What Do These Stones Mean?

 

My life is going through two very different stages simultaneously.  On the one hand, my family is experiencing one of the most stressful times we have ever faced.  We are in a great period of uncertainty where we feel that we have no control over the events that are happening to us.  We are struggling to maintain our relationships in the face of all the changes and disagreements and disappointments that make up our days in this season. On the other hand, it's an exciting time for me because my first book is about to be published, and I'm able to see the layout of the book and the proposed cover design on my computer as they are being finalized by the publisher.

Tonight as I reviewed the layout to make any last changes, all the writing that was passing before my eyes reminded me of all the times I had walked through other storms in my life and how God used those times to make changes in me.  I saw how He had taken terrible circumstances and answered prayers that changed those situations, even if it wasn't in my timing or in the way I thought He should have done it.  I also saw that ultimately, His way was the best way.

When I went to my blog page, I saw that my last post was made over two months ago.  That represents months of upheaval in my life where I was so busy and so distracted by the situation, that I couldn't even listen to God for an inspiration to write. I thought about all those words written by my own hand that told me to trust God, to stay strong, to keep going, to rest and not to worry, to walk and not faint.

Then I remembered that is exactly what the Lord told Joshua in the first chapter of the book of Joshua.  Moses had died and Joshua was the leader of the Israelites.  God told him over and over again to be strong and courageous. His first assignment was to move the people across the Jordan River.  Miraculously, when the priests carrying the ark of the Covenant stepped into the river and stopped in the middle, the river became dry ground, even though it was at flood stage at that time of the year.  The whole nation of people walked across to the other side.

Joshua then directed that one man from each tribe of Israel bring a stone from the middle of the river, from the place where the priests were standing and to put them down in the place where they would be staying that night.  He then told them, "In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’  tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4: 6-7).

In essence, they took stones to remember the challenge that God brought them through and put those stones in the place of rest they found on the other side of that trouble.  My stories are the stones in my life.  They show me what great turmoil God has brought me through.  I can look at them and remember the times that He has been faithful. I've read over these stories of mine many times when I was in a place of rest as I've been writing and editing this book for many months, but in the last few months, I've lost sight of the meaning of the words as I found myself trying to cross my own river that seems to be at flood stage.  

It's in those times of challenge that we most need to revisit what God has done in the past and what He will do again.  My stones are my blog posts and the writing in my journals.  What stones do you have to remind you of what He has done in your life?  Look on them again as a memorial of the miracles in your life and be strong and courageous, just as God told Joshua.

What's Stopping the Flow?

This week my granddaughter, Bella, and I went out to check the small flowerbed in our backyard.  In the scorching July heat, the plants were beginning to shrivel and were badly in need of water.

I picked up the hose and just barely turned the water on so I could run it for a minute or two to release the water that the sun had been heating all day.  Then I pulled it across the lawn to the flowerbed.  I told Bella to turn the valve so I could have more water flow to give the flowers a good soaking.  Even though it appeared she was turning it in the right direction, I was only getting a dribble of water through the hose.  She tried turning it the opposite way.  Still, not enough water.

Finally, I walked back toward the side of the house to see if I could help her.  There I found an extreme kink in the hose.  It was folded back on itself, cutting off the water flow.  Once I corrected its position, the water flowed and lovely cool showers of water were able to soak my plants.

The Holy Spirit spoke a little word in my heart in that experience.  I'm going through a very stressful time right now, with a lot of uncertainty.  Sometimes my focus turns away from God and I begin to look back at myself, creating a spiritual "kink" that blocks the flow of the Spirit in my life.  While that blockage is there, it creates two problems.  One is that I can't be a conduit of refreshing to others in my life.  All of the things I'm called to do in this life get trapped in the place where I get stuck in my own situation.  The other issue is that I can't let the Holy Spirit work in me in the way that He wants.  I'm not open to the changes He has planned for me if I'm looking at my own problems instead of His solutions.

In the natural, I had to take the initiative to examine the situation, find the problem, and make the correction.  The spiritual requires the same.  I had to examine my life, realize what was stopping the flow in my life, and make the correction of turning my mind and heart toward what God was trying to do in the middle of the circumstances instead of just worrying and complaining about how difficult everything felt.

Where is the kink in your life? What is stopping the flow?  Find the problem and make a position correction in your spirit so the flow can begin again.  It's the key to all God wants to accomplish in and through your life.

Loving the Unloveable

A few weeks ago, I posted the picture above on Facebook with the following caption:

"Look, Mamaw! We have a new friend. His name is Caterpillar."

Bella has a "thing" for insects right now.  It's probably because, with no playmates her age in the neighborhood, and with only four boring adults around, the bugs are little, cute, and she has power over them. My little one seems to have no squeamishness or fear of any of them, alive or dead, though she seems to display the appropriate amount of caution around bees and other stinging things that fly. However, there was a startled reaction when a click beetle did his little "flip and snap" in her hand.

