I Just Want a Gold Star

I was in a bit of a funk yesterday. Even though I've succeeded at getting quite a few household things done, as well as served in many ways during this time of quarantine, and posted my daily blog, still I'm not satisfied. As the doors for restaurants, businesses, and even my church are starting to open more, I’m self-analyzing myself. Did I read the books I was hoping to read? No. Did I immerse myself into God and His Word more than ever because I had the time to do so? I’m ashamed to say that I really didn’t dive as deep into His open arms as I thought I would have. Do I feel that my blogs really impacted my readers and made a difference in their lives? Not so much!

Suddenly, I have a “moment” when I sense the enemy of my heart is assaulting me. The script goes like this: “You can’t be used by God,” "You're over-the-hill -- you're done!" “Who do you think you are?” The lies of the enemy are that we can never measure up to God’s “do good” charts. You know the ones in Sunday School – if we memorized that scripture or we brought a friend with us, we’d get a sticky star by our name. Or the charts our parents made for us to do our chores? I want God's gold star by my name on His "do good" chart.

But then, into my little space, comes the assurance that it isn't God making me feel inadequate and insecure. It is always the voice of the enemy that deceives, belittles and makes us feel we're not enough. I look up scriptures and it is clear who accuses us and lies to us: "The devil was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) And, this scripture: "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

And the icing on the cake was this scripture: "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) So, therefore "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13) So, take that, Satan!

I have come to know that if we are showing up to serve God, if we are seeking to follow Him, and some-thing or some-one is trying to push us away, then we can be sure it is not God. He is not saying we are disqualified. He’s not hollering “shape up or ship out.” His instruction isn’t, “Come back when you’ve got it together.” Instead His invitation is, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28).

Harvest Time Up Ahead -- Keep Doing Good!

This blog inspiration is brought to us today by our good friend and mentor, St. Paul. His words are filled with hope for those of us who have been on the "do-good" tractor -- planting and planting, and we've been wondering if it has been worth it. Oh, but then comes Paul's firey voice cheering us on: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

It has been a tough row to hoe (speaking in planting and reaping terms) the last few years. Maybe you've gritted your teeth to stay kind and to bear it all. Or, you shut your eyes and put ear plugs in to deafen the harshness of the loud voices of the enemy. You may read these words and relate them to stuff going on in your family, or you may relate them to what's outside. Stones have been cast and angry voices raised. Hit and run proclamations. But we are still standing, somewhat stunned, but we're still here. We must not be done. It’s in times like these that retreat sounds so safe. Let’s go home, lock the doors, bar the windows and disconnect the doorbell. Gather up our stockpiled faith and ration out just enough to survive. It seems tempting to safeguard our hearts by taking them right out and sticking them in a steel encased safe. Then forget the combination.

But, then, our tried, tested and proven faith warrior friend, St. Paul -- who suffered great physical pain, was imprisoned, shipwrecked, mocked and beaten for his faith -- speaks again as a challenge and invitation: “Let us not grow weary of doing good." These words bring tears to my eyes, a lump to my throat. It's in this deeper, invisible place that sees the best in people, that reaches out in love, that keeps believing folks can change. This sort of hope has taken a beating lately. And as I type this blog, I talk to God about it and He replies "I understand."

I realize, He does. More than I can know, more than any of us comprehend. He knows what it is to love and love. To extend yourself so far that you are....oh, stretched out on a cross. Then we hear the words of St. Paul again: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2) Fixing our eyes on Jesus changes everything. Consider the perfect Man who endured such opposition from sinful men. Perhaps we are so disillusioned these days because we have been looking at each other. And we, mere humans, always fall short. We disappoint. We cave. But not Jesus.

So, we suit up and we keep doing good -- like Jesus. He is the reason we can stay in the race. Take the next step. Keep going. Keep believing. Most of all, keep loving. Not locked away, but the safest place for our hearts is entrusting them to the One who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. The One who does not grow weary. The One who, in the middle of all the noise and chaos and even danger, will never allow our hearts to be lost. So what do we do? We keep doing good -- harvest time is up ahead. I'm getting the biggest John Deere tractor I can find -- I'll need it because I'm not quitting. I'm going to love even more and expecting to reap a mammoth harvest! Care to borrow my tractor?

