Sitting With This Question

“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?” -John Piper

Sunday morning, our pastor read this quote to the congregation. He said upon reading it, he closed all of the books on his desk, shut down his computer and silenced the ringer on his phone.

And he sat with this question.

How much do I really strive for comfort? Instead of Christ?



The Apostle Paul says, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him. Philippians 3:8

This morning, I too sit with Piper's words. Checking my heart and every motivation. Being still before my God.

What stirs in you upon reading this quote?

Never Too Young To Cast Our Cares

My little Ethan (sweet face in the middle) has been struggling.

Kindergarten has been a very hard adjustment for him. Like, crying when we pull in the parking lot hard.

Bottom line, he is afraid. Afraid of messing up and not doing something right, afraid I won't come back to get him, afraid of the large crowds, overwhelmed by the new rules. A spirit of fear. I am not exaggerating when I say something of an oppressive nature is afflicting his precious little self.

And Mama bear is getting quite angry. So this morning, I'm getting out my fightin' words.

Yesterday, when we were riding in the van I taught Ethan a new verse.

Cast your burden on the LORD and he will sustain you. Psalm 55:22

He asked, "But what does cast mean?"

"It means to give away to God."

"What does sustain mean?"

"It means to keep you going. To watch over you. God will help you out. Make sense?"

"Yeah."

"So let's make a list of all of your worries. All of your fears. And we'll give them away to God together."

We dialogued about his anxieties. All of his worries about school and missing mommy. And he seemed to feel better. Until... a sudden outburst of tears.

"What if I forget that I have given God my fears. What if I take them back?"

Sweet boy. Sweet, sweet, sweet boy.

"Then you just give them right back again."

We do this don't we? Cast our burdens on the Lord. Then take them right back.

Cast (shalak) actually means to throw, hurl or fling. Isn't that a great thought? To hurl our worries away. Never to be seen, felt or thought of again.

Do you have a care you need to fling today?

If so, together let's yell one - two - three - Heave Ho. Cast that thing over the side of the boat.

Let the Lord sustain you today.

And join me in prayer for my little man. Ethan will overcome, I know. He will. In Jesus Name, he is an overcomer.

(Some more fightin' words...)

The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. Exodus 14:14

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of flesh; is there any thing too hard for me? Jeremiah 32:27

In God have I put my trust; I will not be afraid what man can do to me. Psalm 56:11

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7

Fear not for I am with you, do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

When Things Are Changing

Immutable: (def) not capable of or susceptible to change

I must confess, "immutable" is not a word in my everyday lingo. And I suppose it is not a common word because it is not a common concept. Can you think of many things in your life that are not capable to change?

I can't.

My family is in the thick of transition right now.

Are you in a season of change?

The other night a couple came over to buy our nursery furniture. I posted it on Craigslist and within days it sold. The sweetest couple came out. First baby. Young. Hard-working and a bit overwhelmed. I could tell. I stood and listened as they processed where they were going to put all of this new baby furniture when they got home. They weren't quite ready for it all, but wanted to grab a good deal. Things were changing quickly for them. And it was causing them stress.

I don't know if they were Christians or not, but I wanted to hug her (and lay hands on her belly - grin) and tell her that even though all around her is changing, God is always the same. Don't fret. Be anxious for nothing. He is constant.

I read this yesterday and it encouraged my socks off. Sip your coffee and ponder this magnificent attribute of your immutable God...

"IMMUTABILITY is one of the Divine perfections which is not sufficiently pondered. It is one of the excellencies of the Creator which distinguishes Him from all His creatures. God is perpetually the same: subject to no change in His being, attributes, or determinations. Therefore God is compared to a rock (Deut 32:4, etc.) which remains immovable, when the entire ocean surrounding it is continually in a fluctuating state; even so, though all creatures are subject to change, God is immutable. Because God has no beginning and no ending, He can know no change. He is everlastingly 'the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning' (Jam 1:17)." - A. Pink

Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any. Isaiah 44:8



This morning, make your bed on the comfort of your Rock.

"Dear God, Don't Let Me Be a DIVA."

Spring Break 2011 is coming to a close.

The family and I had the great privilege of staying a week with eighty college students in Daytona Beach, Florida.

It was so powerful. And I learned so much.

But what I learned, God didn't reveal during devotionals or morning quiet times scheduled for our students.

No. What I learned, the Lord taught me Tuesday night. During conflict with my husband.

Sitting in our room, on our somewhat sandy, hunter green couch, Brent and I had a little chat.

The boys played on the beds (the beds which fold out of the wall, mind you. In just one big open room. Very little privacy. Unfortunate napping set-up. One small kitchen with a miss-matched coffee maker, a poor Internet connection and, to beat all, I forgot my favorite coffee mug.

Did I mention all five of us were in one big open room? And the beds came out of the wall?

"I think we should leave Thursday."

