Dreaming Big

All Sorts, BOOKS

I’m reviving an old habit this week, thanks to the faith-boosting writing of Paul Miller in A Praying Life. I’ve pulled out my old prayer-request notebook and have been browsing through the entries…It’s one of those old-fashioned, pocket-size, 6-ring binders. Mine’s got custom pages, mostly hand-cut, color-coded into three main divisions: Family, The Body, and The World. Just about everything I pray about fits under one of those. Then there’s another section for writing out prayers and prayer promises straight from Scripture. Who wouldn’t want Colossians 1:9-10 prayed for them consistently?!

“We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what he wants to do in your lives, and we ask Him to make you wise with spiritual wisdom…we also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need…May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light…”

Some of praying requires dreaming big, asking for the sky! Seeing beyond the present to a future that is altogether different and praying that direction. That’s what praying from the Word spurs me on to do.
I’ve been reading in particular the Family requests. Lots of long-term things for all of us, character qualities to sharpen, bents of heart to bless, habits to shake. There’s a lot of watching and waiting involved in these things…

The catch is, the details–the events that happen on the way to the dream being fulfilled. They don’t always (often? ever?) look like I imagined they would/should. And sometimes that makes me think I’m on the wrong track, shooting for the wrong dream. But after all, every story has a plot and is built around some sort of conflict or suspense (or it wouldn’t be a story!). I just have to remember I’m not the Author of the story! So, I’m back on the written page, working on a fresh index card system, penning my suggestions for how the story line might go, submitting my requests for plot adjustments and waiting in the wings to see how it will all play out in the hands of the Master Playwright.

Habakkuk knew the feeling. His people were about to be taken captive by the meanest guys around, and God was allowing it, orchestrating it even…Sounded like crazy talk but he stood on the frontlines watching to see what would transpire, confident that his hopes were well placed in the God of his salvation and his strength. Here’s what he said, and how God answered:

Habakkuk: “I will take my stand at my watch post and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me…”

The Lord: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets,…for still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay….but the righteous shall live by his faith.” (2:1-4)

And that’s why I’m putting pen to paper, so I will keep my vision clear and my faith unclouded to watch as the story of our lives unfolds.

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I’m keeping this post short so that I can tell you more about Paul Miller’s book: A Praying Life. Here’s an excerpt of my thoughts, taken from my own review at: thestackofdawn.blogspot.com.

“Here it is, a book for Christians “struggling with life, who pray badly yet long to connect with their heavenly Father.” I’ve collected lots of book on prayer over the course of my guilt-ridden life, driven to do something about my substandard ‘prayer life’. I’ve started in to read the classics by the ‘famous’ Christians who knew how to pray and could lay out the ‘doctrine’ of it thoroughly and without a loophole. And I’ve read some ‘loopier’ modern ones– that imply that God is always talking to me and if I’ll just learn to tune in, I can ask anything I want and voila! I’ll have the answers I’m seeking. It’s just that easy. But buying books on prayer is kinda like buying art books—it’s easier to spend the money collecting the books than the time learning to draw. Prayer comes down to that, spending time talking, and listening, and being conscious of God’s responses as they’re woven into my days.

“What’s neat about this book is that it’s not only inviting to read because it’s built on the real life experience of the author (and his family), but it also makes you want to pray, to stop reading and start in, right now! Life-as-is becomes the starting point for coming like a dependent child to a Father who cares intimately about everything and desires to meet my needs. It’s not so much a matter of discipline once I recognize my utter need for God’s intervention in my days. Prayerlessness implies that I’m trusting in something else—my money, ability, spouse, fate?…to get me through without God. Anxiety is the tell-tale sign of my misplaced confidence. The circumstances of life are better seen as an invitation to talk to my Father about everything….”

To continue reading and sample some choice excerpts please see my book review blog: A Few Good Books, here. I hope you’ll be inspired to take a fresh look with me at the best habit ever, a praying life.

–LS

Our Plentiful Redemption

All Sorts

Lots of time for wind-swept, driftwood filled meditations this week. We’ve been on a sailing trip, just Jim and I. I’ve been thinking how life is a lot like a sailing trip… We head out with dreamy-eyed visions of sunny skies, perfect breezes, scenic seascapes and blissful relaxation. That is after all why we take sailing trips isn’t it? Would we embark if we knew the skies would turn grey and begin to spit and the wide ocean be stirred up to pitch us about? Maybe. But why? What’s the draw?

