The Grand Whatever

 A message that helps me find my car in a crowded parking lot, and so much more...

One night last summer, I “heard” it while going through the usual routine of checking doors, shutting off lights and loading up the coffee maker for the next morning before heading to bed. I wasn’t feeling particularly “spiritual.” I heard it not as a voice but as a strong impression in my mind while on my way from one task to another, accompanied by the quiet music I often play to wind down the day.

“Psalm 27.”

Really? This psalm was very familiar to me, or so I thought. The strong impression would have been easy to ignore. As a worship leader, I had hung onto this psalm often. In times of stress when the world is pressing in with its demands, I had rested in its calming assurance. And once while on a weekend retreat, it surpassed all the planned programs that were to come when I stood in a breezy forest alone and read it aloud: “The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory. There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock …” (vs. 4-8, Living). 

And it even helps me find my car in a crowded parking lot.

This year was a time for a new license plate. I had pretty much memorized the old one and so a wave of panic rushed over me when driving into a crowded parking lot for the first time: “Wait. How am I going to find my car?” But then I noticed that my new plate carried a familiar theme: P2749…how could I not forget Psalm 27:4-9? Coincidence, or God’s sense of humor for daily living? You decide.

But back to that summer night impression. After all of Psalm 27’s familiarity, what possible new insight amidst the very familiar was there to see? …But when you pick up your Bible and it just happens to open exactly to Psalm 27, you get a bit of a chill and you pay attention. You stop saying, “I know this already, I’ve got this, I’ve heard it all before.” Instead, you find yourself humbly asking for eyes to see and ears to hear. PS2749, as it turns out, was more than a license plate, because I found myself pausing at verse 8: “My heart says of You, ‘seek His face.’ Your face, Lord, will seek.”

 

While I always loved the thought of it, this verse had given me pause many times before, because we are told that no one can actually see God’s holy face and live to tell about it. What’s with that? I figured that maybe now was the time for a little digging, and one study translation jumped off the page: 

“Seek My face—require My presence as Your greatest need.” 

It turns out that ancient Israel often equated God’s face not with His actual face-face but as a type-and-shadow of His awesome presence that brings unmatched light and hope to every day, every place we go, in every situation we face.

Translation: God is much bigger than just an hour and a half on Sunday morning.

It happened again last night while getting ready for bed—a different psalm this time, Psalm 86, but as I reflected back on that summer night, it carried the same reinforcing message: “Teach me Your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth! Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor You.” (Psalm 86:11-12, NLT). The Living Bible version added living-this-Walk exclamation mark: “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.” 

Like that summer night in the midst of the seemingly familiar, here was God again dropping the same encouraging (and apparently very important) reminder that while He is always present, whenever I seek to be intentional in thinking about Him even when surrounded by distractions, I will see and hear Him through the noise and get His perspective for every situation, and in every conversation and in every opportunity to be salt and light to someone.

It was a reminder that my ideas of God and my faith and my worship are never to be confined to place or buildings or Sundays but to be grounded in this grand “whatever,” for whenever and wherever:

“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things—center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart.” (Philippians 4:8, Amplified)

Every day, to be His face-seeker. Every day, to “require My presence as Your greatest need.”

“God does not want us to merely believe in Him, He does not intend that we simply use our wits to get by, to barely survive until we are finally ushered in to Heaven. God wants to be actively involved in our lives each day.”—Henry Blackaby

What's Good?

Remembering some very important words from a warmer day...

Really, who feels like doing anything at 5:45 a.m.? But if you want to run in a favorite place, you have to get there early in the summer before it gets too hot. Still, I was tired of the hour, of the humidity that saps all energy, from the week of brain drain, and especially from hearing endless bad news. (Even if you minimize TV and radio, there’s always someone on social media eager to remind you how bad things are.) But running is good for all of that because it is about moving forward, one foot in front of the other, in all kinds of weather.

And as I rounded the first corner, the early morning sun shone in my face, and a cool breeze came from the side. Along with it, two simple words that needed to come out of my mouth:

“Thank You.”

And though I couldn’t recall where it came from at the time, these words came to mind:

"In every situation, no matter what the circumstances, be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."

—1 Thessalonians 5:18, Amplified

In every situation.

Not for every situation.

In the midst of them.

Simply because that’s where He always is.

