GROWING SEEDS: "We Weren't Made For This World"

These last few weeks have allowed us to see life in a way we've never seen it before.  We feel emotions that have no name or title because they're brand new never-before-felt feelings.  And when we look at all that's going on around us....most of us from the safety of our homes and the worries of whats next for our families, it’s hard not to take inventory of just how much we allow ourselves to live only for our life on earth.  

"Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? 

There are better things ahead than any we leave behind."
C.S. Lewis

Let's take a break from the unnamed emotions we are feeling these days and go on a trip.  A trip I go on every chance I get.....a daydream trip to Heaven.

Close your eyes and you can see it.  Do you see the angels...one on each side of you....escorting you through the dark skies of space, past the stars and the moon, past Jupiter and Pluto.  You don't even have a single desire to look back at earth getting further away from you.  Then you see the light up ahead.  It's much like the sunrise in the mornings...a slow progression...getting brighter with each second...until it's the only thing you can see.  It's so bright it's hard to look at...but you can't take your eyes off it.  And suddenly, you pass right through the Light...and you know you have arrived Home.  It "feels" like Home.  Like when you've been on a long trip and you pull into the driveway and your entire being exhales "I'm Home".  It's the Home you have traveled your entire life to get to.  It's familiar...yet spectacularly the most beautiful place you've ever not been to.  And there, smiling are all the people you lived life with that knew the Lord.

And before they can hug the daylights out of you, they step aside...and up walks Jesus between them.  Arms outstretched, sandals on His feet, light radiating from Him as He walks straight towards you...as if He’s lived His whole life just for you.  His eyes are sparkling and He has this love on his face when He says, "I thought you'd never get here, (your name)...Welcome Home."

I don't know if that is what it will be like, friends....or anything like it...but what do I know is it will be far greater than even our greatest daydreams.

"If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world

were precisely those who thought most of the next. 

It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world
that they have become so ineffective in this one."
Unknown

GROWING SEEDS: "Our Back To Normal LIfe"

Each day for the past few weeks, I have continually heard out of my own mouth as well as others, "I can't wait till this Coronavirus has run its course and things get back to normal".  But what if God's plan ISN'T to get things "back to normal"?  What if.....God's plan is to change us...to open eyes that have been closed....that have become complacent.....that haven't daily been fixed on Him?  What if?

It's hard to see the chaos and fear the Coronavirus is causing the world without also remembering Y2K of 01-01-00 and 09-11-01 and the panic of 2008.  Each of these things changed us...some focused their eyes on God....others blamed God.  In some ways, I feel like the modern-day Children of Israel as we welcome the deliverance from tragedy after tragedy only to take our eyes off the Deliverer a few months later when life gets "back to normal" (Psalm 106:6-13). 

Life was never suppose to be "back to normal" from any of these tragedies....nor were the Children of Israel to return "back to normal" and forget the massive miracle when the Red Sea was parted and they walked on dry ground where the Sea had been just seconds before and arrive safely on the other side.  Yet they did forget.  They did go back to life as "normal":

12 "Then they believed His promises
and sang His praise.
13 But they soon FORGOT what He had done
and did not wait for His plan to unfold."

Psalm 106:12-13

God's ultimate plan for our deliverance from this current shaking of the world is to remind us that we need Him.  That this tragedy is bigger than us....that "back to normal" was never part of His plan.  We need Him....every hour, every minute, every second of every day, and we must not forget He is greater than the tragedy. 

He didn't cause the Coronavirus...but He certainly allowed it as another attempt to open our eyes and to show our need to know and to trust Him.  And one of these days, friends, it will be the final tragedy.  Will our eyes be focused on Him....or on our "back to normal" life? That last tragedy will decide your destiny.

He's the only One that can part the waters, find a cure, and deliver us into the Promised Land.  Get to know Him.

GROWING SEEDS: “Navigator Of My Life”

Most early mornings, I write God a letter on this very computer I'm writing to you on; that is, unless I place my eyes elsewhere first.  Facebook, Amazon or YouTube are the bright and shiny things that distract me on my journey.  I’m not proud to admit that to you.....

This past week, I came across a Prayer Letter I wrote God last year.  It went something like this:

"Father, I fear You will actually do what's best for me instead of what I want You to do for me.

*

There.  I said it."

I laughed when I read what I had written Him exactly a year ago.  Funny how our eyesight is so much clearer when we have walked a year ahead of a problem....stopped....turned around....and seen with 20/20 vision how and why His way was best for us all along.

My God-letter continued.....