Brent looked at me. "We just got here Sunday. I don't feel I've had a chance to connect with many students yet. Why do you want to leave?"

Thinking closely of my phrasing, "The boys will be exhausted by the end of the week. Then they'd turn right around and start back to school. I'd love to have a few days back home to readjust and settle in before a new week begins."

"The boys are having a great time. They will catch up on rest on the drive home. I think you want to go home because you are uncomfortable."

Busted.

"Well, this set up isn't ideal. Luke has no privacy for nap. The beds cave in the middle. I'm sleeping right on top of you. It's not easy on me, no. My job is being mommy. And being mommy on vacation is no vacation. It's more work. So, selfishly, mommy wants a vacation, too."

Even as the words were coming out of my mouth, I could hear it. Sin. Pride. Entitlement. I was being a nasty four-letter-word...

D.I.V.A.

Brent - "Well, I wish you were being more supportive and a bit more concerned about what the Lord is doing in the lives of the students here verses how inconvenient your circumstances."

Ouch. That hurt. And ticked me off.

Truth is painful to hear.

Speechless, I sat there. Staring a hole in the green carpet. Thinking.

Lord, he is so right. But my pride is hurt and I can't tell him he is "so right".

Yet.

It was time for the boys to go to bed. So I turned the sound machine on, turned the lights off, put Luke in his pack-n-play, tucked everyone in. And went to bed, as well.

As I lay there, for two hours, I prayed. And asked the Lord, what is really going on in my heart? I kept thinking of Paul, full of joy in every circumstance.

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:11,12

Content (autarkēs) 1) sufficient for one's self, strong enough or possessing enough to need no aid or support 2) independent of external circumstances 3) contented with one's lot, with one's means, though the slenderest.

Paul was independent. Sufficient for himself. Strong enough to need no aid. Happy, even with a slender lot.

Now, I don't go so far as to say that I was "suffering for Jesus" here. I had plenty. Luxuries in the grand scheme of life. But to a mother of three under-rested, overly-active boys, my external circumstances were slender. And unfamiliar.

But Paul was content is every situation. In plenty or in want.

I need to be, as well.

The next day, I woke. My heart heavy with DIVA.

Jesus took me for a long walk on the beach that morning. And listened as I confessed. And confessed and confessed.

"Dear Lord, don't let me be a DIVA!"

He encouraged me. And loved on me with new mercies and an amazing sunrise that reflected His faithfulness to me that day. Everyday.

I went back and told Brent how right he was (which he usually is) and we ended the trip on such a high.

It's amazing how much ministry can be done when I take myself out of it.

There is only so much ministry a Diva can do. She is far to preoccupied with herself.

In humility count others more significant than yourselves. Look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:2

The heart of ministry lies in this verse. Looking not to your own interests but to the needs of others.

Serving. Loving-well. Encouraging. And serving some more.

We made it back in one piece. And I am thankful for the conveniences of home. Little things, like my coffee mug.



And a little privacy.

Spring Break 2011 will always be remembered as the year the DIVA died.

And thank God she did.

Moonlit Contentment

This morning was a rarity.

I woke early (not a rarity), but I did not feel rushed. I was rested. The moon was full and bright through my window.

I could see.

I had no fleece, footie-pajama feet in my ribs. All the kids were still where I put them last night (a rarity).

My sheets were freshly washed - which will never grow old. I love clean sheets on the bed. Such a little pleasure.

Brent was not snoring (a rarity - kidding, kind of). He was a bit angelic laying right beside me, his face clear to me in the moonlight.

The house was quiet. Sound machines roaring gently. And a nip of fall above my covers.

As I lay on my pillow, contemplating "to get up or not to get up," I became over-whelmed by the presence of the Lord.

There He was. Waiting on me.

He had been all night.

Watching us in the moonlight.

Psalm 139:18 says when we wake we are still with Him.

We sleep, He stays.

And this morning I knew it.

Snuggled in my clean sheets, I was overwhelmed by His thoughts of me. His thoughts of my family. How vast are the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. Psalm 139:17

Amazing.

My life is far from perfect. My marriage is flawed and my little white house is nothing extravagant.

My boys wear mostly hand-me-downs and my van could give up on us any day.

I need to repaint, re-carpet, clean closets, vacuum more often and steam clean my couch.

Set up against the standard of success in American culture, we lead mediocre lives. Average. Moderate.

But this morning, the Lord confirmed that I am rich.

Not wealthy, but rich.

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out. 1 Timothy 6:6

The sum of my riches has not one thing to do with the year of my van, the newness of my furniture, the relevance of my decorating, the style of my clothes or the amount in our bank account.

The sum of my riches rests on my walk with Jesus. My inheritance is an abundance of peace and my wealth is found in the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ (Col. 2:2).

Godliness with contentment.

