WHY?

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

I stepped outside into the bright sunshine to begin my run and I happened to look up at the azure blue sky and immediately I noticed something I had never seen before! For the most part, the sky was blue and nearly cloudless except right in the middle was a huge “Y” written across the sky. And immediately my heavenly Father whispered to my heart. “Yes, that is precisely the question that everyone has planted deep within their hearts… “Why???”

And I knew He was right! How many times do we ask that very question out loud or just rehearse it over and over from the secret confines of our hearts? “Why haven’t I been healed, delivered, released, promoted?”  Feel free to add any word here because the list goes on and on. For every painful circumstance, for every difficult situation, the question of “Why?” is either lurking in the background or is right in your face, seemingly inescapable. And as I continued through my neighborhood I mulled over my own personal whys and I wondered what we are to do with those nagging questions that we grapple with on a daily basis?

Well after my run, I had some errands to finish and as I drove along the curved and country road, I was still pondering this question of why and what we were supposed to do with it and to my complete astonishment there written across the sky was my answer! I still saw the deep blue expanse, but the “Y” had now been replaced by three perfectly formed arrows pointing upward!!! I couldn’t believe my eyes; Papa had been “doodling” in the sky to get my attention :  )  I put the window down to get a better look and as I sat in my car, the tears began to flow at the overwhelming goodness of my Father!

What do we do with the why’s of this life??? We look up and we offer them to the only One who sees our entire life journey! He alone knows the beginning from the end and everything in between! He only, holds the answers to every single doubt that is churning around in our questioning hearts. But will we trust Him enough to turn our focus from the questions to the ultimate Answer?

Just like the blue sky that had a single cloud in it, sometimes we tend to skip over all the “blue sky things” that we can be, (should be) so very thankful for and we hone in on that one single “Y”. But we need to remember that whatever we choose to focus on becomes dominant in our eyes. Let’s say that you held a sheet of black paper in your hand. Which is bigger the sheet of paper or the sun? No brainer, right? We know it’s the sun. HOWEVER, if we hold the paper in front of our face, the small paper blocks out the massive sun…because it’s all about focus! Whatever we choose to focus on will become paramount in our eyes and it will have the tendency to overshadow every part of our life’s journey. And when that happens, then what should be peripheral instead becomes principal!  We can focus on the questions or on the One who is the final answer for every question that is lingering in our hearts …but as always; the choice is ours.

So how about you dear one? Is the blue of your sky sprinkled with a few why’s of your own? Your heavenly Father discerns each and every question that your heart is carrying! Yes, He sees  the ones you bear from deep wounds inflicted, He’s fully aware of those that persist from bitter disappointments, He perceives the confusion that is overwhelming you that springs from the seemingly endless season of waiting for a long held dream to be realized and He understands the weight borne from the difficult circumstances that seem to have taken hold of your life. Nothing escapes the gaze of His all-seeing eye!

And because this life can be brimming with questions that we have no answers for, I believe He is asking us to gather up the uncertainties and bring them to His outstretched and waiting arms! As the Eternal, all knowing God, He can be trusted with the probing questions of our lives and as our Papa, He loves us with an everlasting love; so He can be relied upon to bring us clear resolution when the time has fully come!

And finally, we can be confident that every single query that overshadows our life will be completely answered by our adoring Father, when the time has been fulfilled.  So if not before, then on that very last day, when we stand before Him, we will know of a surety the whys of this life’s journey and we will gladly cry; “You are right my Father, You have done all things well!” But until that day, let us choose to look up with trusting and faithful hearts, knowing that all the questions of this life find their ultimate answer in Him and that He is unreservedly trustworthy to carry our whys, so that we may live our lives in shadow of His great love, trusting that His plan for us is good, that untold treasures lie ahead and that we are safe as we abide under the shelter of His massive wings!