"Father, remember that show "Lets Make A Deal" with Monty Hall?  Monty would say to the contestant, "You can choose from what's behind Door 1, Door 2 or Door 3".  The contestant choosing had no idea what was behind any of the doors, but Monty Hall knew.
*
Well, my "Will" is kinda like that show.  I ask myself, "Why would you, Liz, choose any of the doors?"
God is fully aware of what is behind ALL the doors of your life.  If I insisted on opening Door #2 because it was decorated the prettiest,  yet You knew, God, that it had a turkey vulture behind it, and Door #1 and Door #3 each had a car and brand new refrigerator behind them,
why wouldn't I let You pick the door for me?
*

Why do I always choose "MY" way when 100% of the time, YOUR way is the right way?"

So my God-Letter this morning is to have the same Will as God.  That what He wants....I want.  He knows when I reach the fork in the road, which way I need to go....even when its not the prettiest road.  I pray I hear His whispers in my ear on whether to turn right or left, and not ignore His constant "Make A Safe And Legal U-Turn, Liz"  when I choose the wrong road. 

I am the driver of my journey...He is my Navigator, and I am grateful He maps out the right roads on this trip to my eternal Home.

GROWING SEEDS: "Wounds and Wells"

Every Saturday morning when I was a kid, our family of five would pile into Mom's Buick and head down Central Expressway to a nondescript beige brick building for church.  One Saturday after church, instead of heading north towards home, Dad pointed the Buick south towards Oak Cliff.  At the time, Oak Cliff was a place you avoided at all costs.  But here was Dad.....driving his young family straight into the "danger zone". 

He turned the car through a neighborhood of falling-down houses, unpaved roads and a woman chasing a chicken through her yard with a hatchet.  It was Dad’s unique way of showing us kids “the other side”.

I was reminded of this family adventure when I read John 4 this week....the story of the Woman at the Well.

"He HAD to go through Samaria on the way”, it said.

I always just figured Jesus literally had to go through Samaria to get from Judea to Galilee....kind of like going from downtown Dallas through Oak Cliff to get to Duncanville.  But it turns out that most Jews in Jesus' day went out of their way to avoid Samaria because they considered any contact with Samaritans as contamination.  They were scum to the Jews.  (I'm guessing they hadn't heard the story of the Good Samaritan just yet.  Just sayin'....)

And then it dawned on me:  Jesus HAD to go to the Samaritans because......they wouldn't come to Him!

You and me....WE are the Samaritans.

The Jews turned their backs on Him, so He came to us....unworthy and filthy as we are....He came to us!  And like the Woman at the Well, it didn't matter that she had been married 5 or 50 times.....or that she was living a life of sin at that very moment.  He offered her His living water.....and she accepted.

Have you, like the Woman at the Well, during the hardest parts of your life, found yourself in the wilderness alone with all your junk, running in a very dark and lonely place?  Ya, me too.  Do you feel unworthy and too far away from God to accept that drink of refreshing living water?

At the very moment she accepted, broken pieces of her life and her heart were washed clean by the love of that refreshing living water....water that washes away OUR sin.  Jesus knew every blemish, but loved her (us) anyway.

As for me, I can confidently tell you that during the darkest times of my life when I felt so alone, He found me there...in an ugly, rolled-up-in-a-ball mess...and offered me His living water of peace. 

You simply need to accept it.

GROWING SEEDS: "I Know The Way Out"

"A man was walking down the street when he fell into a hole.  The walls were so steep he couldn't get out.  The man in the hole began to cry out for help.  Soon, a doctor walked by, heard the man's cries for help, wrote him a prescription, tossed it down the hole, and walked away.  Before long, a priest walked by and heard the man calling out, "Father, can you help me?"  The priest wrote a prayer, threw it in the hole, and walked away.  Finally, a friend came along.  And the man asked the friend for help.  The friend then made a bold, brave move:  He jumped into the hole.  The man who had been trapped was shocked.  "Are you stupid?  Now we're both stuck down here."  But the friend said, "Yeah, but I've been down here before, and I know the way out."

This is the gospel, folks.  God stood at the edge of a hole, and He heard people crying for help.  But He didn't write us a prescription and throw it down the hole.  He didn't pray and then walk away.  He jumped into the hole.  Jesus gave up heaven, put on skin and lived on the inside of every hole, every mess, every valley you could imagine.

He lived your life here on earth.  He knows what its like to be you.  He knows its impossible for you to get out of that hole without His help...and He hears your cries.  He WANTS to jump into that hole you're in and help you find your way out. 

JESUS IS THE LADDER. 

And He uses us, the Church, to be Hole-Hunters....Cry-Hearers....Jumper-in-ers.  And if you've ever been in a hole and are standing on the street, it means you know the way out.  Right now, all of us are in one of two places; we are either stuck in a hole.....or we're walking along the street, seeing holes all around and hearing only cries for help.

I don't know where you're at today.  Whether you're inside the hole begging for help out with a pile of prescriptions and prayers at your feet.....or whether you're on the street safe, free and rescued.  All I do know is that Jesus wants to rescue you....He wants a RELATIONSHIP with you....whether its building a ladder side-by-side or jumping down into that hole together.....