Can’t the captain guarantee us such things? No. He only promises to stick with me come wind come weather, to pilot me safe to the destination he has in mind. He’s got the charts. He knows the perils. We’ll be in this thing together, for better or for worse. Whether it be grilled pork chops on deck in a calm harbor as the day settles around us or canned soup by dim cabin light long after night fall and a long day of navigating. We’re together.

Will it be scintillating sunshine and fresh steady breezes or stifling heat as we languish in the doldrums? Or maybe rainy squalls that drive me below deck to ride it out in closed-eye concentration of mind over matter. It’s ok; we’re in this thing together. It’s a bonding thing. I am my beloveds and he is mine. He takes me on adventures I could never know without him.

And somehow, in the enduring of the not-so-pleasant, and the mildly terrifying and the humdrum our capacity for the joy of the sunny moment, the blissful leisure and the breathtaking vistas is enhanced! Don’t you find it so?

It seems to me life is like that. On this side of the grave, given a sin-fractured world, an enemy scheming sabotage and even our own natures bent on betrayal of our best interests…what hope is there of endless bliss? And yet I find myself incorrigibly aiming for it. And then I’m shocked and affronted when trouble comes. Why? Does the captain owe me a fair-weather sail guarantee? Do voyages come with guarantees? Does life?

I always have to come back to my real hope, the one that won’t disappoint, that Good News that was the ticket for the journey in the first place. When I push back from circumstances and think objectively I see a disconcerting trend of thought that speaks of hope as a future thing, an inheritance that isn’t fully realized yet, but guarded in the here and now by faith in my Captain….

“…born again to a living hope…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.” (I Pet.1:3,4)

“Fix your hope completely on the grace yet to come at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (I Pet.1:13)

“For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?” (Rom 8:24)

Is this really where my hopes are set so that in the meantime I can weather wind and seas and delight in tranquil respites but not cling to them, demand them, or live for them?

The real hope is yet ahead—the hope alone that guarantees complete satisfaction. In the meantime, some winds, maybe rain, some tough moments to endure. “With endurance a joy will develop that frees you to appreciate the pleasure of life’s blessings without requiring from them a satisfaction they cannot provide.” (Crabb,101)

But my captain is with me and in real life He has the power to guarantee me a safe haven at journey’s end. Isn’t this after all the heart of the Gospel, the good news that God is with us, forever! He’s made a way, forgiven our sins, brought us near. And now we’re in this thing called life on earth together.

I have a tendency to think of Him as a resource for my comfort here and now but this is missing the point. He’s with me, yes, but not so everything will be just perfect and I’ll sail sweetly home without a snag. There’s this matter of redemption that has nothing to do (yet) with my physical body and everything to do with my character—the soul of who I am and who I live for. God takes the everyday everythings of life ‘as is’ and redeems them for the purpose of reshaping me for His glory. It’s all there just beyond that comforting verse about all things working together for good… “to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom.8:28ff) If my purpose in life is about sunny skies, idyllic anchorages and ceaseless ease I’ve embarked on the wrong cruise! This one’s about becoming conformed to the image of God’s Son—whatever it takes!

So while I do know I’m in good hands I don’t know what all my days will hold of pain and pleasure. And they seldom come unmixed.

Take for example this trip. There I was smack dab in the middle of these musings and the dinghy motor wouldn’t start. Here we were anchored in a spacious bay on an idyllic summer’s morning, (now fast morphing into afternoon), fresh and free, ready to zip across to the far shore and explore the little village of Heriot Bay, and our spritely little motor refuses to chug, will scarcely cough or hiccup, listless to the endless arm-tiring tugs of the captain…. An hour passes, and more. The spark plugs, the gas line, the inner workings are all laid bare as the dinghy takes on the look of a mechanic’s work bench. Still no spark, the odd back-fire, no go. And we sit in the bay bereft of power to putt about as the sun rises high and hot. Is God in this moment? Doesn’t feel like it. But He is with us yet, soothing our frustrations, fueling our energies to tinker and to serve with patience. Jim’s arm is weary. His problem solving ideas spent. I dispense screwdrivers and ratchets, sandpaper and a rag, eventually the whole tool box. I offer water, a cool cloth, sunscreen and Gatorade, an orange too for energy, and I pray… Does the motor then just have to start? In my kind of story line, yes. In real life, no. We row the mile and a half to ‘town’ (or rather, my captain does!) with sweat, blisters, and patience. Life is like that sometimes. But its purpose is not trivial.