Rest for our Weary Souls

I'm here at Children's Hospital and a young mom with a special-needs child in a stroller along with two kids in tow, one of which has a break or fracture in her arm. I offer to push the stroller for her to the fracture clinic so she can attend to the injured one. She is obviously frazzled, weary of heart, soul AND body. I am reminded of Matthew 11:28-29 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29.

Rest for this mom may feel elusive. A radiology staff member stops by my desk, sees me reading. He says: "Aw. Reading your devotion?" He knows me and I know him. He asks me to pray for his wife: "She is taking her final exam tomorrow -- 90% requirement to pass. We are so excited that after that, we're headed out to church camp. We sure need this rest!" I love that! Church camp = rest! They are going for "soul" rest.

Sometimes the things that should make us feel rested..don't'. We may wake up after a restless night's sleep and our first thought is how early we can go back to bed tonight. Sometimes rest means just chillin' on the sofa to watch Wheel of Fortune but it doesn't make us feel rested because on that show someone wins $100,000 in a simple spin of a wheel, and we're needing just $500 to pay for a car repair. Dissatisfaction taps on our heart and the restlessness begins again.

Jesus invites us to a deeper rest -- a soul-rest! I love that He identified our "issue" of weariness without identifying how we got that way. His words and promise of rest applies to us -- no matter how we got so weary. But He wasn’t talking about physical rest; He was inviting us to a rest that is all-consuming. A rest we feel in our minds, bodies and spirits — this is soul-rest. And the only place we will find this rest is in Jesus. Soul-rest is deeper than any other kind of rest I’ve experienced. Soul rest is rooted in faith and confidence that we’re unconditionally and deeply loved, held safe in the arms of our Heavenly Father. Soul-rest comes when we trust God fully, which is quite different from merely saying we trust God. Words will not give us the rest our souls long for. Trust will.

God is utterly trustworthy. Each time I deliberately choose to trust God, fear loosens its grip on me. Anxiety recedes. Stress melts away. Worry doesn’t consume me. I am a different person than I was 10 years ago because of this soul-rest that comes from trusting Jesus. Today, Jesus invites all of us who feel worried and burdened, from whatever has made us feel overwhelmed, exhausted and guilty, to come to Him.

This is the message that will give each of us the abundant life Jesus offered. Not abundant with work, but overflowing with love and filled with the true soul-rest we long for. Lord, thank You for providing rest for our souls. Please help us fully trust You for that rest. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Psalm 23:1-3, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”

ENOUGH Already!

Ever said these words? “I’ve had it! Enough is enough! I'm sick and tired and I can’t take it anymore! I’ll never be good enough! I’ve had ENOUGH!” ENOUGH already!

ENOUGH (in the context of “had enough”): outraged, tired, sick, weary, disappointed, fed up, overwrought, up to here, teed off

We’ve all been there – to the crushing point of exhaustion, when we’ve long stood for an answer to our prayers and it seemed the prayers were hitting ceiling and we were left feeling hopeless and incredibly disappointed. Maybe you’re reading this today and you REALLY relate to those emotions. The sheer monotony of it all is tiring! It sucks the life out of us to try some more, only to be disappointed again. The enemy jerks us around with “you’re not good enough, young enough, smart enough”, “you might as well give up, you’re going to fail again – you’re JUST NOT ENOUGH”. So we declare...."ENOUGH already!" That kind of weariness is a soul fatigue that needs real soul rest.

I get that. Praying and giving and caring for others wasn’t enough. Doing the right thing didn’t even seem to be enough. It’s only when I came to the end of my rope and my own abilities that I realized “I can NEVER be enough, on my own.”

