"I'm Right Here..."

"In the glory of Your presence, I find rest for my soul. In the depths of Your love, I find peace makes me whole…" from "I Love Your Presence"

After a week of mostly gray, a glorious sunrise followed by a near cloudless sky and warm breeze never ceases to be a beautiful thing. Especially on a Saturday. Everywhere you go, the sun goes—in your face walking, through the open roof on the way to the recycling center, adding golden glows to the emerging colors of fall in the wetlands. And as you go about the day, there is a sense in the back of your mind that the sun is still up there in all of its glory, but as is often the case, life happens and you get caught up in that instead. You forget. You forget that the beautiful thing is still powerfully with you…

…and then, while enjoying a homecoming soccer game, and talking with friends and former classmates about growing up in a small town and the bittersweet of people who have come into our lives and moved on, you stop mid-sentence and grab the back of your neck. It has become really, really, really hot, and you become incredibly grateful that you had the sense to load up with sunscreen beforehand. The sun that you knew was there all along but you had taken for granted, or simply forgotten in the busyness of the day, suddenly grabbed you by the neck as if to remind you: “I am not just up there in the sky somewhere, I am all over you, up close and personal…”

Let's just say that I really needed that type and shadow reminder yesterday, and a whole lot of other days, too—that God’s loving presence that is everywhere, whether we’re asleep or awake, is more than some ethereal, misty feeling without substance. It's a tangible, loving reality that is rooted in the power of His Name, and far more amazing and beyond what my feeble brain can ever imagine or try to figure out.

The great love of the God of the universe is…always…right…here. Dependence, assurance, strength, rest, companionship, and awe are all somehow wrapped into this one mind-blowing, so easily forgotten reality:

“You have surrounded me on every side 

Behind and before me,

And You have placed Your hand gently on my shoulder. 

It is the most amazing feeling to know 

How deeply You know me, inside and out; 

The realization of it is so great that I cannot comprehend it. 

Can I go anywhere from Your Spirit? 

Is there anywhere I can  go to escape Your watchful presence?” 

—Psalm 139:5-7, The Voice

Today, whether at church or a soccer field, or someplace that life has carried us, it's a good time to remember (maybe for the gazillionth time), that for every "God, where are You?" there will always be this goodness reply: "I'm right here."

That even if I feel distant, I can know that He is not.

That whenever I am fearful or unsettled, even in an unexplained way, I can know that He is not.

That when caught up in going through the motions and thinking "there's got to be more than this," His answer will always be: "There is. Come and see."

“God’s omnipresence will comfort you better than your own breath. It will comfort you in your own soul. Your own thoughts are heard by Him just as loud as your loudest shout, because God is as near to you as your own breath, as near to you as your blood, as near to you as your nerves, as near to you as your thoughts and your soul.”

—A.W. Tozer

The Good Plan

"A day spent helping no one but yourself is a day wasted."—Abraham Lincoln

A funny thing happened on the way to the daily longing—sometimes spoken, too often merely thought—of “show me Your way, Lord…order my steps today.” God threw a curve ball, and I…

…Where would I be without a daytimer, that old-fashioned paper thing that is a roadmap for my day, and week ahead, smudged with constant erasing of a Number 2 pencil and coffee cup marks? One word: Lost. My smartphone is great at pinging reminders, but sometimes, nothing beats having the big picture right in front of you.

This is my day.

These are my plans.

I will be going here then, so I can’t go there, sorry.

No accidental conflicts.

Looks messy in places, and some days are overloaded.

But it’s all under control.

Until you remember Who has the ball.

Because you can’t always schedule that most noble of Christ-one virtues:

Serving.

Someone else, not yourself.

It is the heart of Jesus, who came to serve and not be served.

“Follow Me…”

But most of the time, you can’t pencil it in.

And more often than not, “Follow Me” shows up on one of those days that’s already on overload.

Or, on those cherished days known as “I’ve already got plans.”

“Here’s the wind up, and the pitch…curve ball. Caught looking!”

“Hey, what was that?”

“Son, you weren’t focusing on the big picture, and why I put you here in the first place. You are not your own—you were bought with a price. Remember, that it is not what you do and all your to-dos (I’ve got your back on all of that), but who are to be. Even today, when your daytimer doesn’t look like you could squeeze in one more thing. Serving can be inconvenient, messy, and disruptive. But it is good. Always good. In fact, being one who serves is the most important thing you can be: “… and the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.”