I am thankful this morning for little luxuries. Soundly sleeping boys, the crispness of fall, a hush of silence, moonlit windows, sleepy-eyes on my sweet Brent, the smell of Sam's Club coffee, freedom to read my Bible, and the reality that God dwells in me. He watches over my house. And waits on me as I sleep. Blessing us, not with extravagant materials, but with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph 1:3).

Today, let us savor and be aware. Whatever our season of life. Whatever our day will bring.

Enjoy.

Be glad.

Be rich.

Pursue godliness.

And be content.

He Brings Restoration

The past couple of days I have been in Kentucky visiting one of my dearest friends. While I was there I needed to have some dental work done by her husband, who just so happens to be an Oral Maxillofacial Surgeon.

Let me tell you, my teeth are quite deceiving. They may look healthy and white, but oh do they cause me trouble. I won't bore you with my dental history, but I will tell you that I am in need of an implant and crown on tooth # 19.

Last year I went to him and he pulled the tooth. Step two should have been - come back in a few months and we will put in an implant. Well, time passed and life got so busy. I couldn't get up there as quickly as I should have.

When I got into town, I went in for an X-ray. Not the news I had expected.

Doc: "Looks like you have some deterioration."

Me: "What does that mean?"

Doc: "The bone, where we pulled that tooth, has deteriorated. I need to rebuild that bone before we put in the implant. The implant would have nothing to hold to if we tried to put one in right now. Your structure is gone."

Restoration -1 : an act of restoring a : a bringing back to a former position or condition : reinstatement b : restitution c : a restoring to an unimpaired or improved condition d : the replacing of missing teeth or crowns
2 : something that is restored; especially : a representation or reconstruction of the original form

I am seeing this pattern everywhere right now.

Brokenness...Impair...Disenegration...Deterioration...Frailty...

Repair.....Reconstruction....Restoration.

I am seeing this need for restoration not only in my mouth, but in broken marriages, broken churches, broken friendships, broken families, broken dreams.

Broken hearts.

But I see another pattern.

I see patterns, time and time again, in Scripture. Patterns of Restoration.

God brings Restoration.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 1 Peter 5:10

God's Pattern of Restoration is evident.

He restores:

- Position (Gen 40:12)
- Fortune (Deu 30:3)
- Inheritance (2 Sam 9:7)
- Structures (Neh 4:2)
- Our rightful place (Job 8:6)
- Joy (Ps. 51:12)
- Life (Ps. 71:20)
- Comfort (Is. 57:18)
- Generations of Devastation (Is 61:4)
- Land (Jer. 16:15
- Sight (Acts 9:12)
- Sinful Man (Gal 6:1)

God doesn't just "improve" us. He establishes us. He makes us strong, firm and steadfast. He makes up for years lost (Joel 2:25). He transforms us.

He brings restoration to our souls.

David Brymer has a song titled Restoration. The lyrics read...

You've taken my pain and call me by a new name.
You've taken my shame and in its place you give me joy.

You take my mourning and turn it into dancing.
You take my sadness and turn it into joy.
You take my weeping and turn it into laughing.
You bring restoration to my soul.

This is what the Lord can do.

God, I praise you. The God of restoration. My heart is heavy for the broken. Will you bring healing? Will you turn sadness into joy today? Heal the wounded hearts? Rebuild, repair and restore your hurting people. Thank you for you great, abundant, unfathomable love for us. Thank you for what you've set out to do. Thank you for brokenness. For it is in brokenness that you can rebuild. And transform.

Our Lifeline

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

Today I write for one. Yet, for us all.

This morning I grieve for my friend. A friend who just found out that a close family member is facing terminal cancer. News that crushes the spirit. News of such weight requires words of comfort that I can not offer. No one can. Human words are incapable to suffice. Only The Word offers true comfort. So today, this is where I land. My heart heavy for my friend, searching the Word for Christ's comfort for her.

Two words came to mind when I heard of her story.

Distress.

Comfort.

I thought of David praying, "I love you, O Lord, my strength . The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock in whom I take refuge...In my distress I called to the Lord. I cried to my God for help....my cry came before him, into his ears." Psalm 120:1-2,6.

In our distress or suffering we cry unto the Lord. Cancer evokes tears. Our cry goes into the ears of our Lord. Amazing and beautiful.

I think of Jesus and the distress he faced. "For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows." He is the "Father of compassion and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our troubles." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4.

Suffering flows over, but His comfort overflows. He is the Father of ALL comfort. Every genre of grief. He comforts every trouble.

I also thought of Jesus' promise - "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Comfort in all of these passages means "a calling to one's side. A calling near. Summoned (especially for help)." So in our distress, our cry to the Lord, which falls on His compassionate ears, summons Him to our side.

Friend, he is near. At your side. Comforting you. Jesus says we are blessed when we mourn for he is summoned and near.

He has gone before us and experienced every grief. Every pain.

It is in times like these the rubber of our faith hits the road.

Clinging to Jesus is an understatement.

Christ is our lifeline.

Love you friend. Praying.