“The Lord knows the days of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever.” I think there’s a timing thing we don’t quite get. The here and now seems so large, so present, so all-important. Preserving life and health and happiness starts to look like everything. But it’s a miniscule blip on an endless horizon.

It’s not about our comfort but our conformity to Jesus’ image. This is a part of the redemption going on. It won’t be complete till our bodies are included—“we eagerly wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” (Rom.8:23)– but in the meantime it seems God’s got designs for our characters that are often best accomplished using circumstance. And through thick and thin He is with us, redeeming every moment for our best good. And that’s a plentiful redemption we can count on!

“Hope in the Lord for with the Lord is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.” (Ps.130:7)

—LS

P.S. “Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him”…commit your way to Him; delight in Him. Now trust that He will bring it to pass… Don’t fret. Nothing good comes of it. (Ps.37)

Here I raise my Ebenezer

All Sorts

Well, since summer has been late to show its warm and sunny face I’ve had some extra time to shuffle papers and sort books and all those indoor organizing kinds of things that really must be done but somehow get put off… I have a closet full of books and papers from seemingly countless years of homeschooling. Considering that I have only one pupil remaining, and two years of instruction to go, it would seem that we don’t need ALL these books. And really, how many samples of handwriting, and weekly schedules and daily assignments do we need to keep? Let’s see, 5 kids X 12 years X 36 weeks X 5 subjects = A massive amount of ‘memorabilia’! Must I keep it all to prove we did something, learned something, and maybe had a little fun doing it?!

Why are some people pack rats anyway? Yes I treasure those forays into creative writing. I love the essays on sundry topics from pranks played on Mom to sailing mishaps to inventive reporting of mundane life experiences… They’re ‘keepers’. I love the artwork (and the doodles) which seem to multiply in proportion to the quantity of paper made available and the ‘dry’ness of the topic at hand… But really, where’s the limit?

So I had me a look at this business of being a ‘pack-rat’ and I found the proper terminology is “compulsive hoarding”… and what’s more, there is a specific syndrome called: Bibliomania – “a disorder involving the collecting or hoarding of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged.” Oh my. Well, my health isn’t in jeopardy yet (though I do seem to have a sore throat and snuffles today… and I did miss a social opportunity to go sailing on this otherwise splendidly sunny and breezy day in order to deal with books…) Hmm. As for the treatment? Anti-depressants and/or psychotherapy can be helpful.

I’m not into drugs, so bring on the psychotherapy! Just so happens I was reading a book (surprise!) and this quote jumped out at me:

“Your preoccupation with satisfaction is the corruption beneath your compulsions” (God’s Love Letters to You–Crabb, 86)

Huh, what? Read that again… OK, so stretching the context (which I may or may not get back to), I got to thinking about my ‘preoccupation with satisfaction’, even re-worded it… my demand for perfection–to get it right, do it all. In terms of homeschooling, to use every resource to its fullest potential, to learn everything thoroughly, to cover all the bases… and to drive my kids crazy with my edits and demands for more and better and my “it’s-never-quite-good-enough”-ness. Gulp. So I save the books because we’re not quite through with them. So much good content. Wonderful presentation (or not). We could do this… We should go through this one…one day we’ll come back to this… Meanwhile my students have graduated with varying degrees of burn-out, feelings of failure, and a toxic mix of guilt and relief that THAT’s OVER WITH! And me, I hang onto the books and dream…and the papers that verify we learned something through all that!

Ha! Really, given a different personality this job would be a happy picnic. Picking up paper after paper full of memories of small people I got to live and learn with. Small people who were so very clever and such good writers. Each with his/her own angle on the world. Each a challenge and reward all its own. Small people who filled my days with meaning and my life with their delights…Were I not living for perfection, this would be enough, wouldn’t it?!

