Month March 2021

Changes in Vision

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The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

(Attributed to a variety of sources including Albert Einstein)

On March 25, 2021, I went to get in my car and noticed my irises had bloomed overnight. It’s always the first flower to bloom in that flowerbed, and it always takes me by surprise. Life can be the same way as many families discovered that day as tornado warning sirens filled the air all over the state. I am grateful that I woke up to see the same iris the next morning, still blooming despite all the storms. But, sometimes it takes a disturbance to help us see more clearly.

Seasons of Change

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11

My irises always let me know that spring is upon us. Unfortunately, it also brings turbulent weather and allergies. Anytime change comes upon us there is bound to be turbulence, but it is the shake ups that force us out of our ruts and makes us take a look around. Often we find things that need to be done. For instance, I already have a mental list of chores that need to be done around the yard now that I no longer have the winter weather as an excuse to stay indoors. Spiritually, both individually and corporately as a church, we need to take a look around as we come out of a turbulent season. What needs to be done? What needs to be done differently?

Assess the Landscape

Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Matthew 13:30

First of all, we need to assess the landscape to see where we are. For example, I have two stumps and laundry pole that are getting in my way of maintaining my yard. I have been throwing around ideas on how to work around or remove the obstacles, but I seem stuck with them for the moment. Sometimes God leaves the obstacles in our way because to remove them would hurt more than it helped. So, I have to figure out how to work around them by mitigating their influence as much as possible. Usually that means maintaining the area around it so that weeds don’t overrun and keep me from doing what needs to be done. We live in this world, but we are not of this world, so we have to learn to work around obstacles.

Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

John 15:2

At other times I have to prune with a passion. I have some dead plants and limbs that need cutting out before they become serious problems later. There are also weeds that need cutting down and maintained all season. Spiritually speaking, God often prunes with a passion. We need to be willing to accept His pruning and weeding so that we can be used in His vision for our church and our communities. It may require a new approach, doing things in a new way.

Find a Landmark

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

Proverbs 28:18

When we lose our way, our first step should be to take a look around us and take stock of where we are. Once we assess the landscape, then we should look for a landmark to help guide us. For Christians, we need our moral compass set to true north: Jesus Christ. When we set our eyes on Christ, we gain a kingdom perspective. Instead of looking through rose-colored glasses, we are looking through Christ-centered glasses. A kingdom perspective will change everything.

If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always gotten.

(Attributed to Jessie Potter)

Adjust Your Course

When you know where you are and have identified where you want to go, you are ready to plot a course. Usually, this means adjusting your course. It means being willing to change. In the book Say Yes: How God-Sized Dreams Take Flight by Britt Mooney, the author talks about how this group of Christians said yes to God at every opportunity and how God blessed their ministry abundantly above what they imagined. But, they didn’t stop at saying yes to the vision; they took action and stepped out in faith. We have to be willing to let go of our limited perspective and get a God-sized vision. It won’t be easy, but the end results will be worth it.

What vision has God given you? What is the next step He wants you to take?

A Word Fitly Spoken

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A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Proverbs 25:11

For the last couple of weeks I have been debating about what to do about transportation. My car hit 300,000 miles, so I was faced with the dilemma of keep it going or get another car. I found a couple of cars that might work, but the price was a little more than I really wanted to pay. I also was just at the point in my budget where I actually could cover my current bills and set up payments to take care of an outstanding bill. A car payment would just put me into the same old mess. When the credit union wouldn’t loan me the money, I decided that I should just keep my old car running by making a few repairs, pay off the bill, and try to start saving for at least a down payment. On Monday the car broke down on the way home, leaving me stranded on the side of the road despite having repairs done. I was beginning to think I had made the wrong decision.

As I contemplated trying to get a loan through the dealership, I was praying for guidance. All day long I kept running into the same idea: Trust God. First, my devotional reading two days in a row were as follows:

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.

Psalms 112:7

The writer was talking about if we had confidence in God’s provision, then our lives would be so different. When we get bad news, we shouldn’t be afraid if we trust in God to handle the situation. The next day the scripture reading was as follows:

5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Hebrews 13:5-6

The author wrote about a warning light on her car and a repair that didn’t fit into her budget. She noted that earlier that same week God had turned a mistake into a perfectly timed solution. It was so on point to my situation that it stunned me although we should never be surprised when God answers us so clearly.

Another book I was reading talked about how they had prayed for this piece of equipment for 18 months with no way to pay for it. Then, God had it donated to them, and the person said he had put the item in storage 18 months ago. God had prepared the answer for the perfect time without them having to worry about cost. They just had to be patient and wait on God’s timing.

Then, I saw a Dave Ramsey Instagram post about no car payment being the best thing.

Then, I scrolled through and saw this:

I decided to wait 6 months to a year to save up money for another car and to pay off the other bill. Since then, through a couple of circumstances, a couple of things were taken off my budget and a couple of opportunities for extra work have popped up.  God will provide a way for us, but sometimes we have to be willing to wait and deal with minor inconveniences in order to grow our faith.

Since I made the decision to wait, God sent me some small blessings as a reminder that He has not forgotten me. I was blessed with a replacement for a 2nd monitor that went out, which makes my writing tasks easier. I also had waited to buy some hand lettering supplies that finally came today. He even sent a funny turkey running across a side road to give me a laugh this morning. God will show us the answers to our questions if we are open to receiving it and wait with patience on the answer.