It's just that simple. 





*Thanks to Jennifer Dukes Lee for the story above

GROWING SEEDS: "Inviisible Prisons"

 

About 12 years ago, I found myself in a place of haunting by an accusation of something I didn't do by someone I cared deeply for.  I had no proof of my innocence and it followed me day and night; knowing I was innocent...yet unable to prove it.

At times like this, you actually start turning on yourself.  Your mind starts questioning how this could have happened and a corner of your heart starts believing the lie of the accusation, although that same heart knows its not true.  I prayed, and cried, most every day over this....the pain was great and I knew I had no way to fix it on my own and make it go away.

I remember standing in my prayer space....the shower....begging God for release from this pain.  And that is when I heard God's words in my heart as clear as I'm hearing the cat meow as I type this to you:

"You MUST forgive your accuser, Liz.
It will require you to pray FOR them....to FORGIVE them...

to THANK ME for them....to find the GOOD in them. 

And then pray for your own heart, Liz, to change."

My response?  "But God, I don't want to.  They didn't ask for forgiveness.  Why can't You just change them?"   He quietly reminded me if I ever hoped to be free from this hurt, it wasn't necessarily something I "wanted" to do, but rather something I "must" do.  It was required for MY own survival.

I remember telling God I was struggling to believe the words of forgiveness that were coming from my mouth but that I would do it anyway.  I began listing those things I loved about them...admired about them...reasons they were in my life.

“To Forgive Is To Set A Prisoner Free,
And To Discover That The Prisoner Was You”

As I walked out of the shower that day, I had begun the process of Forgiveness and the weight on my back was a little lighter.  With each passing day, I repeated the words "I Forgive You" to the walls of that shower as the peace in my heart grew and I began to live again.

I felt like a prisoner being released from bondage; I was finally breathing the fresh air of freedom.

"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 

But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." (OUCH)

Matthew 6:14-15

GROWING SEEDS: "The Only Time God Tells You To Slip Out of Church Early"

 

 

"If you enter a place of worship and about to make an offering, then suddenly remember a grudge that a friend has against you,

abandon your offering, leave immediately,

go to this friend and make things right. 

Then and only then, come back and work things out with God." 

Matthew 5:23-24 (MSG)

The great Christian writer, Max Lucado, once wrote, "As far as I know, this is the only time God tells you to slip out of church early.  Apparently, he’d rather have you give your olive branch than your tithe.  If you are worshiping and remember that your mom is hacked-off at you for forgetting her birthday, then get off the pew and find a phone. Maybe she’ll forgive you; maybe she won’t. But at least you can return to your pew with a clean conscience.”

I had to chuckle visualizing 20 guilt-ridden Christians jumping up from their cushioned pews, running out the back door of the church to phone a disgruntled friend just as the offering plate made its way to them.   I can only imagine the speculation and lunchtime conversation about "why" from those left holding the offering plate.

But if Matthew 5:23-24 has taught me anything, it is that reconciliation is critical to my relationship with Christ. 

I'm no stranger to disgruntled relationships...after all, I'm a girl.  We invented the word "disgruntled".  We wear our feelings on our sleeves and get our hearts broken....and break others' hearts....easily.  But I love what the writer of Matthew is saying here.  Resolve your issues with each other FIRST....and then come to God SECOND to complete the reconciliation.

My tendency over the years in dealing with disgruntled relationships....whether it be them or me that's disgruntled....has been one of avoidance.  I tend to take the easy route by stepping back, saying nothing and then pulling away from the friendship, all the while sometimes harboring unforgiveness.  (I can see many of my disgruntled friends shaking their heads and whispering under their breath, "Yep, that's what Liz does!" when they read this confession.)  DO-NOT-DO-WHAT-I-DO.  That is the opposite of what Matthew 5:23 is saying. 

Instead, go to those you have offended and ask forgiveness....and forgive those who have offended you.  NOW.  Even when it requires an interruption of your worship time.  Be assured, God will be waiting when you return with a full dose of forgiveness for you.

GROWING SEEDS: "Just Let Go"

A few months ago, I saw a commercial for a company called "Let Go".  It showed a guy hanging off a cliff, but wouldn’t let go of a bowling ball.  Another guy is running from someone chasing and shooting at him, but he is dragging a BBQ grill with him.  The concept behind "Let Go" is to show people who are in situations where they need to drop something in order to survive, but don't want to let go of it.  The company, LetGo.com, is an online marketplace for those of us who need to sell those things that drag us down and keep us from living well.

I chuckled when I saw it cause so far in the first 30 days of 2020, I have let go of my "house", my "furniture", my "anxiety" and even my "expired-food-in-the-pantry" just to name a few.  I feel like I’ve lost 50 pounds having let go of the things that have weighed me down for so long.