Why does a book unused have to be a sad thing? Maybe it was a lesson learned (namely, this is not for you; leave it!). A dog learns that lesson. Can’t I? And does a completed book have to feel so bittersweet? Do I really want them all still to be in 4^th grade so we can read-aloud together and learn cursive just a little better… What if life is not about hitting perfection today but about lots of ordinary days where we give what we’ve got to the task at hand and celebrate the accompanying grace, in whatever measure it’s bestowed.

What if the process of living and learning and walking it all out by faith is what matters, not the product at all! Maybe the string of such days well lived is all the product that’s expected on my end. Otherwise, at which stage in this process of growing up can one be said to be ‘complete’. And which test will show it so that I can say ‘Whew, that’s done’. If I’m looking for perfection now, there’ll be no rest, no satisfaction, no commendations forthcoming. Only compulsions.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Gal.5:6

I sometimes fault my students on working as if ‘getting it over with’ is the whole objective, rather than focusing on learning and enjoying the process. Hmm… seems I haven’t taken that too well to heart myself? Lifetime is an unending process; I may as well get used to the open-endedness of it and start recognizing the glory of each stage, as plenty good enough and cause for celebration! [Sorry kids; your mom’s a slow learner]

So we all ‘with unveiled face’ are called to turn from bondage to books or rules or any good thing that makes us think we can better ourselves…we’re called to turn to Jesus, who ministers to us His righteousness, by His own Spirit, as we look and live. This is how we are changed ‘from one degree of glory to another’ until we behold His likeness and are completed in the ‘twinkling of an eye’—graduated. And life as we’ve always hoped and dreamed it would be commences. That will be glory.

In the meantime? Books and papers serve as reminders of the trail of grace we’ve traveled. I began reading I Samuel this week. After all the ‘doing it their own way’ and resultant bondage of Judges, at last there is one who hears from God and begins to free the Israelites to enjoy their inheritance and to realize what a privilege it is to have God as their King. They toss their idols, confess their sin and decide to serve only the LORD. But watch out! It’s not over. Their oppressors rally intent on keeping them in bondage. They call on Samuel: “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us!” He does. God answers by thunder and the enemy is routed in confusion. And the next thing Samuel does is to set up a stone by way of reminder. He names it Ebenezer, ‘stone of help’ for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.”(I Sam.7:12) The territory lost to the enemy is restored and peace reigns…

Yes! I so want that. None of this bondage to stuff or guilt or ‘if only’ or ‘one day…’ or any such thing. Just a calling out to God that routes the enemy and restores the freedom that is my birthright, and the setting up of landmarks that remind me of His faithfulness. Maybe that’s what this week is about, sorting and sifting through all these years of homeschooling fallout for a ‘stone’ that will cause me no regret, no anguish of heart, only rejoicing at all the way the Lord has led us and will lead us still–until we stand before Him at the commencement exercises to hear the words: “Well done thou good and faith-filled student. Enter into the joy of your Lord”. Let the wedding feast begin!

I close with these original lyrics to the familiar hymn: Come, Thou Fount
by Robert Robinson (1758)

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise….

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;

Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

–LS

Not for Keeps

All Sorts

Listen to this sound reasoning. (I’m still reading in Judges) Here the Ammonites are, itching to go to war against Israel to reclaim some lost territory, and Jephthah runs them through a short history lesson, reminding them of their defeat many years before and concluding with these words… “Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.” (Judges 11:24) I like that!

I’ve been thinking lately that contentment is the very safest place to be, contentment with whatever the Lord chooses to provide. After all, He knows me better than I know me. He loves me better too. He knows the desires of my heart when I’m not sure I even know what I want. And He’s committed to my best good all my days. What He gives me I’ll possess. And in truth, we have inherited a FORTUNE! We are of all people most fortunate:

And who is like your people Israel, the one nation on earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making for yourself a name for great and awesome things, in driving out nations before your people whom you redeemed from Egypt? And you made your people Israel to be your people forever, and you, O LORD, became their God. I Chr.17:21,22

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? Deut.4:7

The tricky part is when the possession is not ‘for keeps’. Few things are in this lifetime. We had a pastor years back who always reminded us to hold everything God gives in an open hand. Receive it with gratitude, enjoy it to the full, but don’t demand that it be yours for keeps. We are managers. God is the rightful owner. He would hold out his hand with an open palm to illustrate.

