In the Center

Spring - the season of graduations.....At one such ceremony at my elementary school recently, I was part of the audience at a fifth-grade awards ceremony.  As a teacher, I was sitting among a large group of parents, grandparents, and other well-wishers.  The students sat in a section of seats in front of us, but as each name was called for an award, the child would stand, turn, and face the adults.  At one point, the entire class stood and faced us to sing a song they had practiced. As the song went on I saw a sea of cell phones rise in front of my eyes.  I was looking at the entire class of about 80 children singing in unison, but the image on each of those cellphone screens was very different. Every picture was centered on a different child.  No two people in that room saw that scene the same way, because their attention was centered on someone they loved.

That's how life works.  All of us have our attention centered on the things that mean the most to us.  We spend our time, energy, money, attention, and affection on what we deem to be most important.  As I noticed those screens across the room all focused on a specific someone, God seemed to be asking me where the attention in my life was focused.  Yes, it's good and right to love people - to be focused on your family members and their well-being, but the very center of our lives needs to be our relationship with God.  Without the strength, love, and wisdom He gives us, we can't properly love others anyway.

Matthew 6:33 says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you". 

What does that actually mean?  How can we work full-time jobs, manage households, interact with people, care for children, and still be putting God first in our lives?  Not many of us can be the kind of person that can just lock ourselves in a room and pray and study for hours on end. 

When I looked up the definition of focus, it gave me a little clarity about how this is even possible.  One of the meanings is "a point at which rays (as of light, heat, or sound) converge or from which they diverge or appear to diverge".

 To me, all the different things that we juggle in life are like the rays of the sun.  If all we do is first rooted in our relationship with God, there is life in those divergent things, just like the warmth of each ray of the sun contributes to the growth of plants which in turn provide food for creatures on the earth. Likewise, if we do those things in love and obedience to the various calls that are on our lives, we do them as unto the Lord and those acts converge back to Him as acts of praise.  Yes, Bible study and prayer are necessary to develop that intimacy with God and learn to hear and recognize His voice, but the daily living of our lives, keeping Him in mind as we do all the things we do is the way we focus and keep Him in the center.

Romans 11:36 says, "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen". 

It's all about Him anyway.  He is the center.  Where is your focus?

Give 'Em a High Five!

Last week I accompanied my son's family to a small local park that featured just two pieces of playground equipment.  A young woman was there with her three-year-old daughter and infant son, who was quite content with swaying back and forth in the infant swing, watching his sister play.  My granddaughter, Bella, joined the older girl, who she had never met, and immediately called her "my friend".

The girls played happily together for 20 minutes or so, climbing up the steps to the slide and going down over and over again.  On one such descent, Bella was at the bottom of the slide while her friend slid down.  As the girl reached the bottom, Bella exclaimed, "Good job! High five!"  All the adults immediately cracked up laughing because it was so adorable, but it also really touched my heart because my little one seems to be a natural encourager. 

I believe all of us appreciate being appreciated. Hearing someone compliment something we have created or celebrating something we have accomplished is a lovely feeling.  Last week, I received a comment about my blog post that not only warmed my heart but also gave me more motivation to continue just doing what I do with my writing.  I know my audience is small and I'm not reaching thousands with my words, but I have heard many pastors say they would preach the same to a congregation of one as to an auditorium full of people.  The expression of the gift and the obedience in using it are what is important.  I realized through that comment that God is responsible for the expansion of the message, not us.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing."

When you offer sincere words to someone who has blessed you with their gifts and talents, you play a part in the continued flow of what they produce in their lives, but don't stop with just the people who are highly visible.  Thank the person who made the coffee or set a table or picked up the trash or any of the hundreds of things people do to make the lives of others better.  Talk to the teenager who is stepping out to attempt something new and give them words that will boost their confidence.  Give the senior person some verbal applause for a life skill they have shared with you. 

The words you speak may seem insignificant to you, but they could be a turning point in the life of another person  I urge you to look for opportunities this week to give that gift of encouragement to someone in your life - and not this week only, but make it a priority in your life. 

Hebrews 10:24-25

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Power Source

Every night, before I go to bed, I plug my cell phone into the charger and put it on my nightstand. As a woman of the 21st century, my phone has become my camera, my computer, my calculator, my library and most importantly - my alarm clock.  I rely on that phone by the bed to make sure I get up on time in the morning to prepare to head out to my job at a local elementary school.

After I am up and moving in the morning, sometimes I'll stop to take a quick look at the weather or my email.  One morning last week, when I looked down at the screen, I was surprised to find that the power percentage on the phone was in the single digit numbers.  How could this be?  I'd had it plugged in all night!