So, I stopped thinking about how tired I was and put God’s Word to the test. I stopped dwelling on what's wrong and started speaking what's good. I started thanking Him for the sunrise and the cool breeze and every little thing I could remember from the past week...The smell of the coffee. The ripple of the river. The many good people who crossed my path, helped or said something encouraging. A good night’s sleep. Safe travels. Family. Faithful dogs I’ve owned and those I can smile at and pat as they walk by. A great game. A beaten deadline. Breathing. Running. Music. Someone’s jaw-dropping photos. Laughter that breaks the tension. The four seasons of New England, even endless winter. The sound of rain on the roof and the sight of the daily morning-glory horizon cresting the mountain.

And especially, Jesus, yesterday today and forever, full of grace and truth (whether I “feel” it or not). The timelessness of the Word. Promises I can stand on. Faith, even the mustard seed kind. Hope….

And before I realized it, I had come to the end of my run, forgetting how I got from there to here. More than that, I was once again back to that simple place I needed to be in the first place: grateful for His unfailing love and faithfulness in every situation, that never, ever quits. All the cares and weariness were back in their rightful place: out of my hands and into His. Which makes it easier to pray for the hard stuff. ...“If You can do all of this and so much more, if You can make heaven and earth with just one word, then surely you can do anything."

“Ah, Lord God! It is You who have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for You.”—Jeremiah 32:17

It's good to be reminded that this Journey is not always as super-spiritual as we try to make it, but, rather, it is life to the full — just as He promised —in the midst of all of its circumstances, and through them. He is in it all. It just takes two words to get the right perspective back…

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is 'thank you,' it will be enough.”

—Meister Eckhart

Simply Dynamite

DAN ANDERSON/CNN.COM

“And now the Word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God.”—1 Thessalonians 1:8

Here is one of those drive-right-past-it, mind-blowing verses....But think about: No email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram cell phone videos, or satellite TV, and yet the life-changing power of God through a bunch of no-name regular folks who chose to daily abide in Christ spread like wildfire to distant places beyond their imagination. It defies logic and all of our techno-modern sensibilities. How could this possibly happen?

All we know from a verse a bit earlier is that these everyday, multi-generational men and women were known not for any of the things we tend to think of that make for an influential church today. For one, they knew that getting friends and neighbors to "come to church!" sounded great but wasn't always practical. Instead, they seemed to follow in these footsteps:

"Andrew then went to find his brother Peter and told him, 'We have found the Messiah!' And he brought Peter to meet Jesus." (John 1:41-42, Living)

They brought the Church with them by simply and obediently and lovingly and regularly lighting three sticks of supernatural dynamite:

• Spirit-empowered, prayer-fueled, everyday works, talents and abilities produced by their faith in Christ
• A steady heartbeat of everyday servanthood, rooted in a deep and abiding love for Christ
• Endurance to stay the course in this crazy world, to swim upstream against all trends and odds, inspired by hope and trust in Christ … and His promised return.

The moral of this story might be that Good News does indeed travel quickly, that a person or group of people who are abandoned to God is an incomparable power, and that we don't have to over-complicate our witness efforts but just be salt and light where people are. But surely, this was just a great story about the early Church. Just a one-shot moment in time. But then there's this...

“Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever He will do next.”—Romans 15:4, The Message

Selah....

(Adapted from journal entry, August 17, 2014)

Hands of God

(Photo: Quino Al @unsplash.com)

“Praise the Lord who is my rock; He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle. He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my rescuer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in Him…O Lord, what are human beings that You should notice them; mere mortals You should think about them?”—Psalm 144:1-3, NLT

“These boots are made for walkin’,” as the old ‘60s song goes.

But these hands, though— they're something else.

Because hands are a really big deal to God.

After all, He’s got the whole world in His hands (amen to that!)…

“Powerful is Your arm! Strong is Your hand! Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.”

—Psalm 89:13

“It was My hand that laid the foundations of the earth; the palm of My right hand spread out the heavens above; I spoke and they came into being.”—Isaiah 48:13

And so…

“If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, Your strength will support me.”—Psalm 139: 9-10

“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it.”—Psalm 139:13-14

And so…

By His hands, I was made to “lift up holy hands in prayer.”—1 Timothy 2:8

And I was made to live in such a way as this: "Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands…Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live…”—1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

So, remember this, O my soul:

Whenever you clasp your hands in prayer, whenever you lift your hands in worship, whenever you write, whenever you grip the hand of another in fellowship, whenever you create anything with your hands, whenever you play a song or paint a landscape, whenever you applaud in encouragement, whenever you dirty your hands to grow a garden, whenever you offer a hand to someone in need—your hands are a weapon of worship created to bring glory to God...