I’m holding out mine this morning… returning a gift I’ve enjoyed immensely for 8 years—a gift that has opened up my world to endless retreats and vistas, to unforgettable moments with God in His creation, enabling me to get beyond the self-conscious insecurity of being ‘out there’ alone and to enjoy the quiet– listening for God’s still small voice and giving no thought to my ‘alone-ness’. What a gift. What a Gift-giver! His was more than the gift of a mere dog; in giving me Louie He has taken my heart on a journey to Himself with every trail we’ve walked together. This has been a sweet season of fellowship with the Giver Himself.

And now, I must trust Him for the next leg of my journey. Today is but a bend in the trail I cannot see beyond. But mine is the Good Shepherd—he never grows old or debilitated, never changes, never fails.

He is the God who sees. Jehovah-jireh, which I’ve always understood to mean God Provides, literally means “Jehovah SEES”. He ‘looks after’ what concerns me. He takes note of everything—whether Abraham about to sacrifice his only son,(Gen.22:14) or Ishmael’s mother-to-be banished to the desert, (Gen.16:13,14)…or little old me bereft of my hiking companion and feeling that my big wide world has suddenly become restricted territory, my most delightful freedom lost…

I am reminding myself today of God’s good Hand—

For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. Ps.84:11

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Mt.7:11) This is not talking about hiking companions but the ultimate Companion, the person of the Holy Spirit himself, mine for the asking, mine forever. How a dog’s death pales in comparison to the privilege of being in the care of such a One…

My God shall supply all Your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil.4:19) It’s not about my needs for my pleasure, but my needs for His service. What new direction does God intend to turn me. What’s beyond this bend in the trail? I can’t say; but His supply will be there.

Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Ps. 34:9,10 Well, that covers just about everything. What more could I want? Should I want more?

So…as I vacuum up last dog hairs, and collect my thoughts and all the dog things—the brush, the leash, the blanket, the memories…I will hope through the tears for good things yet to come, for new seasons, new growth, new trails with my Good Shepherd. And I will thank Him for all his good gifts–the forever ones and the ones that are so very sweet, but not for keeps. He is my Father. He knows what’s best.

“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.” (Ps. 36:7-9)

–LS

“So she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” (Gen.16:13)

March on, my soul, with might!

LOVE IT!

I’ve just started reading Judges, figuring it would be good to take a break from the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament and read again the story lines of people so obviously flawed, so hard-headedly inconsistent in their love of God, so… like me?

Judges is a sad book, hard to read as a parent. Would you have wanted to be Samson’s mother? She knew from the ‘get-go’ that her son had a special calling on his life. An angel told her so–perhaps the pre-incarnate Christ Himself. Samson was chosen to ‘begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.’ (Judges13:5) There was no training manual though. The father even asked for details: “…what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission?” The only instructions were that the mother was to watch her diet strictly and the child was to forego haircuts.

You know the story of Samson’s life—a pretty carnal guy. He wanted what he wanted. Got mad when he couldn’t have it. Acted impetuously. And he was strong, except in the control of his own desires. He started out on the wrong foot by all appearances, marrying a good-looking but pagan Philistine gal. Despite his parents’ protest he insisted that he had to have her and ironically, this was part of God’s plan for him ‘for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines’.

OK, so the story goes from bad to worse, though granted there are some epic slaughters of God’s enemies along the way. But at last Samson is rendered a blind weakling and put to forced labor for the enemy. What were his parents thinking now? But his life mission was not yet complete. He remembers the source of his strength and asks for one more chance: “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once…” And in his death more of God’s enemies are killed than during his entire lifetime! He completed his mission. His name is recorded with the ‘greats’ of faith alongside David and Gideon, as one who through faith ‘[was] made strong out of weakness’. And I, as a mother looking on, have to check my petty self-centered goals for my kids. They are God’s. Their mission in life is for His glory, not my comfort, pleasure or affirmation. There’s a much bigger story here than my own gratification. God’s glory is the point of the story, the plot and culmination of which are in His hands as well.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
For of him, and through him, and to him, [are] all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.” (Rom.11:33-36)