After doing a little investigating I found that although I had the phone plugged into the charger, the charger wasn't plugged into the power strip on the floor beside the bed.  I have no clue how or when the plug became dislodged from the outlet, but it certainly explained why my phone was nearly dead first thing in the morning.

My life is a little like that cell phone sometimes.  I'll plug it into things that I think are beneficial to me, like church activities or listening to praise music in the background when I'm doing something around the house, and expect those things to give me spiritual nourishment.  Those things can be edifying to us, but if we're just going through religious motions and we don't have our hearts truly focused on God, then those activities are not "plugged in" to the true source of power.

What can this look like in our lives?  We can continue to struggle with the same life-controlling issues for a very long time while on the outside looking like we are trying to connect with God. We can attend church, but not really engage with the word of God that is being preached.  We can occupy ourselves during the sermon by making a grocery list instead of taking sermon notes or checking out social media on our phone.  We stay until the service is over because it wouldn't look right to slip out early.  We can even come to the altar and ask for someone to agree with us in prayer addressing the circumstances in our lives.  What's wrong with this picture?  Our cord isn't really plugged into the power source.  We're just waving a charger around to show people that we are trying to do what's right. 

In a world that seems to be getting further and further from God, shouldn't we as His children be connecting with Him in a way that is real and vital and life-sustaining?  Religious activity will never change the heart.  Going through the motions will not transform or sanctify us.   A real connection with God will do all those things and more.  Even those who have been "in church" for a long time can find themselves growing complacent and disconnected.  

What I'm talking about here is drawing near to God.  When I looked for that phrase "draw near" in the Bible, I found two very distinct ideas.  I leave you with the same question I'm asking myself - which of these scriptures pertains to you?

These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. (Matthew 15:8)

OR

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:22)

Whose Hand are You Holding?

Last Sunday was a beautiful day.  My son, Josh, and daughter-in-law, Brittney, decided to take a walk on the Virginia Creeper Trail with my granddaughter, Bella, who is two years old.  As they began to walk, Brittney told Bella that she had to hold someone's hand on the trail.  Bella said, "I hold Bella's hand!", and she clasped her little hands together in front of her and traipsed off down the path.

While that's an adorable story that will probably be retold many times in our family's life, it's also a picture of how we are as the children of God sometimes.  We forget that no matter how much we have matured in the faith, we are still children and we still need our heavenly Father.

 Bella's parents wanted her to hold a hand for several perfectly natural human reasons, but those reasons are the same reasons we should be holding on to the hand of God as we go through this life.

1.  Direction and guidance -  As a toddler who has not walked this trail before, Bella doesn't know which way to go or even where she is headed, but her mother's hand can guide her. Though we sometimes think we know all about life, we really don't know the wisest path to take or even what destination God has in mind for us next.  We need to rely on Him to show us the steps to take and to guide us to the places in our lives that He has prepared for us.

Psalm 37:23      The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and He delights in his way.

2.  Safety and protection - Bella doesn't have enough life experience to know all the things that could potentially harm her.  Though she tells me all the time, "don't touch the bees", she hasn't had a run-in with a snake or a farmer's barbed wire fence strung between the trail and his field. There are things that will capture her attention and imagination that she'll want to check out more closely, but the loving hands of her parents will make sure that those things that entice her are not things that are a threat to her. The Holy Spirit can prompt us, warn us, and teach us about the things of this world that have been laid as a snare to draw us away from Him.

2 Timothy 4:18     And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.....

3.  Insight and teaching - Though everything in creation is new and exciting to a child, they won't always notice some of the things that an adult will recognize.  Bella's daddy can lead her to the edge of the path to see an interesting bug or lift her up to peer over a fence at a calf grazing in the field.  He can tell her the names of the things that she sees and can explain what is happening.  If we stay close to God, he can give us insight and revelation into the day-to-day things in our lives - just like seeing parallels between the behavior of a toddler and our relationship with Him!  If we are close enough to listen, there is much we can learn from a God who knows everything.

Jeremiah 33:3      Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

4. Relationship and trust - Isn't it just the sweetest thing to have your child or grandchild reach up to take your hand?  The sense that your little one wants and needs the reassurance of having you close and knowing they are putting their trust in you makes your heart swell with happiness.  God is the creator of our emotions and I imagine that He feels them as well.  It must delight His heart so much when we put our hand in His, desiring to be close to Him and expressing that we trust His wisdom to lead us on our path.

Psalm 73:28     But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.


This week, God has used this little story about Bella to ask me some hard questions about my walk with Him.  There have been times when I have hard-headedly charged down my own path, holding my own hand and forgotten all that is available to me in His hands.  Just because my head knows how to do this Christian life does not mean that I can do it apart from the One who gave me that life in the first place.  You cannot do it by yourself either.  Don't forget to reach up for His hand.