Experiencing Some Turbulence

"Please fasten your seatbelt as we are experiencing some turbulence."

This seemingly random thought popped into my head today.  On second thought, I began to think it wasn't random at all, but a message I needed to hear.

I've definitely been experiencing some turbulence.  Day two of school wasn't much easier than day one...hard to get everyone out of holiday relaxation mode and back to work.  Speaking of work--my paid job feels a little stressful and overwhelming with deadlines looming.

Yep, turbulence.  I should definitely be fastening my seatbelt and trusting the Pilot to get me through this time...

~

Seatbelt.  Belt.  Several hours later this thought kept floating to the surface.  (I'm a little slow some days!)  I paused and actually gave some thought to how on earth I was to "fasten my seatbelt."

"Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth..."  Ah!  Truth.  Stand my ground--not sink into weariness and lose ground--through truth.

"God will supply all your needs..."  ALL.  Body, soul, and spirit.

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.  When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown... For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour..."

Truth.  Just these few thoughts were making me feel more secure.  Shalom--that peace in the midst of the storm--began to settle over me.

If you're going through any turbulence of your own, grab hold of some truth and trust the Pilot.  He will be with you, you will not drown, He is your Saviour...

Ephesians 6:14; Philippians 4:19; Isaiah 43:2-3;

The Seed Will Grow

Last weekend we planted the garden.

I love the soft and perfect smoothness of the freshly tilled soil...the perfectly straight lines...conversations with the kids about seeds and weeds...the way the kids seem to intuitively draw the parallels between the garden and life.

I love the promise every seed holds.

Once planted, all that seed requires is for me to provide the right conditions and it will grow.

Last night we turned on the sprinkler.

In two weeks I'll need to weed.

The seeds will grow. That's what seeds do.

There's been a Seed planted in my heart. Sometimes I get anxious and feel like I need to be doing something to make it grow.

As if we could somehow make a seed grow. The Creator of the seed is the one who makes it grow.

I need to vigilantly pull out the weeds of bitterness, unforgiveness, hopelessness, fear and unbelief...all the ugly stuff. I need to water it with truth. The Creator is the one the gives life to the seed. The Creator is the one who makes it bear fruit.


"Keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

"I am certain that God who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished..."

"For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him..."

"He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says..."

"God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful..."


As my son would say, "That's a LOT of truth!!!"



Hebrews 12:2; Philippians 3:6, 2:13; 1 Corinthians 1:8-9; 1Thes. 5:24

Anchored to Truth

I convinced my husband to sign up for dance classes. Really. We grew up in a church culture that frowned upon dancing, but my body longs to move with music. You'd think that longing would translate into some sort of instinctive ability, but it doesn't. I need to be told. I need to envision diagrams on the floor and follow them. I think it must take a lot of patience to teach me. Yet, once I get it, I think it's a blast.

At dance class the instructor intervened several times with helpful tips. Close to the end of the class he approached me and told me I just wasn't doing it right. "What's wrong? Why can't you get it?"

Panic.

I was back in grade nine algebra with the teacher using similar words. What, indeed, is wrong with me? If you don't know and I don't know, then we are in dire straits. Maybe there is something "wrong" with me. Just as in grade nine, I realized at this moment that everyone was looking at me. And at my abysmal failure. As in grade nine, the floor didn't open up and swallow me. Thankfully, with maturity has come the ability to endure to the end with a modicum of dignity.

I awoke several times in the night with a swirl of thoughts and emotions to process. Being a less-than-great dancer isn't a big deal. The response, however, was a clue to something significant.

Fast forward a few days and I find my girls are frequently shrieking in frustration at their brother and I'm repeatedly scolding him for tormenting them. The poor boy needs some better weather so he can burn off his energy outside. In the wake of all this chiding, he sidles up to me and asks, "Do you still like me?" And then, "Why?"

In that moment I recognize that it's in times of weakness and failure that our identity is assaulted. Who am I? Stupid? Again? Failure? Bad?

Knowing who we really are is the key to getting through these rough waters. By "knowing" I mean that you've spent so much time pondering and meditating on it, that it's what bubbles to the surface in difficult times. Being anchored to truth doesn't mean that we won't be tossed about, but it does mean that we won't be shipwrecked.

What sort of tapes play in your head when you recognize failure? What does your Papa say about you?

"...I long for him (my darling child) and surely will have mercy on him." Jer. 31:20b

"My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9

"For God has said, 'I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.' So we can say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?'" Heb. 13:5-6

Secure in these truths we can venture into life boldly risking vulnerability and failure.

I've sometimes wished to reduce God to a fairy god mother who would magically wave a wand over my life and render everything perfect inside and out. He provides so much more. He offers to walk with us, picking us up when we fall, and lending His strength. All the while we grow from strength to strength and from glory to glory.

"I love you, Lord; you are my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock,

in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.

The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.

But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help.

He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears."

Psalm 18:1-6

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Someone recently used my credit card on the other side of the continent. They pretended to be me. It was a case of mistaken identity.

Another recent day someone was quite rude to me, treating me as though I'm not actually the beloved daughter of the King. I almost believed it. Another case of mistaken identity.

So much hinges on knowing who we are.

Some days I act like a twit. I'm insensitive and self-centered. Recognition of that fact is uncomfortable and it would be easy to think that my identity is Idiot or Stupid or Failure Again. That's not who I am.

Some days people around me are demanding and unthankful. It would be easy to treat them like that's who they are.

Some days people are dealing with their own stuff and they feel threated, anxious, insecure or jealous and they respond to others with an attitude of, "Who do they think they are??"

