tells her how to tame it. She and her family use the same tactics (without really noticing it) to “tame” a crabby aunt that stays with them after some medical problems.
I love the show because it shows the ripples that are made by decisions we make. I’m shown that just by doing one simple thing that seems very inconsequential … the ripples touch people I may not even know.
Joan ends up getting Lyme disease from a tick bite. The doctors tell her that one of the symptoms is hallucinations. She begins to think that all the sightings of God were part of the disease. She feels like she really is crazy and that God was never real. There is just enough doubt planted in her heart to alter her faith.
After spending time at “crazy camp” Joan decides to ignore God and live without Him so that she can avoid feeling crazy. There is a scene where she breaks up with Him and tells Him she never wants to see Him again. She even does the whole “it’s not You, it’s me” thing.
Not long after that conversation … she’s drinking. Something she never did before going “crazy”. All her friends are getting frustrated with her. She claims she’s just being herself. But this is a “her” they’ve never seen.
When one of her friends almost dies from drinking too much. She realizes that she needs God in her life.
In Joan’s decision to “break up with God” I saw myself, a little more clearly. I too had a time in my life where God just suddenly didn’t make sense. My faith seemed like a childish thing and the idea that there was a God seemed silly. There was also a part of me that had been feeling “crazy”. Why wouldn’t He fix those feelings? If there really was a God then …
I decided I wanted to be myself for once. It’s interesting that I suddenly felt like everything was a lie. Reality was … this new me … was the lie. My true self was who I had been when I was with God. It was the “me” that all my friends knew. There had been just enough doubt planted in my heart … to make everything appear false. My entire foundation began to shatter.
It took me longer to “sober up” than it did Joan. Sometimes I wish my life could be fixed in a one hour episode like it is on TV. My story isn’t scripted … so it takes a little longer to sort out. Thankfully, it continues to “sort out” and God is patient.
I asked this question a few weeks ago. My heart was heavy and feeling like I was having a sort of “snow day”.
The question, “How do I weatherproof my heart?”, was asked because my heart seems to be subject to whatever “weather conditions” are surrounding it at the time. I want more consistency. Ultimately, I don’t want to be so moody.
Today as I read, “In a Pit with a Lion …” I got an answer to my question. At least, a partial answer. He talks about changing our perspective which for me, translates to attitude. I’ve always felt that I have control over my attitude even if I do not have control over my circumstances. But some days I don’t even have the desire to hold my attitude in check.
Here are some ideas from the book that give me some thoughts on how to change my attitude.
~Stop asking God to get me out of difficult circumstances and start asking Him what He wants me to get out of those difficult circumstances.
~Prayer is less about changing our circumstances and more about changing our perspective.
~Worship is forgetting about what’s wrong with you and remembering what’s right with God.
~God is in the business of recycling our pain and using it for someone else’s gain.
~The circumstances you complain about become the chains that imprison you. Your focus becomes your reality.
To put it simply … I need to replace my complaining with worship. I am a “glass is half empty” person. I don’t vocalize it so much I don’t think … but my self-talk is usually pretty negative. I need to figure out a way to change this to worship.
I have always known that I am more comfortable being sad or quiet. By keeping myself in a negative space I can perpetuate this. I want to change comfort zones … rather … I need God to change my comfort zone. I know He can do it … if I will start training myself to see from His perspective my heart won’t be so sensitive to the “weather conditions” that surround me.
I heard once that we only continue doing something if there is a payoff. Once there is no payoff … we stop the behavior. A good example comes from when I was married. I was always good at putting someone on a guilt trip. I could say something in just the right tone of voice … and poof … they would feel bad and do what I wanted. My ex-husband didn’t work this way. I might say, “I guess I’m going to go mow the lawn.” The expectation was that I would sound pitiful enough to get the response, “Oh honey, let me do that.” Only, I didn’t get that response. He would say, “Okay.”