...And sometimes, when my hands work with the strength of His hands, they fight powers of darkness and declare mysterious things of goodness in the heavenly realm that I never see.

So never think for one second that the works of my hands in His hands—a prayer, a handshake, helping someone lift a heavy load, another day at the office—don’t matter.

Little is much when God is in it, every single routine day.

May my hands serve humbly because it is His strength at work.

But let my hands also serve confidently and joyfully— say it again— because it is His strength at work.

It is a supreme mystery why God uses flawed men and women to do the work of His hands with their imperfect hands and hearts…but He does! So...

"Take my life and let it be consecrated to Thee;

Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise;

Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love;

Take my feet [because, yes, these boots are made for walkin’] and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.”

Is

“I am the A and the Z, the Beginning and the Ending of all things,” says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!”—Revelation 1:8, Living

In a New England January, when our steely resolve becomes “one day closer to spring,” we need this Revelation reminder. We need to remember that in every season, God is a two-letter word. “Is.” And in January especially but at any time of the year when the season feels a bit cold and hard, a good place to go to remember is Psalm 103.

It is here where  “Is” is the key word. King David reminds us that God is never a used-to-be-in-the-good-ol'-days God, or a “wait ’til spring” kind of God, but always and forever a right now God. Even in January.

Everything in this great psalm is present-tense, even for January 23, 2022:

“He forgives all my sins.

He heals me.

He ransoms me from hell.

He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies.

He fills my life with good things! My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

He gives justice to all who are treated unfairly. [News flash: God has not forgotten.]

He is merciful and tender toward those who don’t deserve it;

He is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love.

He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever.

His mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence him.

For he knows we are but dust and that our days are few and brief, like grass, like flowers, blown by the wind and gone forever.”—Psalm 103:3-16, Living

But, wait. What’s with this one verse that’s past-tense: “He showed His ways to Moses and His deeds to the people of Israel.” (vs. 7)? Even here, it's still all about “Is.” Because when God met with Moses on Mount Sanai in Exodus 34 and “showed His ways,” this happened: "Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses, and the Lord called out His name: the Lord …and said, “I AM the Lord. The Lord IS a God who shows mercy, who IS kind…”

“Is,” not used-to-be or maybe someday when it’s warm and sunny, is God’s character and it’s His name. And if we need one more reason to give praise instead of a winter sigh, Malachi 3:6 adds, “For I Am the Lord, I change not.” Our God was, is, and will always be the great I AM. He is Emmanuel — God with us still and forever, even in the depths of winter…for every need, every circumstance, every challenge, every decision, and every wicked cold January day.

“Anything God has ever done, He can do now.

Anything God has ever done anywhere, He can do here.

Anything God has ever done for anyone, He can do for you.”

—A.W. Tozer

Finding Our Way

"Writing things down doesn’t just help you remember, it makes your mind more efficient by helping you focus on the truly important stuff." —Mark Murphy, CEO of Leadership IQ; Forbes

In this too-much-information age, it seems that people aren’t writing things down as much as they used to. Because you can always watch it/listen to it again later on social media or YouTube. But what Mark Murphy says is exactly why I choose to go against the grain. Admittedly, my journaling habits have become more sporadic in recent years, but maybe that’s a good thing. Because as I look back over the past few months especially, among all the stuff and noise and life that doesn’t really matter, what’s been written down has hit home in some way and has been fuel for steadfastly-but-far-from-perfectly walking this Walk. And better still, it’s always there as a reminder.

What follows are some of the “things I’ve found” and jotted down since before the holidays. I hope they encourage you to go against the grain, too, and jot down your own “truly important stuff” to refer to again and again for your own journey in the new year. (Theologian and author James Packer’s nuggets are prominent since I used his devotional “Your Father Loves You” throughout 2021.) …

ON FINDING PEACE…The answer to this is yes: “Do I need to rearrange my day so that I can be unhurriedly quiet before God?”—J.I. Packer

ON FINDING JOY…A daily roadmap: “I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.”—Psalm 119:14…”What brings joy is finding God’s way, God’s grace, and God’s fellowship throughout the bible, even though again and again what God tells us in the bible knocks us flat!”—J.I. Packer

ON FINDING PURPOSE…More timely words were never spoken: “Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others.”—1 Corinthians 10:24…Modern translation:

“We want to live well, but our foremost efforts should be to help others live well.”

(The Message)

ON FINDING A REASON TO PRAY…During a time of prayer: “Let this be THE season, not A season, for turning and returning.”