There's only one true identifier of who I am and who you are. It's not my opinion and it's not your opinion...it's all about who our Daddy is and what He says about us. He uses words like:

Beloved (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

Treasure (Deuteronomy 7:6, 1Samuel 25:29)

Precious (Isaiah 43:4)

Delight (Isaiah 62:4)

Friend (John 15:15)

Forgiven (Romans 8:1-2)

When my actions contradict those facts I need to apologize--do whatever is required to clean up my mess--but I'm still who He says I am. When the words or actions of others disagree with what He says, I need to forgive them and remind myself of the truth.

I am who He says I am.

You are who He says you are.

Even before he made the world,

God loved us and chose us in Christ

to be holy and without fault in his eyes.

God decided in advance to adopt us

into his own family by bringing us to himself

through Jesus Christ.

This is what he wanted to do,

and it gave him great pleasure

Ephesians 1:4-5

Declaration of...Faith

June is a crazy month for me... As a teacher and parent there's just a whole lot going on. It all screeches to a halt with a giant crescendo on the Last Day of School and I discover that I'm utterly exhausted. Flat. I long for sleep and when I'm not sleeping, all I want to do is lie around and read.

It's really important to take time to rest and relax--for our bodies, our souls, and our spirits. After a couple of days of rest, I was still feeling like I was carrying around a weight in my soul. I've learned that you can be weary in body without being weighted down in soul and spirit so I was motivated to get to the root of this. I picked up a piece of paper I have entitled "Daily Confessions of Faith". I began to speak out loud, "This is going to be a great day. God is guiding and directing my steps. His favor is surrounding me. Goodness and mercy are following me. I am excited about today. I am starting my day with faith and expectancy and I am anticipating good things..."

As soon as I began to speak, light began to flood my soul! Heaviness and weariness can creep in just because we have made agreements with the "facts" of our lives rather than God's truth. Confession of His truth breaks off the chains of heaviness! This is not the same thing as the power of positive thinking. The power of positive thinking rests in our ability to think up good thoughts, keep on thinking them, and somehow create our own reality. Success rests in our ability to do it. It's a counterfeit. The real thing is declaring what God has already said to be true. He said it, He promises it, it has already been created for us, we simply need to receive it. The power is of God rather than of us.

You can find all kinds of "confessions" on the internet. You want to be sure that you're confessing something rock-solidly based on the Word of God. I highly recommend Dr. Neil Anderson's materials. I regularly use his confessions Who I Am in Christ and 20 Cans of Success.

It's also important to "declare" your confession, to speak it out loud. Yesterday my daughter was feeling miserable. I encouraged her to go out onto the deck and shout, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" It was hard to do. At first all she could do was whisper, but when she declared it a huge smile filled her face!! The lie of discouragement was dispelled and truth brought freedom and joy!

"You will also declare a thing,
and it will be established for you;
so light will shine on your ways."
Job 22:28 NKJV

Ow, Charlie, That Really Hurt!

So, it's been three weeks since I've written a post. Did I start with a bang and then abandon my reader? No. I stepped in a landmine and was injured. I was beginning to heal when I stepped into another one! The pieces are starting to mend. Just barely. But I'm risking communication. You see, one of my biggest fears in life is being misunderstood. It's something I think about every time I make a post. Chances are good that someone won't understand my point as I intended it. Risk.

Does my writing do anyone any good if I'm not vulnerable? Given enough time, my hunger for more of God and His life bubbles to the surface and I can't resist the call and so I risk again. His call is for me to encourage His followers. Like fresh water there has to be something coming in and going out. I've got to be vulnerable and give in order to be alive. Ironically, my last post was about trusting and leaping and soaring. Sometimes when we leap it feels like we crash rather than soar. I'm hoping that this recent crash will just be an opportunity for the Divine Physician to put me back together in a better way. I want to say with Joseph, "What you meant for evil, God meant for good." (Gen. 50:20) He takes all of our pain, if we'll give it to Him, and makes something beautiful and strong out of it, something that reveals His glory.

As for the landmine, it was of the verbal sort. Someone had built a case on a misunderstanding and let me have it. I was shaken! Doesn't happen to me very often, I guess. I tried to look for the value and learn something from it. It definitely made me grateful for my grace-filled friends whose love covers a multitude of my flaws and give me the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty.

The second landmine was someone who meant well and may have been speaking the truth, but the effect was lost in the lack of apparent love. Condemnation and accusation are a poor substitute for a word "fitly spoken." (Proverbs 25:11) What could have been a neat and helpful touch of the scalpel became more like carnage.

Communication is tough. Most of us fit into two categories: Forget it, too Risky or I Don't Mind Saying it Like it Is! Healthy communication is such an important part of relationships. The book of Proverbs is full of good advice on communication. I'm not about to write a grand dissertation on communication, but I'll mention a few tidbits I've picked up along the way.

My friend Jody always says, "If you're looking forward to saying it, you're not the person meant to carry the message." That one's caught me a few times!

Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak the truth in love. Honestly, when someone or something bothers me, love isn't the primary emotion. "Speak the truth in irritation" doesn't accomplish the same thing at all! Often when we want to change people it's because they bug us not because we love them! In all the "one another's" of scripture not once does it say "fix one another". There are a few verses about correcting one another but they come with lots of caveats to be humble and loving. There are far more verses about loving and praying for one another. There's a place for healthy communication and there's also a place for trusting that God is at work in that person's life too, just like He is in ours. Sometimes we're a really slow work in progress.

I heard Francis Chan talk about how we're all parts of the Body of Christ, but we don't want to be the appendix: it doesn't do much and it has the potential to blow up and make us sick! I really like that analogy. However appendices can and do blow. When we suffer from the fallout Christ said we're supposed to forgive them AND pray for their happiness and blessing (Luke 6:28).

"Some people make cutting remarks,
but the words of the wise bring healing."
Prov 12:18