Month: May 2018

Overwhelmed By You, LORD

Big Daddy Weave sings,

God, I run into Your arms
Unashamed because of mercy
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

We are faced with problems on a daily basis, some as trivial as what to wear or frustration with our hair, others huge and in our faces like dealing with cancer or another life-threatening issue. (I HATE cancer!) Honestly – and I’m preaching to the choir here – the idea of being diagnosed with cancer is overwhelming. Two of my five siblings are currently living with cancer and one is considered cancer-free at last (that’s three out of six…. what are the odds?) I’ve had several procedures to remove pre-cancerous cells. When you hear the word ‘cancer’, the ‘Big C’, in the same sentence as your name, it is overwhelming, and NOT in a good way! How do we deal with such a diagnosis?

Having a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, waking up the loss or paralyzation of limbs; a special needs child with illness, losing your livelihood…. the list goes on and on, and I’ve barely scratched the surface. There are many overwhelming things in our lives, many without cures or solutions, so how do we deal with them? Natalie Grant sings “Help me want the Healer, not the healing….” I want to be overwhelmed by GOD, not life. Is it even possible? Yes, absolutely. Letting go isn’t easy. Holding tight to the problem, we think we can control the outcome. We think that we can eliminate the problem; we rely on doctors to solve the issue. Only the LORD, the GOD Who created everything, can take away our pain.

“The LORD hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.” – Psalms 34:17‭-‬19 NLT

GOD doesn’t always provide an earthly cure to whatever is causing our pain. What He gives us is Peace; something that can’t easily be explained in words. I certainly can’t describe it adequately. Look into the eyes of someone who is at peace in spite of their circumstance, and you see someone who has JESUS in their heart; someone who is overwhelmed by GOD, and in the arms of the Healer. You do know that Jesus is called the Great Physician, right? He can take away our fears and our frustrations, if we allow it.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

(Written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend, 2001)

My Mentor(s)

“Mentor – An experienced, trusted advisor….”

Throughout most people’s lives, there will be numerous mentors; people we trust, people who mold us and shape us to the best of their abilities. I’ve had wonderful mentors, and I’ve had just the opposite of wonderful, people – mentors? – whose evil and destructiveness I almost didn’t escape with my life.

Our parents are our first mentors, guiding us through our childhood and teenage years. Parents can be be good mentors, showing us how to deal with life in a positive manner, or they can teach us how to live in ugly, disfunctional ways. Growing up, we – my siblings and I – were taught right from wrong, we were taught that actions have consequences, and we were taught discipline. (Yes, I rebelled against those teachings.)

Our teachers can be our mentors. I hope I never forget my first grade teacher, Mrs. Alexander, or my art teachers, Mrs. Homer in Sand Springs, OK, and Mr. Bond at OBU. They loved what they did, and they loved their students, drawing out the best in each of us. Jorge and Cynthia Fick, who taught me much about the elastic arts and life in general.

Some of the people whom I looked to as mentors hurt me; scarred (that’s scarred, not scared…) me, emotionally and physically. Eventually – I’m a slow learner! – I remembered the One Who wants to mentor me / us, and Who will never hurt me / us in any way. When we accept JESUS as our Saviour, we become a new person. At the moment of Salvation, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, becomes our Mentor and Protector for the rest of our lives.

“This means that anyone who belongs to CHRIST has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new Life has begun!” – 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT

Jesus becomes not only our Mentor, but He becomes the best friend you could possibly imagine, and better. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Happy is the house that shelters a friend,” and “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere and before him I may think aloud. The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one.” Walter Winchell defines a friend as “one who walks in when others walk out.”

That’s exactly what JESUS does. He is the One that we can be completely honest and sincere with, because He will never disappoint. I can tell Him my deepest secrets, confess my most heinous sins, and He won’t reject me. He doesn’t judge me, He just Loves me. He is the One Who walks in, and stays in, when our human friends and family don’t. He is the One True Mentor, the One we can trust as the most experienced, most Trust-worthy, and Who will never advise us wrong. In 1855, a man by the name of Joseph M. Scriven wrote a song called “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.” The first verse goes like this:

  1. What a friend we have in Jesus,
    All our sins and griefs to bear!
    What a privilege to carry
    Everything to God in prayer!
    Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
    Oh, what needless pain we bear,
    All because we do not carry
    Everything to God in prayer!

“Fight the Good Fight for the True Faith. Hold tightly to the Eternal Life to which GOD has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” – 1 Timothy 6:12 NLT

My prayer for you today is that you have the Ultimate Mentor in your life!

My Happy Place

The ocean calls to me with the rhythm of the tides as they ebb and flow. It’s something inexplicable; a feeling deep in my being. The sound of the surf breaking, the distinct smell of saltwater, the wind blowing in from the water, the incessant sound of seagulls….. it all serves to ground me; it’s my Happy Place. I’ve heard many people express their dislike of the sea, saying that it’s humid, noisy, dirty. Oh, the sea can be those things, but it is so much more. There’s a primal quality with the tides; a siren song as they call to our innermost beings. I’ve read that the sea is a harsh mistress, and I can understand that, but it can be a gentle lover, too, caressing and soothing. When I am at the ocean, and I experience the tide continuing it’s course, inexorably constant, the outgoing tide washes away my stress and worries while the incoming tide brings peace and contentment.