What are you waiting on? Look around because the answer may be closer than you realized, and it may come from unusual sources, possibly a turkey. You just never know.

Believe It!

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“Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said: ‘one can’t believe impossible things.’

‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.‘”

From Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

How many of you remember Ripley’s Believe It or Not? It was a television show in the 80’s that gave facts and stories that stretched the imagination. Lately, it seems to have been a theme in my life. I just finished reading The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz, which was originally published in 1959. The concepts and exercises he gives on being successful are still applicable today, but one of the major points was to get rid of the word impossible from your vocabulary. He said if you believe it is possible, you will find a way to accomplish it, but if you think it is impossible, you will be blocked from ever accomplishing it. There is a biblical correlation to this idea.

For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

In the Polar Express, the main character is a little boy trying to decide if he believes in Santa Claus and ends up riding a train to the North Pole. At one point he meets a hobo who tells him, “Believing is seeing.” We like to be able to see everything laid out before us, fully explained and concrete, but the spiritual life is not like that. Sure, sometimes we get glimpses of things, but for the most part we are trying to see through a dirty window.

Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.

John 14:11

Yet, if we look around, we can see God at work all around us. When we believe that He is who He says he is, then we see the world and events differently. Just looking at nature, really looking, shows us they we don’t really understand what is possible. Some animals can re-grow lost limbs. A tornado destroyed a church but the podium and the Bible on it remained untouched. Like the White Queen said, the “impossible” happens all of the time.

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 1:37

The trick is knowing who God is and what His will is. If God wants it to happen, He can make it happen regardless of the constraints of the universe because He created the universe. So, when we live in His Will, then we live in the sphere of the impossible being possible.

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Matthew 17:20

A mustard seed is one of the tiniest seeds on the planet but out of it grows a tree. It is an example of a faith in that it starts small and then grows into something that can stand time and the elements. When we believe in God and follow His Will, things will happen in ways that only God could accomplish.

What has God asked you to do that seems impossible? If He has given you a dream, a calling, He can and will make it happen if we only believe. But, it doesn’t stop at believing. If we truly believe, then we have to take a step of faith or a leap of faith if you will. We may not see the whole path laid out before us, but we know the next step. Once we take it, God will show us the next one, and so on.

So, get rid of the impossible and ask God to give you a heart and mind that imagines what great things He will do. Then do the next thing until what seemed impossible becomes not only possible but reality.

The Next Level

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In the movie Groundhog Day, the main character keeps reliving the same day over and over again. He tries everything to break the cycle, but until he learns what he was meant to learn he is stuck repeating the same things over and over again. While we may not actually repeat the same exact day again and again, I bet most of us could say we have felt stuck in some way and unable to get to the next level.

When I need a break from work, I play a computer game. I had been playing the same level for what seemed like forever when I noticed something I hadn’t noticed before: a tool. When I used that tool, I was able to complete the round and move on to the next challenge. The harder the level, the more rewards you collect. I find the same thing true in my spiritual walk. As I try to grow and mature, I find myself stuck only to find that the tools I needed were there all along.

This week I have been reading two devotional books, one for writers and one on giving your dreams to God. Thursday they both had the same general message from two different angles about committing your work to the Lord. Then I listened to a podcast that talked about working from a place of rest. When I hear the same ideas or verses of scripture coming from multiple places, I have learned to take note. Here’s what I learned:

First, if we want to move to the next level spiritually, we have to do the work, but not just any work.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

While works won’t save us, there is still work to be done. This verse points out that God already had a plan for our lives, a work we were designed to do. When we fall in line with God and pick up his yoke, we find a satisfaction and enjoyment that exceeds anything we dreamed of even when the going is difficult or the work seems mundane.

Once we find the work God has us to do, we have to commit it to God:

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5

Psalms 37:5

4 Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. 5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord fulfil all thy petitions.

Psalms 20:4-5

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.

Proverbs 16:3

When you dedicate your dreams to God, you have to trust Him and let go. It sounds simple and easy, but it’s not. We humans have a hard time trusting and letting go. He is a good Father who only wants the best for His children, so He is trustworthy. When we do let go, God always gives back more than we ever dreamed. Too often we try to hedge God in with our small ideas when He has much bigger things planned.

When we have committed it to God, then we can work from a place of rest.

For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

Isaiah 30:15

When we let God set our boundaries, we can do the work that we were called to do but at a sustainable pace. Too often we allow the world to set the pace, one which is not healthy or meaningful. They call it a rat race for a reason. If we will let God show us which opportunities to take and which ones to let go, we can work from a place of rest knowing we are doing His will.

Then, we can look at each day as a chance to start fresh. Unlike the movie, we don’t have to repeat the same level. We can take the next step in our journey, the next level: we just need to remember:

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalms 118:24

So, let’s take each day one day at a time. If nothing else, the last year taught us that while it’s good to make plans, those plans can change. When we let God have the reins and lead the way, we know we will be going in the right direction and can just enjoy the ride. We can rejoice and be glad.

When you feel overwhelmed by your To-Do List, take a step back and lift it up to the Lord. Ask Him to show you what He wants you to do. You may find that some tasks need to come off of the list, or you may find that God makes a way for everything to get done. Either way, the road is a lot smoother when we take up His yoke instead of dragging everything by ourselves. He wants to give us the life of rest we truly long for if we will only let Him.

Is there something God wants to take off of your To-Do list?