….Back in January, a daytimer of a different sort penciled in all the books I aimed to devour in the coming months. For the most part, it’s gone according to schedule. But I am grateful for a few much-needed curveballs along the way that have helped get that focus back on the big picture “and why I put you here in the first place.” One of those has been frequently revisited but continues to speak loudly and practically: “Naturally Supernatural—God May Be Closer Than You Think,” by Gary Best. Not coincidentally, this passage just so happened to show up right about the same time as the daytimer wake-up call…

“Keep your focus on serving others with all the grace that God supplies, fully expecting Him to breathe on your seemingly natural abilities and empower them to produce supernatural results…and, actively reach for every possible Gift that is needed to build up —whether or not it feels familiar to you.”

And, no matter what your calendar looks like...so help me, God.

“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.”— Galatians 5:15, The Message

Crazy Dreams with Good Purposes

Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name.—Psalm 86:11, Living

It happened one night...

I was standing in front a group of people of all ages and several walks of life. The location was not familiar but seemed to be outside. In the front was a group of people who looked eager to be taught the Word of God and were there with a sense of expectancy. Behind them was a group of young children who were, oddly, not fidgeting and wiggling but seemed to have been touched in a powerful way by the Holy Spirit. Behind them was a group like a gospel choir in robes, ready to worship at the first downbeat. And then these words began to come out of my mouth: "God, thank You that You always desire to reveal Yourself to us through Your Word and in other powerful and real ways, so please send us revelation today that we may see and hear..." At that moment, a loud noise arose as from a nearby construction site. The people in the front row were all interrupting, complaining that they couldn't hear. At the same time, the choir group was making hand motions that said "take a picture! take a picture!" of the young children who seemed to be in the wonderful grasp of the Spirit. The voices and noises grew louder, even with an overriding sense that all of us had come, and were determined to stay, to hear from God....

A crazy dream can be chalked up to things like spicy pizza for dinner, life on overload, and a brain working to process through a weighty to-do list. But when the things of God show up in the plot line, it's a good idea to think again.

This one didn't take too much unraveling. This was my life. Maybe yours, too. Despite our best intentions of starting the day with eagerness and expectancy to hear from God, to be filled with the power of His Spirit in a naturally supernatural way, to want to set aside time to breathe in thankfulness and breathe out praise, something inevitably gets in the way:

The noise of every day distractions, from just about every direction. And every time they get in the way, it can feel like our good intentions and mission were a waste of time. "Why bother? Just wait until Sunday morning...."

...Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." (Luke 19:38-42, ESV)

For some reason, Jesus loved hanging out in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus in the town of Bethany. And in pulpits down through the ages, the good example of Mary's devotion has been lifted up over that of sister Martha, who seems to be the Gospel's poster child for what distraction looks like. Mary, good. Be like Mary. Martha, not so good. Don't be like Martha.

Except later on, when Jesus learns that brother Lazarus is seriously ill and He purposes to head back to Bethany, these are the stunningly comforting words that John records:

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (John 11:5)

The dream come true is this:

Thank You, Lord, that despite what we may have heard about this story down through the years, You don't play favorites with Your kids. You love us just as much in our times of focused devotion as in our multiplied-more times of unfocused distraction, when life noisily crashes in as an uninvited guest. Thank You that You totally get us. We look at circumstances and how other people may respond, but thank God, You always look at our heart and its intentions and desires. And You love us, oh how You love us still. Love us so much as not to let us off the hook, but to help us to remember, yes, Mary. But not as a comparison to measure up to but as an example for persevering in the good journey; that distractions are a given (even to Mary) on any day, and may be the Adversary's biggest weapon to try to get us off course, but as You said of her, to keep choosing over and over the "good portion," the  better thing. If not hours of devotion, then 15 minutes somewhere in the chaos, or on the run between Task A and Task B. Just...keep...choosing to go there. Or rather, here. Because Here, is strength. Here, is joy. Here, is peace. Here, is perspective on what really matters. Here, is wherever You are, which is everywhere I am, no matter what time of day. However this day unfolds, in peace or going nuts, "let every fiber of my being unite in reverence to Your Name." Yes, and amen.

"So I will rest in Your promises

My confidence is Your faithfulness"