ON FINDING A REASON TO PRAISE… Why thanksgiving is a year-round holiday: “…that we may give thanks unto Thy holy name and to triumph in Thy praise.”—Psalm 106:47…"[In ancient times] a triumph was not the winning of a victory. It was the celebration of a victory that had already been won. And so, when we really praise God, we’re not asking Him for victory, we’re celebrating the fact the victory has already been won.”—Derek Prince

ON FINDING THE REASON TO KEEP IT SIMPLE…Stay away from Jesus-plus. Stick to living the simple gospel. “For in Christ, ALL the fullness of the Deity dwells.”—Colossians 2:9…"Nobody needs more than Christ gives!”—J.I. Packer

ON FINDING THE RIGHT POSTURE…"I’ll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high, O God—the battle belongs to You.”—Phil Wickham…Follow Jehoshaphat’s lead every day: “For we are powerless against this great multitude [of stuff, issues, people, situations, etc.] which is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”—2 Chronicles 20:12

ON FINDING VISION FOR THE NEW YEAR…I hate waiting. Who doesn’t? Except that when I sought the Lord for an anchor verse for the new year on January 1, this is what I opened to:

“I wait longingly for Adonai; I put my hope in His word.”

(Psalm 130:5, Complete Jewish Bible)

It made me ask again the important question about something that seems to be very important to God: “What does waiting for the Lord really mean? I hope it doesn't mean what I think it does.” And I found I had written down something important many years ago, something I quickly forget over and over again: Waiting for God is not about sitting around and doing nothing. It is an expectant trust, hope and reliance. Waiting is an action verb, not passive do-nothingness.

And I found more words written down years ago that brought even more hope and action to this vision for the new year…

..."Think of waiting for a train. When you wait you may be still, standing or sitting, but you are not passive. You are watching, listening. Your eyes follow the parallel lines of the tracks into the distance looking for the train to come chugging in. You listen for the roar of the engine, the clanking of the cars, and the tones of the train’s whistle. Even as your body rests on the platform your senses are alert and your mind active. This is what it should be like to wait on the Lord, too. Sometimes it is stillness, but in the stillness there is alertness and heightened sensitivity."—Barnabas Piper, from "Patience Isn't Passive”

New Year Re-Awakening

“Ears to hear and eyes to see — both are gifts from the Lord.” —Proverbs 20:12

Some things you can't remind yourself of enough. Things like this: God is so awesome and huge that He cannot be contained…by days of fog, or events, or people or our own limited understanding of just about everything.

Or, of ourselves.

“Ears to hear and eyes to see”…and He is so awesome and huge, no two are ever alike, and each one hears and sees things that others cannot but that someone needs to hear and see.

In the same way, to each He has given unique hands, feet, intellect, creativity, and more.

Our God is so awesome and huge that none have ever been duplicated. Ever.

On purpose. For others. For His glory.

Every detail of all that He has ever made matters.

And every life He has ever made — yours and mine and others — matters.

How do we know?

"God began by making one person (Adam), and from him came all the different people who live everywhere in the world. God decided exactly when and where they must live. God wanted them to look for Him and perhaps search all around and find Him…though He is not far from any of us: ‘By His power, we live and move and exist’…’for we are His children.’” (Acts 17:26-28, New Century).

Which means this…

“It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that He didn’t call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfort and superficial peace.”

—Francis Chan

Because our God is so awesome and huge, in magnificence, presence and Love, that He is too big to be confined to some church building once a week.

His church, after all, has no walls...just eyes, ears, hands and feet.

And yet no one and no place and no back road and no prayer closet is beyond His notice and care.

And that means that you and I, no matter who we are or where we’re from or what we’ve got going for us (or not), are here — wherever here may be — on purpose and for His purpose.

Ears to hear, eyes to see, and everything else.

We’re no accident.

So, never forget that we’re never forgotten.

He’s always nearer than you and I can ever imagine, even when we can’t see in front of us…

…“Sometimes You're further than the moon

Sometimes You're closer than my skin

And You surround me like a winter fog

You've come and burned me with a kiss”…

Our God is so awesome and huge that wherever we go this year, every year — with our very own ears to hear and eyes to see, and everything else — there He is!

So, we best be going…

“True godliness doesn't turn men out of the world, but enables them to live better in it, and excites their endeavors to mend it. ...We have nothing that we can call our own; no, not our selves: for we are all but tenants, and at will, too, of the great Lord of our selves, and the rest of this great farm—the world that we live upon.”

—William Penn