Looking up,Sandy

Just Go

The day had been long and the last thing I wanted to do was climb into the driver’s seat, but we had driven separately, so there was little choice…or was there?  But it was in that moment that part of my pastor’s sermon from Luke 10 came flooding back to my heart. He’d talked about how when he first got his license, although he’d been chauffeured places many times before, he had no clue how to get there on his own. And from the passenger’s seat I sensed the Father whisper. “Yes, Sandy, it is easier to be driven everywhere, but if you want to go where I am taking you, you need to move over, otherwise this car won’t go anywhere…but the choice as always is yours daughter.” Or should I say the choice is ours?

That’s how I see the clear call to be a laborer in the fields that are white with the harvest. We can stubbornly remain in the passenger’s seat with a consumer’s mentality waiting for others to transport us or we can look beyond ourselves and consider the lost and dying world. Besides, to truly love someone it means that you’ll also love who they love, so I knew my decision was simple.

 Simple, not easy though. There’s always a cost to serve and a price to open your life to the possible rejection of others, but as those who have tasted of His love and salvation, it’d be inconceivable to not share the transforming message of Christ! It’s the reason we are still on this Earth and if we won’t answer the call to be sent then how will they hear? And if we refuse to go, then who?

Since his sermon from Luke 10 showcases the sending process, let’s take a closer look. The first thing we notice is that Jesus chose and appointed 70(or 72 depending on the version) of His disciples to be sent out. These were not random selections; they were specific individuals, sent to targeted locations. And we, just like these particular disciples have been hand-selected by Jesus. They had unique strengths and weaknesses and Jesus planned to use them distinctively to reach a certain population; also like us today. And it says that He sent them to the very places where He would be going. They would prepare the way for His coming. How exciting! We too are afforded the privilege to go before Him and set the stage so to speak for His upcoming visit to their unsuspecting hearts! And if we are listening to the sweet Holy Spirit, He will surely guide us to the fields that are white with harvest too.

Now this was to be a new season for the disciples. They were getting ready to embark on an unprecedented journey and I believe that believers today can also be on the cusp of a new season. In the natural we have to wait for the next season, but we can advance now when we submit yet another level of our lives to His direction. And together we’ll labor gathering the harvest and begin to grow in ways we’ve never imagined possible!

Thankfully though Jesus didn’t just throw them out there, He prepared them for their new adventure by sharing some guidelines and by giving them a new authority to use; a vehicle of sorts to get them (and their precious passengers) where they needed to go and He’ll do the same for each of us. To accomplish His goals we need authority to use the necessary tools and that’s true even in the natural. Don’t believe me? Just try to walk in a power plant or some other governmental agency and start touching their tools…you’ll get shown the door (or worse). Jesus knew that and that’s why He gave them the guidelines they needed.

Now that’s not say that their license had no strings attached to it. No, they had rules to follow and boundaries to protect. This is true with anyone who wants to drive a vehicle too. First you study the manual, take a written test, practice under supervision, take your road test, pay your fees and even then you must agree to abide by the rules of the road. And if you don’t, you’ll be fined. Well as believers, we are expected to study our life’s manual; the Bible, practice what it says under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, get tested every day through life’s experiences and when we don’t abide by the rules laid down, consequences follow.

No, what Luke was describing was no haphazard launching, in fact, this was a very well thought out mission because it was Jesus’ mission, not theirs! And likewise, the purpose of our granted license is to fulfill God’s purposes not ours! We get set free in Christ not to go where we want, but rather to be His hands and feet in this world. We are set free to serve! Our existence is about worshipping God, by giving Him glory though the joyful giving of our lives in service and just like the disciples, we have to choose to participate in the adventure!

And like the disciples, the offer of this sending is time limited; we are each appointed only a certain number of days on this earth with which to participate in the mission! They could’ve said no and I imagine, if we were very honest, we’d admit that we have said no to Jesus on various occasions, because in our heart of hearts there still lurks a part of us that wants to accomplish our mission and not His. But the fulfillment of our life’s purpose and thereby the greatest joy we could ever know is only found on His narrow path….but as always; the choice is ours.

