Adventures in Attitude

Photo by Victor Freitas from Pexels

“After all, we don’t want to unwittingly give Satan an opening for yet more mischief—we’re not oblivious to his sly ways!”—2 Corinthians 2:11, Message

One day this week, I stopped walking past the mess that kept saying “it can wait until another day when I have more time and nothing better to do.” With a bucket of cleaner, a long-handled brush, a ladder and a hose, the years of buildup of mildew on the north side of the house and garage disappeared faster and easier than my mind kept telling me it would.

On another day, I stopped digging in my heels in irritation over someone else’s last minute plans that were tossed in my lap that kept singing, “It’s all about you, and this is a total inconvenience and I hate it and so I’m going to grumble on the inside about it until I feel better.” Which, of course, you never do. And so taking the opposite approach of honoring and serving, something strange happened—there was no inconvenience, the day zoomed by fruitfully, and I felt better than my mind could have imagined.

And then yesterday, determined to keep my running schedule on track in spite of pouring rain, I stopped the urge to turn back after the first quarter-mile, already soaked to the bone and miserable and hearing an increasingly louder voice, “Just give up already!” One step in front of the other. And then again, and again, and again until I no longer felt the carwash-like downpour and completed a 5K in a mind-blowing fastest time in weeks.

It seemed like a bunch of nice little personal achievements. Which they were. Until you also realized that all those voices of negativity—“it can wait,” “it’s all about you,” “give up”—were simply typical “sly ways” of the adversary to render your life and witness ineffective, and at the same time, the Holy Spirit may have been working in ways you couldn’t have imagined at the time….

“…be transformed and progressively changed as you mature spiritually by the renewing of your mind—focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes—so that you may prove for yourselves what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect in His plan and purpose for you.”—Romans 12:2, Amplified

...We can get locked into the idea that renewing our mind is all about fighting to absorb scripture and Truth into your skin day by day. That’s definitely a big part of it. But just as important in the battle against giving the adversary an opening to cause mischief in our lives is to fight for the right attitude, to “take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.” (Ephesians 4:23, Message)

Even and especially in the seemingly routine things of life.

“We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. Our attitude is everything.”—Chuck Swindoll

On a Warm August Night...

It is late on a warm, breezy August evening.
There are no bugs to bite, only those that are singing and humming.
Most of the daytime traffic out on the highway has gone home
Save the far-distant sound of a motorcyclist savoring the open air.
A crescent moon shines brightly in the west and invites an audience
Of one.
And overhead, in the opening between mighty oaks,
Twinkling stars and constellations and the Little Dipper—
Fixtures in the heavens, unchanged by time, war, pestilence, fears and uncertainty, and the frailties of mankind.

And the Psalmist speaks...

O Lord, our Lord

How majestic is Your Name in all the earth!

(I love this: “Majestic things display great dignity, befit a great ruler, or are simply far superior to everyday stuff.”)

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man—who am I—that You are mindful of him…that You care for him?”

Just as my neck begins to get stiff from looking up, Isaiah chimes in…

“Lift up your eyes and look at the heavens: Who created all these?

He who bring out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.

Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing!

So, why do you say, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The God Who lives forever is the Lord, the One Who made the ends of the earth.

He will not become weak or tired.

His understanding is too great for us to begin to know.

He gives strength to the weak.

And He gives power to him who has little strength.

Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall.

But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak…”

...Who knew that the moon and stars could speak so profoundly
Late on a warm, breezy August evening?
All it took was one moment of silence, of stopping and looking Up, to be reminded:
I don’t know how this mess is all going to work out, but
God has not left the building.
God is still at work.

God is unchanging:
God still cares.
About everything and every one He has made…
Go and live likewise.

“We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."

—Mother Theresa

4:45 a.m.

 Photo by Greg Rosenke, unsplash.com

“For we are the temple of the living God! As God himself has said, ‘I will make my home with my people and live among them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’…So then, let us purify ourselves from everything that makes body or soul unclean, and let us be completely holy by living in awe of God.”—2 Corinthians 6:16; 7:1, Good News Translation

A barely-awake prayer, if not in word, at least in thought...

Good morning, Lord. This is Your temple mumbling

But somehow, awakened on the inside by this amazing reset button:

"I will dwell in you, and walk among and with you every day. I will be your God, and you will be My son, My child, My beloved"

Seriously?

Well then, even while inhaling the aroma of fresh-brewed Italian Roast

Help me again to breathe deeply this incredible, abundant gift of grace

Before I take one more step

These silently outstretched stiff limbs, first to the heavens and then to the earth

Ready to run

Consider it sign language for a desire to let go again in trusting delight

While simultaneously living with a sense of awe and reverence

Reverence, after all, was never meant to be stiff and joyless…

We interrupt this program….

Great. One sip, and the internal daytimer is setting off “to-do” alarms

The world is already suited up and applying a full-court press

So help me, God

To continually rid myself of not only obvious dirt

But also to fling off the hard-to-see cobwebs in actions, attitudes, and careless words

And I really need Your help on this one:

To walk that entirely radical path known as taking every thought captive

And to repent quickly if (and probably when) I meander off that path

And then to persevere

Leaning hard on Your grace and love in the pursuit of reflecting You

You know, kind of like John’s ear leaning on Your chest and hearing Your heart pound

That sort of leaning hard

To experientially know more and more what it means to be joyfully "set apart"

Talk about radical

Each moment—boring, or exhilarating—and every day that follows

Until You return

(And the way things in this world are going, that could be….)

OK, so You’re making me smile just now because

I hear that Christy Lane tune You’ve cued up:

“One day at a time, sweet Jesus...”