But we're also in a season of "Letting Go" as we approach the Season of Easter.  Many Christian churches celebrate what is referred to as a Lenten Season that encourages letting go of "something" during the 40 days leading up to Easter.  As someone not raised in this tradition, its been confusing to me when I would hear of friends giving up things like chocolate, ice cream or wine...but not margaritas....no, never margaritas, for the sake of Lent.

“What’s the point of Lent”, I kept asking them.  "It's Tradition" was their standard answer. 
.
And as I’ve studied this long-time "tradition", I’ve discovered that Lent is less about tradition or our dietary habits and more about letting go of.....Ourselves.

We need to let go of those things that interfere with the communication lines between God and us....you know, that static in the line between the Creator and His created (that's you and me, btw) and not the mere tradition of giving up “something” for Lent.  Is chocolate really interfering with your relationship with God?  If so, sell it on LetGo.com.  Does beer or wine keep you from loving your neighbor?  LetGo.com can help!  But don't give something up if it’s not what is causing the static-in-the-line between you and God.  If it is just about self-improvement, then it’s just about us, and not about God.  How about instead, we give up grudges and vengeance and meanness and pettiness and rudeness?  Now that’s a Lent tradition God would be proud of!

Our life is more than just the things we haul around.  We must "Let Go" of ourselves....in order to survive.

GROWING SEEDS "Whose Leading You"

 

 

For the past month, I've been noticing a family of 28 white-beaked ducks swimming from one side of the cove to the other while I'm having my morning coffee.  Back and forth, back and forth they go each day.  One duck, we'll call him Darrell, is the obvious leader....always out front by himself, and the rest just follow him wherever he takes them.  Darrell could take them to the edge of the dam and jump if he wanted and they would all follow, but instead, he continues taking them back and forth from shore to shore for no apparent reason.  I'm going to assume this is "Morning Exercise Time" for this sweet little trusting family, but I just don't know.  I think I'll ask my duck professional friend, Donna McFarland.

But what I have noticed is the 27 followers all trust their leader, Darrell.  They trust him to keep them safe, to have their best interest and to not lead them over the dam.  They are blindly obedient and never appear to question his decisions.  They just follow Darrell.

A couple days ago, I saw one of the ducks get distracted on the shore while the rest of the family were headed back across the cove.  The leader noticed #23 was missing....and turned the entire family around and went back to get the the attention-deficit-rebel duck off the shore and back to the safety of the family.  It was an amazing lesson in keeping our eyes on the One who leads us. 

More times than I can count, I have been that attention-deficit-rebel who has taken her eyes off the One who leads her.  I have been distracted by life...by bright and shiny things....by struggles...by people....by places I want to go instead of where He knows I "need" to go.  And He always returns for me....telling me, "Keep your eyes on Me, Liz, and follow where I take you"...not because He doesn't want me to be happy, but because the journey is not a safe place to be without Him.

I'm a work in progress and feel confident I cause God much frustration.  But like a thousand times before, He just keeps reminding me He will always, always return for me when the things of this world cause my eyes to wander away from Him.  And He promises to never let me fall over the dam.

"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you."

Psalm 32:8

GROWING SEEDS: "Hold Tight...Be Patient...and Wait for the Tug"

 

 

The year before Chuck and I were married, we commissioned an artist in Dallas to make a life-size sculpture of a young boy and his grandfather fishing off a log.  The grandfather had his arm around the boy's shoulder and was looking at him as if to say, "Good job, boy....hold the rod tight....be patient ....wait for the tug".

The statue were a replica of my husband's son Troy and Chuck's father, Pap.  He commissioned it as a way to remember the cherished moments of grandson and grandfather spending quality time together.  And Chuck was massively proud of this project.

When we moved from Dallas to the lake 18 years ago, we moved Troy and Pap with us as they sat on that bronze log and fished the days away.  It was a way for people to find our house by boat....a life-sized memory that made us smile each time we went to the boathouse...and was a great conversation starter as we told the story of Troy and Pap to anyone who would listen.

But now, the lakehouse is sold....everything has been moved....the page has been turned.   That same little boy who is now a man, came to move the statue one last time this week; to his own house.  It will continue to be smiled at by those who see it...the story will continue to be told and the memory and legacy will most certainly continue on.

But it wasn't until it was being moved a few days ago that I saw it with a different set of eyes.  I saw the complete picture.  I was reminded that God was much like Pap....arm around His children's shoulders saying, "Good job, child of mine...I will encourage you through the Floods of disease, death and discouragement.  I will help you hold your head up...to be patient...and to wait for My Spirit's tug.  I will see you through the Summers Heat and the Winters Snow." 

And the promise that He will never be further than the seat on the log next to us through all the days of our life, and then we will dwell in the house of the Lord....forever.

"God Is Always Near Us.

Always For Us.

Always In Us."

Max Lucado