I don't have the same affinity for these creatures, though I can appreciate the beauty and grace of a butterfly or the look of a cute ladybug.  As far as I am concerned, I keep my distance from anything with more than four legs.  I am quite picky about my bug associations.

Bella doesn't care if the bugs are ugly or scary-looking. They don't have to measure up to any particular standard for her to enjoy their company. They don't even have to be living! They are all her friends, and they fascinate her.

She is the same way with people. She'll walk up to random people and ask, "What your name is? My name is Bella, and this is my mamaw and my papaw and my mommy and my daddy." Though we are trying to teach her to be careful around people she doesn't know, at this point in her life, she doesn't know a stranger. People are delighted with her attention and usually share a name with her. Bella wants to love everything and everybody - regardless.

God is the same way with people. He loves all of us - regardless. We don't have to look right, act right, or think right to deserve His love, though He'll make the right changes in us when we turn our lives over to Him. Not only that, but He expects us to love each other without conditions. We can't limit ourselves to the beautiful and graceful. He really did mean for us to love even those who curse His name, who are hateful to others, who celebrate sin, who oppose all that is good.

I've had a little difficulty with that expectation lately. So much is happening in our world, and I see hate and violence and division everywhere I look - at least in the media. There are leaders whose rhetoric seems to come from the very pit of hell, and I have to remind myself that God loves them too. In my own little world, though I love my family members very much, there are moments when it's not all beauty and grace around here either. Sometimes we bite or sting or startle each other in word or deed. Loving someone is not a feeling, it's a choice. I must pray for those who are spouting evil and violence. I must remember that I can be ugly too, and that I must give grace to those who are not gracious to me.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew 5:44.

" But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."

It's a tall order, but it's a directive from Jesus Himself and not just a friendly suggestion. When you and I pray, we can't restrict our petitions for blessings to just ourselves and those who please us at the moment.  We must be praying for and loving all - even the unloveable.

Setting the Atmosphere

Every Sunday morning at my church, a group of leaders and altar workers gathers with our pastor for a short time of prayer before the church service begins. Usually, he starts with a few remarks to us, and then we all pray together. Last Sunday, my husband and I were sitting in the foyer, outside the room where we usually meet, as we chatted with people trickling in to head for the sanctuary. Our pastor slipped into the room, and I heard him beginning to pray before any of the rest of us had entered the room. Just a minute later, as we joined him, he was continuing in an attitude of praise as he paced in the room. More people joined in, and soon we were all praising and praying, asking God's presence and favor on our time together that day. It's not often that I feel the Holy Spirit's tangible presence, but that morning, I was very aware that something had shifted in the atmosphere. The sweet company of the Lord was most definitely in that place.  

An event like this one a much bigger scale happened in the Old Testament.

"Indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praise the Lord, saying:

"For He is good,

For His mercy endures forever,"

that the house, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God."  

(1 Chronicles 5:13-14)

Fellow believers - think of the implications of this! Praise and thanksgiving can change the atmosphere of a place. That means that we can change the dynamic in our homes, schools, and workplaces by releasing our praise to God.  

There are problems in all these places because there are people in all these places. Sometimes we complain about what is going on to anyone who will listen. Other times we are wiser, and we pray about those problems. We ask God to change people and to solve conflicts. The first response is useless, the second is an improvement, but maybe the third is a door to allowing the Holy Spirit greater access into the situation. It's also a way to center us and remind us who is actually in control, instead of feeling that we are fighting battles of stress, conflict, and negativity alone.

God is worthy to be praised, regardless of our circumstances, so no matter the outcome, let's begin to do this regularly. Praise God in those physical spaces you encounter. Prepare the atmosphere and see what happens!

Full Price

Saturday at 5:00 a.m., my alarm jolted me into consciousness.  It was our yard sale day.  We had sorted through our belongings for months as had our son and his wife, and now it was time to let it all go.  For us, it was less about making money and more about simplifying our lives and making more room in this house that we are now sharing.

So, while it was still dark and the grass was covered in dew, my son and I made multiple trips from the basement to the front yard, carrying tables, boxes, furniture, and bags.  We woke up the other adult members of the family after the sun came up to help organize our wares and make sure we hadn't forgotten to price anything.

Since my husband and I have moved numerous times in our lives, we've had a few sales like this, and they all play out the same way.  We price things, and then all the shoppers proceed to offer much less than the number on the tag, even if we felt it was a low price in the first place.  Item after item disappears into strangers' cars for a fraction of what we originally spent.  

You could buy a brand new item from a local store and put it immediately into your yard sale with the receipt attached, but nobody would pay the price for it that you spent just an hour before. The mere fact that someone owned it first devalues it in the eyes of the buyer. It's like they always say that when you buy a new car, it depreciates the moment you drive off the dealer's parking lot.