Those thoughts and words are very likely RIGHT ON. We aren’t enough and we don’t have to feel guilty for the frustration. Even Jesus acknowledged in the Garden that He would rather have the cup He was about to drink pass from Him. He understands us and, mercifully, we don’t have to be ENOUGH because our Heavenly Father IS ENOUGH. His love for us is inexhaustible. No matter how much of God’s generous love we experience, there is always more available for the asking. If ever anyone had ENOUGH, it was St. Paul and rather than declaring "ENOUGH!", he gave us the key to survival: "He (God) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Years ago I was a co-narrator for a Jewish Seder Passover Meal at my church. A beautiful prayer, recited during the meal, was the refrain “Dayenu” which translates to “It would have been ENOUGH for us.” Here is some of that prayer:

“God, if you had only created us, it would have been enough for us. If you had only freed us from slavery in Egypt, it would have been enough for us. If you had only given us your wise Law, it would have been enough for us. If you had only fed us with manna, it would have been enough for us. If you had only brought us into the Promised Land, it would have been enough."

The prayer lists many more blessings that God has poured out on His people and concludes: “How much more do we have to be thankful for the manifold and unbounded blessings of the All-Present God!” What a great prayer for us today! No matter how much we realize all that God has done for us, there is always more. Maybe we have been blessed in ways that we haven’t even noticed. Certainly there are still more gifts He has in store for us. There is never a reason to doubt that God wants to give us more, and in fact, is likely orchestrating the presentation of that MORE right now!

Maybe we should come up with our own "Dayenu" list. We should think of the ways our Heavenly Father has provided for us, blessed us, and revealed His love to us. Maybe we should take some time in prayer today to rejoice in His boundless gifts in our life—past, present, and future.

“Lord, if you had only forgiven my sin and removed my guilt, it would have been enough. But You have done so much more. All praise to You, my God of MORE THAN ENOUGH!”

It's NESTING Time or is it BUY NOW and DO MORE Time?

Day 338 of Photo Inspirations -- It's NESTING Time or is it BUY NOW and DO MORE Time?
Oh my -- the holiday ads, promotions and marketing campaigns are amped up.   Everyday, the message is "buy now for best bargains", 50% off today only, deal of the day.  BUY -- BUY -- BUY!! There are banners outside stores, ads coming in the mail and tons of them coming through on social media.  It takes great willpower to NOT be drawn in.  After all, it's only 21 more days until Christmas!

On Thanksgiving Day, (my first photo inspiration for today), folks were camped out at our Best Buy since early hours, to get their "must have" merchandise when the store would open up for Black Friday sales.  It was so cold and raining out that day.  We pulled up beside a couple of guys and asked "What is it that you're waiting for?"  They responded "A  $450 TV for $150!"  I guess, for them, it was worth the wait to save $300.  And, I'll admit, yesterday, I was drawn into Michaels to save 50% (that day only) on an item I wanted.  Peer pressure -- rather, buying pressure.

Then there's the chatting on Facebook and Pinterest about really awesome decorations and craft items for Christmas -- so, once again, our reasoning is we need to do more to make this season just right.

Isn't there something we can do to stop the deafening sounds that separate  us from what this season is all about?

This is the most awesome season of Advent where tranquility is so needed -- to find that "nesting" place where we're awaiting the birth -- the coming of our Lord.  Don't we really want to push the MUTE button to separate ourselves from the crowds and busyness to enter into His stillness by taking some R&R (rest and relaxation) time to go find HIM in the secret place?

I'm a realist and I know we often don't have much choice but to stay on hyper-mode, but somewhere there must be a quiet little "nesting" spot we can find so we can pause for some silence when we can. It may mean we have to turn down the TV or the radio so we can hear God's still small voice.  It may be we practice God's presence even if it's just to read a short devotion or simply to whisper His name in a prayer.  Advent is about preparing for the Christ Child to arrive.  Maybe that means, like a Mama Bird preparing for the arrival of her babies, to sit and wait and breathe in peace and quiet and exhale the worries, the stress, the fears and concerns.  I promise, God is quite aware of all that's on our plates.  He totally gets us, but all the while....He's over in a quiet "nesting" spot just waiting for us to cozy up to Him for refreshing and restoration.

"Come to me, all of you who are weary and loaded down with burdens, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28