As I have sought to hone the skill (or should I say, grace) of listening to God I have been repeatedly arm twisted by God (i.e. humbled) to admit that, yes, He does speak through my wife too. Maybe what has made this realization a bit harder for me is the fact that I married someone who was raised in a more liberal church tradition - one that the tradition I was raised in would consider not as "in tune" with God (how arrogant is that!). But one of the chief attractions to me in regards to Becky was the integrity, the love for the truth, that I saw in her. She has a purity of heart that often allows her to hear God quicker than I will, especially in certain areas.
One such area where I have discovered she is much more in tune than I am, is in the area of personal dreams/heart's desires. It has always been difficult for me to identify what I REALLY want in life, what the deepest desires of my heart are. Maybe it's because of a certain pietism or spirituality that I took on early in life that felt that submitting to God's will meant squelching one's own personal desires. What mattered most, I came to believe, was knowing and doing God's will. My own desires were therefore invalid and thus ignored (and lost).
Well, I married someone who was very good at letting me know what HER desires and longings were! And it would irritate me at times because I thought of it as being unspiritual, as not submitting to God's will and desires - especially when her desires cost more money than I had!
Well, this struggle between us came to the fore this past summer right after we had looked at a property for sale in a geographical location that we felt pretty sure God was leading us to. To me, this property looked like it had "God's will" written all over it. There were just too many things about it that couldn't simply be coincidence, that had to be God. Except for one thing. Becky's desires. That property wasn't big enough - neither the land nor the house - to accomodate the dream that was in her heart. Needless to say, as we were driving away talking about all this, I felt righteous indignation rising up in me and an argument ensued.
Long story short, we got past that crisis OK, continued to seek God's leading about the property, and because nothing else was showing up on our "radar", felt like we just needed to submit to all these "obvious signs" of God's will.
January 25 was my birthday and something amazing happened that day. Becky and I listened to a sermon during which the story of Perez's birth was retold (end of Genesis 28). Perez means "breaking out". Perez literally pushed his twin brother aside, in the womb, in order to be born first. He was carrying on his grandfather Jacob's proclivity to do everything in his power to achieve his desired goal. God liked that trait in Jacob (not the unrighteous, selfish part, but the determined, not-to-be-put-off part), and he liked it so much in Perez that he looked past the fact that he was born of incest and included him in the line of Messiah! As Becky and I reflected on Perez's story we got to talking about "the property" again. Becky could not shake her disappointment in that property, and it finally dawned on me that she was being like Jacob and Perez. She knew what she wanted and didn't want to let go of it! And that stubborness (I finally realized) was a good thing, a God thing! When I was finally able to get past this false, religious spirit in me that kept putting down Becky's desires as being unspiritual, or unsubmissive, and affirm them as valid, God-given desires - desires worth fighting for - we both experienced a joy that I must say we'd never experienced before (well, I guess we felt that way when we got married - but where did it go?!). It was a feeling of lightness that comes when a cloud or weight has been lifted, when one knows that they are really doing the right thing (to acknowledge the deepest desire of our heart and go for it, regardless of seemingly impossible obstacles).
In the words of that pioneer of the modern-day missions movement, William Carey,
"Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God."
And joy will follow.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)
I just love the simple eloquence of God. . . and that he can speak through something as nasty as a head cold as easily as through the majestic symbolism of an eagle!
As I have been recovering from this head cold of mine I've reflected on the two basic options in overcoming such a thing. One is the pharmaceutical route, where you take one or more drugs to alleviate the symptoms until the body somehow does the real work of throwing off whatever you're fighting. The other route, which in my mind is the much preferred route, is to work with your body's natural functions and give it all the help you can. This more "natural" approach may not appear as neat and tidy as the pharmaceutical way, but in the end it actually is neater and tidier. The drug route tends to work against your body's natural functions (hence all the "side effects"), and if the science of psychology tells me anything, I would think that suppressing a symptom rather than getting to the root cause of it is not a good thing. The natural way involves a little more work in that one has to become informed on how bodily functions work and how one can help them work well. But once that basic knowledge is achieved, getting and staying healthy actually becomes a lot more simpler. A lifestyle can be developed whereby health, more often than not, will be the rule and very little time, money and effort is wasted on drugs and doctor bills.
Righteousness - living by the tree of life - is the simplest way to live. You simply do what is right. It's not easy, but it is simple. Jesus is that tree of life. We must live as he lived. "I do only what I see my Father doing" is the way he summed it up. Implicit in that simple statement are two things: knowing what God has authoritatively done and said (Scripture), and becoming increasingly aware of His ongoing still, small voice. This is the most "natural" way to live, as represented by the tree of life. The way of living based on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tries to micromanage everything - pushing the right button here, following the right principle there; taking the right pill here, following the latest fad there. It might work fine for a while ("there is a way that seems right to a man..."), but sooner or later the "side effects" begin to kick in ("but the end thereof is the way of death'').
