So today after church I went to the Target in south Stafford to work on my Bible Study because I had time before the YMCA opened at noon. I know it sounds weird that I went to Target to work on Bible study, but it has a Starbucks and tables and it was a more direct route than going to Fredericksburg. Since I don't have a job yet, I'm trying to conserve my gas as much as I can.
I spent about an hour and a half working on the Romans study for this week. It was Romans 12:9-21, where Paul talks about love and what it looks like. I know even those out there who maybe aren't Bible experts or even claim to know God probably have heard I Corinthians 13 (love is patient, kind, blah, blah, blah) but this section of verses is a little different, and in actuality very scary to try to live out.
Here's verses 9-12 for a taste: "9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
And it goes on and on like that, sucker punch to the gut after sucker punch to the gut until it ends with: 17Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord. 20On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Anyway, back to the title of this post. As I was headed from Target to the gym, just as I got ready to pass under I-95, I saw something in the road ahead, from far off, with my glasses off (lesson #1) it looked like a plastic bag, so I point my car so that it would got under the center of my car. Yeah, it was only when I heard the THUD and saw piece of it flying everywhere did I realize it was a large block of styrofoam (at least that's what I hope it was). My car kept going and there weren't any immediate evidences of damage, but it sure made my heart leap to my throat. Immediately I prayed, "God please don't let this have ruined my car. I really can't take anything else." Now anyone who knows me knows that my car isn't a thing of beauty, it's pretty banged up, and it has almost 150,000 miles on it, but it's my car. I own it, it's one of the few things of value I actually own and with no job the prospect of a car repair bill terrified me. Tears filled my eyes as my heart rate got back under control. I didn't hear anything weird or smell anything weird so I drove on to the gym. As I got out of the car I made a mental note to check under my car when I left.
The hour or so later I came out to my car, started it, and drove away. Didn't look under the car once. Didn't even think about it until I circled past the space from the main road. All that angst and tears simply forgotten a hour later. How completely human of me.
I think that's why Paul has to tell us time and again and from every angle what love looks like. Cause if he didn't it would be like that thing in the roadway, a bump that jostles us for a minute and really makes us think about it, but we'll forget about it an hour later.
Here's the other thing I thought of, how stupid of me, with all the junk I've been through in these past few months to let a thing like that bring my heart to my throat and tears to my eyes. Just reminded me of where I trust God and where I don't. OUCH.
Oh, and here's the last thing I thought of in all this. I'm really hoping there's not damage at all, but since it's under the car it's not easily seen and it could be something like knocking the oil pan loose or something that would cause a slow leak and not reveal the real damage until later. Thinking about that made me go back to living love. Many, many times we choose to live out of self instead of out of love and the damage we do isn't always evident right away. But thankfully just like that slow leak could be fixed, God has a fix for us. I Peter 4:8 says this: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
So, um beware of stuff in the road, yeah.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Beautiful to Me
My friend Margy asked me to write a devotion for the prayer room at church. Here's what I wrote for tomorrow. It's based on Isaiah 53:1-12.
1Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Our society is obsessed with physical beauty. We can buy a salve or a serum or a surgery to create or recreate the look we want. Every major network morning talk show has segments on how to dress, what to eat, what to buy or even how to stand to look more beautiful. The red carpet has become our altar. We are all about wearing the right clothes, having the right hair cut and hiding those unsightly bags under our eyes.
Even our artistic depictions of Jesus are guilty of this obsession. Most show him as a handsome man with striking eyes, perfect skin and gorgeous flowing hair. But according to Isaiah, those depictions are just plain wrong. Isaiah 53:2b says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” So in all likelihood Jesus looked NOTHING like Jim Caviezel.
Jesus did not have those movie star good looks. More likely he had those bags under his eyes from sleeping on the ground night after night and his skin was dry and cracked from standing under the baking Middle Eastern sun, he probably smelled of sweat and sheep. When people of his day looked on Jesus, they were not awed by his external beauty. They were awed by something else, something that many were drawn to, but still others were offended by. “ 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3
They were looking at the Son of the living God, the one who was sent to seek that what was lost. Yet so many did not see his beauty or understand his purpose. “ 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:4.
Yet this man in whom no one saw anything beautiful did the most beautiful thing of all. Jesus lived out his own words in John 15: 13, “13Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Pray that you have the courage to take your eyes off yourself and all those images that bombard you of beauty and seek the true beauty of a life lived for Christ and others.
Pray that your every day life would be a reflection of the creator of all beauty.
1Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Our society is obsessed with physical beauty. We can buy a salve or a serum or a surgery to create or recreate the look we want. Every major network morning talk show has segments on how to dress, what to eat, what to buy or even how to stand to look more beautiful. The red carpet has become our altar. We are all about wearing the right clothes, having the right hair cut and hiding those unsightly bags under our eyes.
