Month: September 2016

But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD, I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand. Psalm 31:14-15

Anyone who has struggled with an anxiety issue knows how crippling it can be. Something triggers it and that ‘thing’ is different for everyone. It can be a fear of the dark, or something more defined and unique like a creaking of the floor outside a closed door, a thunderstorm, or a dreaded car coming up the driveway. Whatever sounds or smells triggered the original stressful event are the sounds and smells that stay with you for life. None of us are unaware of the PTSD our soldiers suffer from their time overseas. The sound of a balloon popping sounds like gunfire and sparks as much terror as though they were still on the battlefield.

In my thirties and early forties, I faced my own triggers, not by choice but out of necessity. They were performance related. What was the catalyst? The ticking of a clock backstage.

As a 14 year old teenager, I was performing in very stressful situations where I simply wasn’t prepared. An hour before going on stage, music was being thrown at me to perform. Little of it involved just sight-reading. That would have been easier. Most of it was improvisation ~ looking at a piece of music, transposing it, then modulating to other keys while crafting an intro and ending. It was never just one piece of music but five or six for one evening. Three to five thousand people were often attending. While backstage, I watched the clock. It felt like a bomb about to go off. “I have thirty minutes to learn this. Fifteen minutes. Seven minutes. Oh no, I’m not ready. But I have to be!” Then I would hear my name being announced, I would flip a switch in my head and walk out. You get the progression of fear, I’m sure. I felt like Job when he said, “That which I feared has come upon me.”

How creative is God when He is called upon to heal complicated issues? I found out when anxiety crippled me twenty years later. I cancelled concerts due to ‘illness’ but what people never saw was the thirty-year-old woman huddled in a ball on a nearby hotel floor. God came to my rescue. He assured me that He was Lord over the clock and Lord over all time. In fact, He operated outside of time and space and had me in His hands. In the space of several years, performance anxiety was replaced by a joy of knowing that I didn’t take the stage alone. I was not under pressure to perform without supernatural help. (I also learned to say ‘no’.) I gave my mind, memory, talent, and hands to the One who is all-powerful. Currently, I do not suffer from any stage related anxiety at all.  Praise be to God! I can see a clock and not even make a painful association

God’s healing is creative and personal. God’s healing is unlimited and love-driven. God’s healing was conceived long before the painful event ever happened to you or me. He is a God of intervention, not a God of passivity. Though life can catch up to us and momentarily pin us to the ground, God has already visited us here on His heavenly timetable. He has woven an intimate cocoon where He and His child can step out of time and rebuild what was shattered so long ago.

I love You more because of how You love me. I know that’s childish but You knew that’s how it would be. Thank you for giving me wings out of confinement. Amen

 

O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Psalm 4:2

People can trample on beautiful things in my life. I lend someone something very precious but they are careless and break it. I share my good news with someone whom I assume will be joyful over my joy, but it stirs up envy instead.   I announce a spiritual breakthrough with a really good friend but the telling falls flat and I don’t know why.

Family and close friends are turning King David’s honor into shame. His reign, obviously anointed by God, is in jeopardy because of family jealousy. His power hungry son, Absalom, wants to de-throne him. The glory of David’s kingdom is being trampled on. Those once loyal to him are aligning with his handsome, manipulative son. Absalom is preying upon their naiveté with vain words, making promises he cannot keep. He sways them because he’s handsome and most people are gullible around a fast talker. These are the darkest days of David’s life. Though he experienced the treachery of King Saul earlier in his life, the pain of that pales in comparison to the treachery of a son.

Demonic driven ungodliness, resident in Absalom, takes its toll. Because Satan hand-picked Absalom, it doesn’t take long for this son of David to unravel what has been secure. David now lives in inflicted shame. The arrows of character assassinations penetrate his soul. He probably understands that Absalom isn’t working alone. He has the power of hell behind his efforts. Satan’s infiltration into the heart of Absalom has fashioned a formidable foe and perhaps David remembers the same murderous look in the eyes of a once demonized King Saul.

“How long, Lord?” David asked what you may be asking today. You’re waiting. You’re clinging to God’s promises. You’re aching for redemption. You’re longing to see God justice come to pass. You wonder if God is going to allow this adversary to take you down. You feel certain that you will be a spiritual casualty. Hold on! David did resume his throne. Today, God is still on His! Though the plans of your antagonist might appear effective, God is not worried nor is he intimidated. He honors His children in due time and while you wait, He crowns your inside world with peace.

You understand Your earth-bound children. The clock moves slowly. Give us peace beneath the current of the storm as we dive deeper into the resources of You. In Jesus’ name, Amen

 

GETTING TO THE DANCE PART

Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!  Psalm 150:4

How comfortable are you at the thought of dancing before the Lord?  Our answers will differ according to our denominational affiliation and history.

In scripture though, a ‘dance’ is referenced many more times than the way it is in this Psalm.