I read another mother’s story in Judges this morning. There’s a song extolling her: —‘I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel’… (Judges 5:7) And what a time it was—God’s people lived in oppression and fear, helpless under the enemy’s dominion. But Deborah, a mom who listened for God’s direction, spoke up. And the scenario was tranformed. “The leaders took the lead..the people offered themselves willingly” and the enemy was routed. It was God’s doings of course. He had pity on his people in their helpless misery and raised up one judge after another to rally the people to their own defense. With their God in command they were strong. Without Him they were bait for the enemy.

Reflecting on this era in Israel’s history, I wonder how closely it parallels ours. Here was a generation that had grown up ‘not know[ing] the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel’. (Judges 2:10) The drama of the exodus from Egypt, the miraculous provision in the wilderness for 40 years, the mighty conquests in the Promised Land under Joshua, these were all ‘old-school’, foggy history. This was a new generation, intrigued by new gods, influenced by the pagan cultures that surrounded them—cultures that they were to rise up and destroy, cultures left to test their loyalty to God and give them opportunity to learn to fight! Instead they served them. They let the fear of false gods displace their rightful fear of the only one true God.

Gideon was a child of this time. His story is told in such lifelike dialogue it makes me smile. When the angel of the Lord appears to him announcing “The Lord is with you” , he quite frankly (but politely) asks: “Please sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (and why aren’t we seeing all the amazing miracles that our fathers told us about?) Have I never heard this question asked? Have I not wondered the same thing? How does God answer?: “And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hands of Midian; do not I send you?” (Judges 6:14) GULP! But that’s not what I was asking?! “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel?…” Well, it’s the standard answer, the same one you and I have, “I will be with you…”

It seems every new generation is given opportunity to walk in the strength of the Lord and see His mighty works.

If we aren’t seeing God at work, why not? Have we bowed to the gods of this world while they wreak their agenda on our families, our society, our world as we cower thinking there’s nothing we can do to stop them? God’s word is living and still pertinent when it says: “I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the A____ in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed my voice.” Oh. Ouch. It struck me this morning as I read this that to fear is to accord a kind of worship. When I cower in fear I am doing homage to other gods…not a good starting point for walking by faith in God’s strength…

So, if our generation, our kids’ generation, is to see the Hand of God at work in our surroundings, in our lifetimes, where do we start? From what I see in Judges (so far), it starts with a renewed estimate of who our God is and what His desire is for us. It starts with walking in the confidence that He is indeed with us and ‘mighty to save’!

The rest of Gideon’s story, the part where the amazing miracles begin and the oppression of the enemy ends, reveals an essential sequence: It reads like this: “And God said…” ,… “and Gideon did so.” There’s a listening and an acting on what is heard. The results? Well, they’re up to God. Maybe kingdoms will be conquered, or justice enforced. Maybe lions’ mouths will be shut and fires quenched. Then again, maybe we’ll be mocked and imprisoned, killed with a sword or sawn in two… (Heb.11) but whatever it will be, God’s might will be made known in and through us when we walk faithfully with Him.

For whatever generation we belong to there is a calling that remains unchanged: “You are my witnesses, and my servant whom I have chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am He. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses, declares the LORD, and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can turn it back?” (Is.43:10-12)

And boy, I think this book of Judges is maybe not so sad after all. The more I read the more I see this theme of God pursuing His people, not content to let them write Him off as irrelevant or optional. He pursues them and rescues them again and again from their captors, allowing their circumstances to wean them from other gods and make them desperate enough to call on Him for deliverance. And He is ultimately the victor—their lives make Him look good! Will He not do the same for us and ours?

WOW! March on, my soul, with might! (Deborah’s song, Judges 5:21)

–LS

‘Work, for I am with you,’ declares the LORD of hosts…’My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not’.” (Haggai 2:4,5)

“He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.” (Psalm 18:34,35)

…on loving and living the Word of Life!

…on loving and living the Word of Life!

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Yearly Archives: 2011

Dreaming Big

Our Plentiful Redemption

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Not for Keeps

March on, my soul, with might!