Even our artistic depictions of Jesus are guilty of this obsession. Most show him as a handsome man with striking eyes, perfect skin and gorgeous flowing hair. But according to Isaiah, those depictions are just plain wrong. Isaiah 53:2b says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” So in all likelihood Jesus looked NOTHING like Jim Caviezel.
Jesus did not have those movie star good looks. More likely he had those bags under his eyes from sleeping on the ground night after night and his skin was dry and cracked from standing under the baking Middle Eastern sun, he probably smelled of sweat and sheep. When people of his day looked on Jesus, they were not awed by his external beauty. They were awed by something else, something that many were drawn to, but still others were offended by. “ 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Isaiah 53:3
They were looking at the Son of the living God, the one who was sent to seek that what was lost. Yet so many did not see his beauty or understand his purpose. “ 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.” Isaiah 53:4.
Yet this man in whom no one saw anything beautiful did the most beautiful thing of all. Jesus lived out his own words in John 15: 13, “13Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Pray that you have the courage to take your eyes off yourself and all those images that bombard you of beauty and seek the true beauty of a life lived for Christ and others.
Pray that your every day life would be a reflection of the creator of all beauty.
Monday, March 2, 2009
My Attempt at Artistry
Here's some pics I took of snow this morning. My attempt at being a visual artist. But God is the true artist.
Life in the process
This morning I read my friend Molly's blog and it was just exactly what I was going to write about, the sermon I heard in church yesterday. So kudos to Molly for beating me to it!
Todd is preaching a series called "Greater Things" and he's basing it off of the book "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson. Yesterday he talked about "The Cage of Assumptions" and the story of Abraham. He pointed out that God made Abraham a promise to make him a father of a great nation, when he was 75. But Abraham didn't see a payoff until he was 100 years old. You can do the math, that's a long time. In fact, that's about as old as my friend Molly is.
For me the promise that I cling to is that God will give me the desires of my heart. There's a lot of specifics wrapped up in that promise for me. You can extrapolate your own I'm sure. I think I've seen pieces of that promise fulfilled and probably won't see others till I see Him face to face. But for a big part of it, I'm still in that waiting. The majority of our lives are spent waiting. For me it seems like all my life has been spent waiting.
That waiting time Todd called that time "the process". The humbling revelation I had was that sometimes we cling to the promises and yearn for payoff but we struggle and squirm in the process instead of resting and trusting. It's in that process that we can get sidetracked by our feelings, our agenda and our disbelief. However we really live if we live by faith in the midst of the process. It's in the process that God teaches us. It's in the process that God reminds us that he loves us. It's in the process that we ask questions and grow. It's in the process that we see a picture bigger than what our eyes can see.
Right now I am definitely "in the process". Being single, being unemployed, having cancer are definitely not all part of those promised "desires of my heart," that I talked about. But unlike other times in my process I've been able to rest and trust. I wish I could tell you why and how other than prayers of many and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Believe me, I've struggled and squirmed some but so far God has been able to quiet those assumptions and remind me of His truth. One of the great things about God is that even when we lose sight of Him, He never loses sight of us. He picks us up and puts us back on the track of faith when we fall off. It's my prayer that in this process time that I really live.
Todd is preaching a series called "Greater Things" and he's basing it off of the book "Wild Goose Chase" by Mark Batterson. Yesterday he talked about "The Cage of Assumptions" and the story of Abraham. He pointed out that God made Abraham a promise to make him a father of a great nation, when he was 75. But Abraham didn't see a payoff until he was 100 years old. You can do the math, that's a long time. In fact, that's about as old as my friend Molly is.
For me the promise that I cling to is that God will give me the desires of my heart. There's a lot of specifics wrapped up in that promise for me. You can extrapolate your own I'm sure. I think I've seen pieces of that promise fulfilled and probably won't see others till I see Him face to face. But for a big part of it, I'm still in that waiting. The majority of our lives are spent waiting. For me it seems like all my life has been spent waiting.
That waiting time Todd called that time "the process". The humbling revelation I had was that sometimes we cling to the promises and yearn for payoff but we struggle and squirm in the process instead of resting and trusting. It's in that process that we can get sidetracked by our feelings, our agenda and our disbelief. However we really live if we live by faith in the midst of the process. It's in the process that God teaches us. It's in the process that God reminds us that he loves us. It's in the process that we ask questions and grow. It's in the process that we see a picture bigger than what our eyes can see.
Right now I am definitely "in the process". Being single, being unemployed, having cancer are definitely not all part of those promised "desires of my heart," that I talked about. But unlike other times in my process I've been able to rest and trust. I wish I could tell you why and how other than prayers of many and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Believe me, I've struggled and squirmed some but so far God has been able to quiet those assumptions and remind me of His truth. One of the great things about God is that even when we lose sight of Him, He never loses sight of us. He picks us up and puts us back on the track of faith when we fall off. It's my prayer that in this process time that I really live.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)