The tide is an apt analogy for how GOD works. When we accept Him, He washes us and caresses us with the gentlest tides. He washes away my cares when I rest in Him, while bringing serenity and peace into my life. The enemy throws storms at us, sending huge tides and monstrous waves at us, trying to wash us away – our LORD is our Anchor in the riptides and the maelstroms of life; without Him, we become like the wrecks at the bottom of the sea. Jesus said,

“I tell you the Truth, those who listen to My Message and believe in GOD who sent Me have Eternal Life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” – John 5:24 NLT

“This Hope is a strong and trustworthy Anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into GOD’s Inner Sanctuary.” – Hebrews 6:19 NLT

Not So Random Observations

Did you see that? Aren’t you watching?

A favorite pastime of mine is peoplewatching. I am an observer – in a crowd, at a party, sitting on my porch, driving down the road, I love to watch people’s faces and body language. When I am expected to mingle with people I don’t know, I often wish I could be invisible, so that I could just be an observer. Sometimes I would like to be a fly on the wall! You would think that as we mature we would learn better responses and become more comfortable interacting, but in my experience, we (introverts!) want even more to fade into the woodwork.

Away from people, I can observe and interact with animals and nature without reserve. In the mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, in the deserts and canyons, the crags and valleys of the southwest lend themselves to observation and introspection. Elk and mountain sheep, black bear, bobcat, cougar, mule deer, coyote and countless smaller creatures – when we take time to stop and observe, we are afforded many sights that others miss.

Having opportunities to travel all over the United States and to parts of Europe has allowed me to observe all those things and much more. Observing the damage still evident in Germany from WWII, seeing how oppressed many people around the world still are, and viewing the reality of the massacres of Jews and others who did not fit in with Hitler’s ‘perfect’ Aryan race…. what an eye-opening, mind blowing experience.

There are opportunities to observe every day, every minute, of our lives. What do you see out side of your own little focus? Did you see that? Aren’t you watching? God gave us an incredible place called earth to call home. We need to take better care of it. Do more than just observe; become a caretaker.

“GOD called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And GOD saw that it was good. Then GOD said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And GOD saw that it was good. ….. So GOD created human beings in His Own Image. In the Image of GOD He created them; male and female He created them. Then GOD blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” ” – Genesis 1:10-12, 27‭-‬28 NLT

Hello, Are You Listening?

What do you hear right now?

Is it children playing and laughing (or squabbling)? Office noises – keyboards clicking, phones ringing, conversations going on? On a construction site, hammers and drills, and saws screeching through the air? At the airport, muffled conversations in every language, constant announcements over the intercom, the roar of jets taking off and landing? Is the television on, blaring mindless programs, or the radio playing R&R, R&B, country, rap….? Traffic roaring, trains blaring, sirens rushing by? Or do you hear the deep silence of an empty home, punctuated only by the ticking of a clock and the hum of the refrigerator?

How often to we stop to listen? I was sitting in traffic yesterday when I heard a siren, then watched as a fire engine blasted through the intersection, lights flashing. For once, everyone had stopped and left a clear path. Too many times I have pulled over to allow an emergency vehicle to pass unobstructed, only to helplessly watch as other vehicles remain in the path, oblivious to their surroundings, causing the emergency vehicle to slow or even stop until they can safely proceed. I can’t help but say a quick prayer for whoever is waiting for help to arrive. Is this ignorance of our surroundings indicative of our world today? To me, it’s a good analogy for the ways so many people are living, so immersed in themselves, they don’t have any idea what is going on around them, completely self absorbed.

Turn off the radio or TV, pull out your earbuds, lay down the phone / tablet / laptop. Step outside, go to a park, and LISTEN. What does life sound like when your attention is outside of yourself? Can you hear birdsong, some small animal in the bushes, squirrels chattering? Can you hear the rustle of the trees as the breeze flows through them? Most importantly, when you aren’t wrapped up in yourself, can you hear the Voice of GOD, or are you too busy to listen? The LORD wants us to talk to Him, to have real conversations with Him. Think on it. That means that not only do we pour out our problems and our needs to Him, it means we listen to Him. Why do we need to tell Him our hurts and desires if He is truly Omnipotent and Omniscient? We talk to Him to indicate our willingness to hear what He has to say for us and our situation. He always – always – hears us, and He always answers…. just not necessarily the answer we want to hear. Talk to Him anyway. Start a dialogue with Him, and prepare yourself for listening for His answer. It can be yes, or it can be no, or it can be wait (my least favorite answer!)

“Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.” – Psalms 5:3 NLT

“For GOD is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. Do everything without complaining and arguing…. ” – Philippians 2:13‭-‬14 NLT

Turn off, unplug, do whatever you need you do in order to listen to and hear GOD, and be prepared for His Will to be done instead of yours. It ain’t always easy, but definitely worth it! Listen to “Walking On Water” by NeedToBreath, and then LISTEN to GOD!

Photo credit: The American Historian – The Art of Listening