Who do You Smell Like?

I've been missing my friend Connie.  She moved this summer and I haven't seen her for a few months.  She taught piano lessons to my kids and I loved that we had a scheduled "check in". Just a moment in the doorway when we'd look into each other's eyes to see what really was the answer to, "How are you?"  We'd know.  Then we'd exchange a quick hug and I'd be off to make dinner and she to teach another lesson.

Later on I'd catch a whiff of her lovely perfume...I could smell a trace of her scent left on my clothing from our hug.  I loved it.  It's not so much that I loved the aroma as much as all the joy and affection that I associate with it.

Every single time this happened I would wonder what sort of scent I had been leaving behind...  Not literally--though I am fairly paranoid about body odour--but figuratively.  The answer to that question lies in what I've been soaking.

Some days it's the cesspool of self-pity or ingratitude.  I may as well get real--cesspool is just a fancy word for septic tank.  So if that's what I've been soaking in, I'm going to leave behind a, well, crappy scent.  You'll be so glad you hung out with me...or not.

If my heart has been bent toward gratitude, I'm likely to leave behind a much more pleasant scent.

There's a fragrance I want to leave more than any other...the essence of the incredible Love that has rescued me.  I want you to know that no matter how terrible your day has been, no matter the challenges you're facing, no matter how miserably you've failed...there is One whose arms are wide open, longing to pour healing and hope-filled Love into you.

His name is Jesus.

But thank God!

He...continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession.

Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere,

like a sweet perfume.

2 Corinthians 2:14 NLT

                                                                                                                                 

Asking for Help

"I will call you whenever I'm in trouble,

and you will answer me."

Who among us has not called out in desperation?  And who has not wondered if anyone is listening?

The chunk of time that stretches between the calling and the answer is the battleground.  Will we believe He's already got an answer on the way or will we call Him a liar?  It is only when we are in that place of tension that faith is really faith.  Faith, the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen.  Faith, the thing that pleases God.

In that no-man's land of waiting and wondering...when we declare that He is good and faithful and that we believe, we stir pleasure in the heart of the God of the universe.  He knows what it's like to live in human skin and not be able to see past the end of our noses.  He knows.  And the audience of heaven cheers us on. 

We call and He answers.  This is my story.  I know it is true.  He rescued me in a huge and eternal way from a life of hopelessness.  He daily rescues me from trouble.  Because He is good and full of love.

O Lord, you are so good

so ready to forgive,

so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

No pagan god is like you, O Lord.

None can do what you do!

Psalm 86:5-7

Hebrews 11 & 12

This post is part of a series Love in a Box

Call...Rescue...Glory!

I tried to say what I meant, but it didn't come out that way...or maybe it did, but there was a filter and it wasn't understood.  It really mattered to me.  I wanted to be understood.  I may never know exactly what went awry, but what I do know is that communication is tricky and there have been a thousand times in my life when it's been hard.  Too hard.  I've made all kinds of "agreements" in those moments.  An open door for discouragement and heaviness to creep in.

My fingertips have been silent for a week.  I wanted to write, but it seemed the well had run dry.  I didn't like it.  Speaking, declaring, writing...words of hope unleashed in any form make me vibrantly, passionately alive.  The nasty double whammy is that heaviness, by it's very nature, makes it hard for us to find the key to precisely what is amiss.

Then call on me when you are in trouble,

and I will rescue you,

and you will give me glory...

I called.  And called.  I'm not always good at listening right away.  Quicker to make accusations about whose fault is what, to play the blame game.  A futile game that's not actually fun so I don't know why it's called a game...

Four days later I listened.  Really listened. Quietly.  Then I knew.  Pain had come because of who said what, but the heaviness came because of what I agreed with..and it wasn't what any human said.  It was the voices that say, "You don't make any sense.  You say stupid things.  You're really bad at communicating..."  It sounded enough like the truth that I believed it.  That was enough to shut down the flow.

I repented to the One who has filled me with words...sorry, so sorry, that I've believed the stupid lies again. Forgave the one who misunderstood.  I'm not always good at communicating.  I need grace.  Lots of it.  But I have been given something to say and I need to say it...no one else will say it in quite the same way or to the same people.  Because the words He gives are spirit and life, they're powerful.  Of course, the enemy will assault, attack, and undermine at every opportunity.

You have an assignment too.  It's unique to you and no one else can do it.  When you're on assignment you may feel terrified, but also vividly alive.  Perhaps you too can recognize that this gift gets horribly assaulted from time to time.  Call on Him when you're in trouble.  He will rescue.  Cast off the lie and shine.  We need you.

The rescued ones give Him glory!

He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,

a praise song to our God.

More and more people are seeing this:

they enter the mystery, abandoning themselves to God.

Psalm 40:3 MSG

Psalm 50:15

Rescue

Do you have any challenges in your life that keep coming up over and over again?  You've done all you know to do, but are still waiting for breakthrough?  It can get so very, very wearing.

I read a verse tonight that I'm hanging on to.  Turns out I'm not the first to be in this situation...

"We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure...as a result we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.  And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again.  We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.  And you are helping us by praying for us..."

Weariness can come from the long wait, it will definitely increase when relying on ourselves for rescue.  I need to learn how to rely on God.  More.  To remember sooner that He is the source and supply.  After all if He raised the dead, He can definitely handle this one.

He did rescue.  He will rescue.  He will continue to rescue.

Placing my confidence in Him, learning not to rely on my own ability.  Thankful, so very thankful, for friends who pray.

2 Corinthians 1:9-10