As I counted the money that evening to be divided between the two couples, I thought about the devaluing of those pre-owned items, and then my mind skipped to the price that was paid for us.  Father God sent His precious only son, Jesus, to pay a cost for the world that cannot be fully comprehended by any of us. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."

Acts 20:28 says, "Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood."

Before we belonged to Jesus, we were slaves to sin, so sin was our owner.  I wanted to sell the items in my sale, but I'm sure the enemy didn't want to give up his claim on any of us. However, rather than offering a cut-rate price to redeem us from Satan's clutches, Jesus paid full price.  He found us so valuable that He gave up His own life to purchase ours. In His eyes, the fact that we were "pre-owned" didn't diminish our value at all.  So when you are having difficult days, when you find it hard to like yourself, when you are struggling because you think that you don't measure up - remember that God doesn't see you as second-hand yard sale junk, but as His invaluable purchase, His child, His precious one.  

Amen and Yee-haw!

If you happen to be Facebook friends with my daughter-in-law, you may have seen a recent post where she quoted our three-year-old granddaughter's prayer before our dinner last week.

"Thank you, Jesus, for our food.  Yee-haw!"

None of us know why she made a substitution for the more traditional "Amen" that night, but we all found it hilarious.

I checked out the actual meaning of the phrase, "Yee-haw!" I found that it's considered an expression of enthusiasm and exuberance that's associated with cowboys or inhabitants of the rural South.  It may not be a customary ending to a blessing on the food, but it some ways, it makes perfect sense. If you've been waiting for a while to be called to the dinner table, you are probably quite excited about finally coming to the point of having the food at hand.

What if we acted with such enthusiasm for the rest of our prayer life?  What if we were sure of the outcome of our prayers?  What if we were so thrilled at what God was about to do that we eagerly ended the prayer with a jubilant "Yee-haw!?"  It has the flavor of a battle cry from the army that knows it's about to be victorious, doesn't it?  Since we are the army of God with a general who can never be defeated, we should be as fired up about the ways and plans of God as a cowboy is about his rodeo triumph.  

I don't actually advocate the use of that phrase to end our prayers. Still, I whole-heartedly encourage you to pray big prayers for incredible advances in the Kingdom of God and to be exhilarated to walk out your destiny alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ with strong confidence and passion.

Romans 12:11 (NIV) "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

Different Isn't Always Wrong

My daughter-in-law and I are sharing a home right now and by extension - we are sharing a kitchen.  We've worked out a system where the four adults in the house take turns cooking in pairs with other family members so that she and I are not the only ones responsible for meal planning, preparation, and clean-up.  For the most part, it is working out very well for us.

As we have worked together, we've discovered a few differences in the way we do things.  She refrigerates tomatoes - I don't.  I bake my frozen meatballs before I use them in spaghetti sauce - she tosses them in the sauce to thaw and cook.  She buys certain brands of things at the grocery store, while I buy others. In some cases, we have totally different recipes for the same dish.  Her kitchen utensils and mine are all intermingled now, with boxes and boxes of duplicates ready for a yard sale when social distancing is over and people can do that sort of thing again.  When I eat my cereal at breakfast and get a spoon out of the drawer, it might be one that feels different in my hand because it's not the design I'm used to, but I still get fed.

None of the differences we have found have caused any of us to lose a single pound, though I wish they had.  We are all well-nourished, enjoy our food, and are not at each other's throats about the state of the kitchen and the planning of the menus.

During this time when people are not able to gather at their home churches, we are staying connected by watching pre-recorded worship music done by praise bands or choirs.  We hear either live or taped sermons from our pastors.  We have the opportunity to hear examples of all types of music and messages on social media every week.  Though I'll always be sure to make my home church's online service a priority, I have watched parts of several others as well.  Just like the differences in my kitchen, there are differences in churches.  I've heard old hymns that I haven't listened to for a long time.  I've seen other praise teams that do contemporary music.  I've seen men of God who were very comfortable in front of the camera because they were accustomed to being filmed and others for whom this experience is totally new.  The messages are on all kinds of topics, depending on who is speaking, but even though the music and the talking points may be different than what I am used to hearing, they aren't necessarily wrong.

I think right now we are seeing that the church as a whole, throughout the world, needs to come together like never before.  Those petty differences in the tiny matters of practice fade away, and we forget that they use a different spice than we do and we just all get fed.  Of course, we need to measure what we hear against the Word of God so that no poison sneaks into our meals, but there is much from which we could benefit if we quit thinking about our brothers and sisters in Christ in a different expression as THEM versus US. 

There is a scripture that I know you have frequently seen quoted in recent days.  2 Chronicles 7:14 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

That's where the real meat of this relationship with God comes in.  It's all about being humble, praying, seeking His face, and turning from sin to be a bridge between God and our land so that healing can come.  I think that's an idea that all churches can embrace and through our differences become the salt and light to our world that it so badly needs right now.