“…however, when the Son of Man comes,

will he find faith on the earth?”—Luke 18:8

(Updated from original, July 2014)

A Beautiful Mess

Photo: Andrea Piacqua, pexels.com

"May these words of my mouth and this mediation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14, NIV)

My basement workbench doesn’t look anything like my dad’s (which looked a lot like this photo). It’s amazing I can even find what I’m looking for. Mine always starts out well, nice and organized and uncluttered, but all it takes is one tool or can of paint or box of nails to be set down in a hurry to get to something else—and let the mess begin. I will always hold dad’s workbench up in admiration as a goal to aspire to: cans, jars, and plastic boxes of various sizes lined up neatly, each one always containing just the right nail, screw or washer. Nice and tidy, and under control.

But I wonder if that is even possible…

There is a song I love that is based on Psalm 19:14 that also has a seemingly impossible aspiration: “Every hour, every moment, Lord I want to be Your servant; I desire to be a blessing in Your eyes.”

I mean, is “every” even possible, or is it just something to strive for? In my humanity and being prone to wander and being distracted (a lot), can I—can anyone—really be all-in for God, 24/7? Does this great song have it wrong? Is “every hour, every moment” just wishful thinking or just for supersaints? Even the apostle Paul seemed to wrestle with this sort of thing:

“I can will myself to do something good, but that does not help me carry it out. I can determine that I am going to do good, but I don’t do it…”—Romans 7:18-19, The Voice

There are important questions to ask and deal with and not to be avoided in order to Walk healthy and well. To deal with our humanity. To be honest in our conversations with God. To keep it real and not just a Sunday morning thing. This is one of them. And as many times as I ask this “every hour, every moment” question, God’s answer always seems to come down to two things that really matter:

1. Keep striding forward daily, and stop beating yourself up along the way.

When a runner stumbles, he or she doesn’t stop and yell at the pothole for messing up their progress; they get up, shake it off as part of the realities of the journey, and keep running with eyes fixed ahead on the horizon and goal. In the same way, Paul declares the conflict and answer to the daily “every hour, every moment” wrestling match:

“I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn’t that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”—Romans 7:24-25

Life happens, but keep running forward anyway. And simply keep running toward and fixing your eyes on Jesus after every stumble. He is always, always sticking up for us and rooting us on, every hour and every moment: “[I] have an advocate who pleads [my] case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the only One who is truly righteous.”—1 John 2:1, NLT

2. A neat and tidy workbench has its place, but it’s not your goal on this journey.

“Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.”—Colossians 3:17

That’s it! Like my dad’s amazing workbench, it’s easy to want to compartmentalize our lives—to focus on our spiritual aspect container, and then find containers for everything else. The truth is, there are not supposed to be cans, jars and plastic boxes for organizing every little thing in our Walk. In a sense, every detail in our lives is all everything else.

This Walk can be messy at times, and filled with tough questions. But it’s always the right path to stay on, and where it is all for One and One for all.

In fact, this Walk probably looks more like my workbench than my dad’s. And that’s a good thing, “every hour, every moment...”

“To do something in Jesus’ name means to do it in a way consistent with His character…your spiritual life is simply your whole life—every minute and detail of it. In other words, God isn’t interested in your spiritual life. God is simply interested in your life. And every moment is an opportunity to do life in Jesus’ name.”—John Ortberg

A Pandemic Blessing in Disguise

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

I don't know how they do it in the city. All I know is that I am beyond grateful to be country born and raised and settled, especially now. Because God is using this time of quarantining and social distancing to not just get me to look all around and admire the scenery every day (not hard to do), but is also tapping me on the shoulder each time the age-old desire bubbles up with each passing uncertain day:

"I really need to hear from God."

A reminder of things you and I country folk (and maybe city folk, too) both know, but can't be reminded of enough...

The next time a thunderstorm rolls through, remember that it is more than just another summer storm, or angels bowling in heaven, but a reminder that there is nothing more powerful than the voice of God—the Word of God—that nothing can stand in its way and its authority no matter what your world looks like, and that it is enduring and faithful for every situation in your life. So powerful that…

“The voice of the Lord twists the oaks, and strips the forests bare.

And in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’”—Psalm 29:9

The next time there is a meteor against a canvas of the night sky, or a spectacular sunset, or cloud formations that make your jaw drop, or the flight of an eagle overhead, remember that these are more than things of beauty to admire and then get on with life. They are a reminder that while God may have finished creation in seven days, He is still speaking forth wonderful and amazing things that are best seen rather than heard, that He has never stopped, and He never will. Things that He designed and continues to design every day to make us look Up and smile again and have hope again, to remember what “awesome!” really means, and to know that no matter how the day has gone, no matter the challenges ahead, God isn’t finished painting you yet, either…

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.”—Psalm 19:1-2

The next time you drive by, or better yet, walk onto a field with wide open spaces, or stand at the seashore with a cool breeze in your face, and nothing but waves of tall grass or just plain waves of blue/green for as far as you can see, remember that there is a reason why your blood pressure always feels like it is turning to refreshing ice water: There is nothing more peaceful than God’s whisper of assurance that He will never leave you or forsake you—nothing more peaceful than knowing…

“For His loving-kindness for those who fear Him is as great as the heavens are high above the earth. He has taken our sins from us as far as the east is from the west.”—Psalm 103:11-12

So, the next time I ask, "I really need to hear from God," (and I will), maybe it's as simple as looking up and remembering one thing:

“We often miss hearing God's voice simply because we aren't paying attention.”—Rick Warren