I don't enjoy having to endure the symptoms of my cold. But I have learned to become aware of and appreciate the process by which my body is cleansing itself of an infection. In the end I can actually know and feel that I am healthier. The nasty cold bacteria can become a tool of God to alert me to areas where I had let up in my healthy lifestyle; and when that is corrected, true health (not a drug cover-up) becomes the result. When we do things God's way, in accordance with nature as He created it, life really does become simplified. Not easier, but definitely more simple.
A final note: I know there are some whose lives would be incredibly more painful if not altogether threatened if it weren't for drugs. What I have said is not intended to depreciate the value of such drugs. They have their place until a truer way to healing is revealed.
"I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)
As I have been recovering from this head cold of mine I've reflected on the two basic options in overcoming such a thing. One is the pharmaceutical route, where you take one or more drugs to alleviate the symptoms until the body somehow does the real work of throwing off whatever you're fighting. The other route, which in my mind is the much preferred route, is to work with your body's natural functions and give it all the help you can. This more "natural" approach may not appear as neat and tidy as the pharmaceutical way, but in the end it actually is neater and tidier. The drug route tends to work against your body's natural functions (hence all the "side effects"), and if the science of psychology tells me anything, I would think that suppressing a symptom rather than getting to the root cause of it is not a good thing. The natural way involves a little more work in that one has to become informed on how bodily functions work and how one can help them work well. But once that basic knowledge is achieved, getting and staying healthy actually becomes a lot more simpler. A lifestyle can be developed whereby health, more often than not, will be the rule and very little time, money and effort is wasted on drugs and doctor bills.
Righteousness - living by the tree of life - is the simplest way to live. You simply do what is right. It's not easy, but it is simple. Jesus is that tree of life. We must live as he lived. "I do only what I see my Father doing" is the way he summed it up. Implicit in that simple statement are two things: knowing what God has authoritatively done and said (Scripture), and becoming increasingly aware of His ongoing still, small voice. This is the most "natural" way to live, as represented by the tree of life. The way of living based on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil tries to micromanage everything - pushing the right button here, following the right principle there; taking the right pill here, following the latest fad there. It might work fine for a while ("there is a way that seems right to a man..."), but sooner or later the "side effects" begin to kick in ("but the end thereof is the way of death'').
I don't enjoy having to endure the symptoms of my cold. But I have learned to become aware of and appreciate the process by which my body is cleansing itself of an infection. In the end I can actually know and feel that I am healthier. The nasty cold bacteria can become a tool of God to alert me to areas where I had let up in my healthy lifestyle; and when that is corrected, true health (not a drug cover-up) becomes the result. When we do things God's way, in accordance with nature as He created it, life really does become simplified. Not easier, but definitely more simple.
A final note: I know there are some whose lives would be incredibly more painful if not altogether threatened if it weren't for drugs. What I have said is not intended to depreciate the value of such drugs. They have their place until a truer way to healing is revealed.
"I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)
Thursday, January 22, 2009
the resting eagle
As I was driving to work yesterday my eye was drawn to an unusual sight - a bald eagle resting high up on the top of a large tree. This is only the second time Becky or I have spotted an eagle this far from the Mississippi, where their numbers have been increasing of late. As I reflected on that simple, yet somehow profound picture, the thought that came to me was, "This is your time to rest."
Discerning one's times and seasons is so critical to a spiritual life, a life in tune with the Spirit. There's a part of me that feels stunted, like I'm making so little progress. I interpret my circumstances as "non-eventful" and having little meaning or significance. Is the winter, or the "dry season", less significant or important than the vibrant growing season when all is lusciously green and bursting with new life? Is night less important than day, rest less important than activity?
My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty,
I do not concern myself with great matters,
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
(Psalm 131)
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says,
"In returning and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength . . .
The LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"
(Isaiah 30:15,18)
Discerning one's times and seasons is so critical to a spiritual life, a life in tune with the Spirit. There's a part of me that feels stunted, like I'm making so little progress. I interpret my circumstances as "non-eventful" and having little meaning or significance. Is the winter, or the "dry season", less significant or important than the vibrant growing season when all is lusciously green and bursting with new life? Is night less important than day, rest less important than activity?
My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty,
I do not concern myself with great matters,
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
(Psalm 131)
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says,
"In returning and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength . . .
The LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"
(Isaiah 30:15,18)
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