Oh beloved, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, with a divine license in hand, let us make the choice to clear the junk out of our car to make room for others, let’s move to the driver’s seat, shift out of Park and embark on this joy filled, Jesus-centered adventure into the ready and waiting harvest fields!

                                                           The Race

“...Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance- unnecessary weight- and that sin which so readily clings to us and entangles us and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1

We each have a particular race to run, an appointed course that we are expected to traverse, and although our allotted courses are different, we can determine to have quality connections because we are all runners, who have the same final destination!

But how do we run that race? Anyone who really knows me would laugh at the thought of me giving instructions on running! I only know two things about running;
1. I don’t like it even though I know it’s good for me.
2. I don’t do it very well or for very long.

 I start out s-l-o-w on the treadmill, wearing a jacket, leisurely walking, reading a book, along with my dog Bella at my side (she LOVES the treadmill, go figure!) and gradually increase my speed, until I am at a jogging pace (the fastest I ever get to)...but before you know it I am breathing hard, sweating and turning DOWN the speed. Why? Because I’m out of shape and also have distractions and encumbrances that are slowing me down!

Well, what can we do when our race in this life gets so fast that it threatens to overwhelm us? Whenever my treadmill speeds up, there are a few things I do to keep up which also work in finishing the race that Papa has for me, even though my life’s pace is being accelerated.

1. I ditch the book, it is a distraction that I cannot concentrate on while jogging. Running the race requires my full attention. I cannot have my focus fixed on other things and expect to finish the course in a timely manner or maybe to complete it at all.  Papa is calling us to make Him our focal point and to lay aside our distractions. Now distractions may occasionally be acceptable when our pace is slow, but when we determine to run, they must be set aside, because they may trip us up or cause us to lose our way and end up on the wrong course, bringing possible disqualification.

2. I take off the jacket because it is weighing me down. Hebrews 12:1 talks about unnecessary weights, i.e. things we are carrying that we shouldn’t be. When I’m on the treadmill it could be a water bottle, an mp3 player or a jacket. The same can be true in our lives! We may be weighed down with a myriad of things including other’s expectations, personal failures, disappointments, or discouragements. So what can we do? Papa reminds us “let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance.”

Think about it...if you were sprayed by a skunk, what would you do with your clothes? Would you remove them s-l-o-w-l-y, being careful not to wrinkle them, painstakingly hanging them? Of course not! Clothes are hung up when we plan to wear them again and these are bound for the rubbish heap.  We can’t remove them fast enough! We should feel the same about the issues and circumstances of our lives that are weighing us down-unnecessarily. Pitch those things out and don’t look back!

3. I make Bella get off. There is only so much room on my treadmill; and with her there it is just too easy to get tripped up. Is she happy to go? No way! I have to pick her up, carry her outside the room and shut the door. Even then, she howls pitifully on the other side, but I have to remove her if I want to run.

The same holds true for the sin that so easily entangles us-it doesn’t want to go! It may assure us that there is plenty of room, but don’t be deceived; the path we frequent is a narrow one! With Papa’s help we can remove the sinful temptations that we leave lying around our well travelled path!  We can then choose to close the door and ignore its plaintive cries.

Well I usually do these things, but do you know what? I still can’t sprint for very long. Why? Because I have not developed endurance; the more I run consistently, the longer I can consistently run! Practice makes perfect and that goes for this journey of life too. Papa calls us to lay aside the distractions, to pitch the things that weigh us down, and to sever the sin that tries to cling to us and trip us up. After that, then we run and run and then run some more. We are expected to “...run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us.” We develop endurance through the running process; it is as we are steady and active in our persistence to run our appointed race that we get better at it : )

You’ve heard of “on the job training” right? Well, we are called to “on the journey training”, where we learn how to run the race, while we are running it! Our course has been set and NOW is the time to lace up our running shoes, set aside our distractions, encumbrances and “just do it”! We can trust our Father to guide and strengthen us, faithfully keeping us as we traverse His lovingly selected path, being confident that our final destination is assured and our ultimate victory is certain. God speed dear runner!