For instance, when the creation of the world is described, the interaction between the God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is described as a continual slow dance.  They move within their unity with grace, joy, and precision.  I was also surprised to discover that something the Apostle Paul wrote connects to the idea of a dance.  Here it is.  Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.  I Thess. 4:12   I miss a lot of the meaning of scripture once it is translated from Greek to English.  Unless I become adept enough in my Bible study skills to do some word studies, I’ll never know I passed over something golden.  So Eugene Peterson, in THE MESSAGE, translates Paul’s verse this way.  “One final word, friends.  We ask you ~ urge you is more like it ~ that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance.” I love this!  Having lived for decades in a religious prison camp, I was overjoyed to discover that there was another way of life in Christ.  Dancing surely describes it.

When I choose to learn a new skill, it seems like it is all work.  It is not natural for me to perform it.  The thinking and coordination it takes to accomplish it can feel daunting.  I fear I’ll never master it.  Practice is the key because once it becomes second nature, the joy kicks in.

So it is with God’s instructions and my obedience.  When I first decided to follow in His footsteps, it was like walking in foreign territory.  It was all struggle on my part; impartation of grace on His.  At some point, the practice began to pay off.  Now, I wear some of His ways like a second skin.  I no longer have to harness every inclination.  I more fully understand the ways of Jesus and find that practice makes them a part of me.

I know, in part, what Peterson speaks of in his paraphrase today.  Oh, to dance with the labor part behind me!  To no longer have to look at my feet and think over every move means that I can close my eyes and enjoy the waltz.

Help me not lose heart today, Lord, over things I’m still learning.  One day, doing it will feel like breathing.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. I opened my mouth wide and panted.  Psalm 119:130-131

Some are called to plant spiritual seeds and to take the Gospel to remote parts of the earth.  Others are to come along behind to water what’s been planted.  We who are called to water others seeds are the majority.

I talked with a mother yesterday who is heartbroken that her adult son is so far from Christ.  She is reading the prayer every day over him that God led me to write about a week ago.  She is not alone in her grief, is she?  Every one of us loves someone in whom the seed was planted long ago but shows no signs of becoming tender toward Christ.  We can easily despair and lose hope.  But seeds are just that.  Seeds.  Out of sight.  Beneath the soil.  They are there but just not visible yet.  And, they need watering.  If I despair and abandon the process of spiritual gardening, I won’t hasten the work of God in their lives.

God promises that if I speak the Word of God over the lives of people and into desperate situations, it will not return void. I have spiritual dynamite in my hands in the form of the Word of God but if I never speak it or pray it, I will never see my garden flourish.  When I see nothing but brown soil, it is not the time to quit!  It is the time to till, cultivate, and use my mouth to, either plant, or water what is already there.  Every prayer I’ve prayed, every scripture I’ve spoken by faith, these acts are not in vain.

“Is not my Word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Jer. 12:29   Hearts of stone are broken, warmed, reshaped and transformed into hearts of flesh only one way.  Through the speaking of the Word.

Who am I to declare anyone hopeless?  I’ve planted the Word of God in their lives yet I don’t see any evidence that the seeds are changing them.  In faith, I still water them.  I abandon the illusion that I am speechless in my pain.   Speaking Your Word is a way of life and as I water the seeds with Your Word, please bring vistas of green where there is only a brown wilderness.  I wait for You with tears and faith.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

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Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way. Psalm 25:8-9

God will not share His glory with another but since He’s not around in a form where we can physically see Him, we’ll try to steal it. Like a child who can’t get enough attention, we take every opportunity to make ourselves the center of the world.

Knowing that all glory belongs to God, knowing how to handle compliments is hard. And what is the difference between a compliment and a word of encouragement? In the past, admittedly, I had no clue how to step around this minefield. For a long time, I asked audiences to refrain from any applause when I sang. It made me uncomfortable. But I came to understand that audiences need to express themselves. They need the artist to know when something has touched them. Additionally, I also deflected every compliment and denied that what they were saying was true. This made the person who meant well feel like they were being corrected.

Contrasting the two, here’s a compliment. “You are the best teacher I know.”  And a word of encouragement. “I’m so grateful that you know your gift comes from God and you use it beautifully to make Him glorious.” The first builds the ego. The second encourages humility and faithfulness.

So what can I do when complimented in ministry? What can you do when someone praises your hospitality, leadership, and/or counsel? We can craft our answers to God’s glory. “Thank you for your kindness but I will tell you that I’m so grateful that God has chosen to use me. I feel blessed and unworthy.”

In a ministry that has gotten a lot of personal feedback over the years, and as someone who has struggled with the platform, I want to be clear where God has me now. Jaime and I have had meaningful discussions about ‘gifts and service’ this week, so I am confident that I speak for both of us.

When God shines His light on a passage and a devotional is born, to God be the glory. When someone feels that the devotional was written just for them, to God be the glory. When God gives grace to write something on a bad day and an empty page is filled, to God be the glory. When a heart is stilled and comforted by what was written that day, to God be the glory. When a ministry has been around for 3+ decades, to God be all glory.  Pray for us ~ that Daughters of Promise would always be about God.

Father, You give undeserved grace and we give You much deserved glory. Amen

 

 

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