It didn’t bother him one bit for me to mow the grass while he watched Nascar. His thinking was that if I didn’t want to do it … then don’t do it. I eventually stopped trying to manipulate him that way … there was no payoff. It was really something I appreciated him teaching me. I learned to be more assertive and ask, “Would you please mow the grass sometime today?” or just do it myself without trying to make him feel guilty.
So what is the payoff to a bad attitude? What is the payoff to pouting and whining? Especially if you live by yourself and there’s no one to really notice … I can’t seem to figure out the payoff on this one. But hopefully by trying to look at what is “right with God” instead of “what’s wrong in my world” I will start to find a payoff with Him that outweighs this pouty one.
I mentioned in the last post that I just started this book. The title intrigued me when I first saw it because I thought … there isn’t one part of that I like. I don’t want to be in a pit … around a lion … or in the snow. I don’t want to do them separately or together.
The guy that did them all together was Benaiah and even this great feat didn’t qualify him to be one of David’s top 3. You can read what feats it takes to reach that category in 2 Samuel 23.
A few statements that have stuck out so far are below (the comments in italics are mine):
The more we grow, the bigger God should get. And the bigger God gets, the smaller our lions become. I have found this to be true. But I think that God got bigger, so I started growing, my acknowledgement of His size came first. Once I realized how really huge He is and that He has ALL the power … I was able to grow more. I trusted Him more. What is an area where He seems to have gotten bigger lately?
The goal of life is not the elimination of fear. The goal is to muster the moral courage to chase lions. I would love to find out that there will eventually come a time when all fear will disappear. But I’m not holding my breath. Once I learned that there are things you have to do scared it changed my perspective. If it’s something that I’m doing while terrified then God gets to show His power even that much more. In my weakness He is made strong.
Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don’t know. The other half is unlearning what we do know. He’s talking about unlearning irrational fears and misconceptions that keep us from becoming who God wants us to be. To have real faith we have to rewire our brain because we have to believe things that fall outside of human comprehension.
Goodness is not the absence of badness. You can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong. We’re called to chase lions — look for opportunities in our problems and obstacles, and take risks to reach for God’s best. This reminds me of Colossians 3 where we are told to put some things to death … but also told to put on some things. To complete the assignment … we have to do both parts.
Chased any lions lately?
I started a book this week that’s called “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day”. It centers around this little known story of Benaiah and the snowy day that he climbed down in a pit and killed a lion. In 2 Samuel 23 there is something written about each of the ”3″ … David’s mighty men. The greatest story about each is told … qualifiying them to be amongst the “3″. Although Benaiah was as famous as the “3″, he was never part of their elite group.
2 Samuel 23 …
20 Benaiah son of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits. He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 22 Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous as the three mighty men. 23 He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.
I’ll probably post some thoughts about this book over the next month or so. But today I’m struck by the snow. The snow that clouds my spirit and my heart … the snow that makes me feel “off”.
Today, I look out the window as snow falls. I can’t believe snow is falling. Yesterday it was about 79 degrees outside and today it has been, at times, a zero visibility day.
I heard this morning that in North Dakota the flood is coming. For five days people have been out in the bitter cold, standing in freezing water, making sand bags. Trying to save what they can of their homes. They ask for prayers … prayers for their strength … to withstand this horrible event.
Snowy days, for me, bring thoughts of snuggly fires, movies, and hot chocolate. But just this morning I was reminded that the world doesn’t stop because it snows. Those people in North Dakota can’t just snuggle into bed and say, “We’ll make sandbags tomorrow”. They have to fight the fight right now … even if it’s snowing.
There are some days that I can let things roll off my shoulders and never miss a beat. Other days … the days my heart feels “snowy” … I don’t know that I can set foot out of my safe, warm bed. I feel defeated before the fight has begun.
It baffles me. Why was I able to handle this better the other day, when my heart’s weather was good? What brought the snow? Do I cause it with my actions, attitude, and doubt or is it simply out of my control like today’s weather? How do I weatherproof my heart so that it doesn’t become so sensitive to the changing weather of my spirit?
