Beauty in God's Eyes...

     "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."           Is 61:4

        What is beauty?  That is a question that has been discussed at a women's retreat that I have been attending this weekend.  It is also a subject to which I have given very little thought over the years...
         They gave us each a rose.  They asked us to take some quiet time and study the rose.  To really look at it and to see what makes it beautiful.  They asked us to ponder that.  This is a little tough for a girl who never really found much joy in flowers.  But I tried.  I looked at that rose and I didn't immediately see anything.   So I prayed.  I asked God to show me the beauty in the rose and to make it "knock me on my behind" sure of why it is beautiful.  So then God did open up my eyes.  I saw that the rose was kind of like us.  Beautiful because God made it.  All roses look alike, but if you look closely you will see that each rose is just a tiny bit different from the next.  Not really obvious changes but small subtle ones.  They are also very fragile.  Easy to bruise, much like we are.... and the stems on the roses have thorns that protect them. 
       We are all made in God's eyes.  We are all beautiful to him.   I know that often I don't like what I see when I look in the mirror.   But yet God likes me just the way I am...  So then I have to look deeper, beyond the flesh and into my soul, my very being... and I realize that I must try to see myself as God sees me... it's very difficult to do...  and I can't do it on my own... can you?  
       It is easier to see the beauty in other people.  They may be too fat, too thin, too old, too young, it doesn't really matter does it?  We know that they are flawed and we can overlook those flaws because we can see God in them.... wouldn't it be cool it we could see God in us too?   He is.... I just know He is....
         I have had a really stinky year.  I see no signs that it will improve anytime soon.... and yet... I have seen God's hand at work in my life this year.   I know that I could not have handled everything that has happened even just a few years ago.   Back then I would have tried to "handle" everything myself....  but this year was different.   I knew that it was too much for me... I just gave it all to God and said "I can't" but You can....  and He was there.... the bad stuff was the ashes, and out of the ashes God worked.... that was the beauty rising out of the ashes.... 
         Yet just because I gave the problems and bad stuff up to God, doesn't mean it didn't hurt... I still find myself balling my eyes out cause I miss my dad, as I drive down the road; and I didn't even have a good relationship with him while he was alive... I spent most of my life afraid OF him, and then towards the end God changed all that and I became afraid FOR him.   
          We have all heard the saying "no pain; no gain."   Well it looks like there is some truth to that old saying....    it's got to make you wonder...
          Dear Lord, only you can really define what is beautiful and what is not.  Please help us to not be so critical of ourselves.   Please help us to see how You work in our lives and how You love us in spite of ourselves.  And maybe just maybe we could see a bit of that beauty without all the pain?  Please?  

Miracles Happen Every Day

"God is my Strength. "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."   Psalm 18:1-3

       Did you watch the rescue of the 33 miners from the mine collapse in Chile.  Wow.  What a miracle to be able to get them out alive.   And not just that, they were looking pretty healthy for having been stuck underground for such a long time.  How could anyone not see God's hand in that? 
       I am not sure if everyone realized that God was watching over those guys and protecting them from what would have been certain death in a lot of cases.   I watched that rescue knowing that I knew that I knew...  
       Miracles happen every day... God is with us all the time, there protecting us from the things that we don't even realize we need protection from...  Guiding us, nudging us... just being with us...
      Let me tell you a story of how God guides and directs us in ways that aren't always so obvious.   I am at a women's retreat this weekend.   I wasn't planning to go... I had been in a not so good place... I was really missing my Dad and was just not feeling too much like being with people...  I had even take a week off from Church and headed to Ohio to visit with a cousin whom I just love to hang out with... and don't see often enough...   But anyway we were at Home Depot buying some paint when I got an E-mail on my blackberry asking if I would work the video for the retreat.  I wasn't planning on going.   In fact I wasn't even planning on answering the e-mail.  But then a friend who was cc'ed on the email sent back a response and kind of volunteered me to be going...  I still wasn't planning on being there... and I still didn't answer for a few weeks.  I really had to pray about it.  Eventually God convicted me to go.   So I sent the response.  At the time no one else from my Church was planning to go that I knew of...  A few weeks later a friend from church said that she might go...  That was cool.   But anyway,  as I prepared for the weekend I was still not sure why I was going but I knew that God wanted me to be there....   Anyway here I am.   And God is beginning to show me the signs that YES He wanted me to be there....  As I was waiting to get registered an old friend arrived.  I had been supposed to travel a bit with this friend earlier in the year but we just never got to it.... (Life happened).  But I realized at that moment that I had really missed the time with this friend.  This friend is one of the people who helped me to realize that God was calling me to blog.   And as I looked at my friend walking up the walkway, I saw her see me and I could see that she was as glad to see me as I was to see her.   I am not really too used to people being glad to see me so that was nice.  As we got a chance to sit and catch up last night we realized that we had both been in the same dumpy place and God had called us to be here.  He engineered it.  We both listened when He called, to go where He called us to go; even though we had no real desire of our own to go.  And he blessed us for listening.   And it gets better yet...
       You know how I have spent years doing disaster work...  well right before Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 I was deployed to Alabama to wait for it... Once it hit I was dispatched to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi for two weeks.  After that two weeks I returned home for a bit before heading back to New Orleans...   But the speaker from this retreat was from Bay St. Louis..... is that wild or what....   See God takes us places in our lives.... He gives us experiences and then He uses them to teach us....  I wasn't even walking with God when I was at Hurricane Katrina.... I was running away from Him... but He used that... Miracles happen every day... we often don't even notice them.... it's got to make you wonder....
      Dear Lord,  thanks for being patient with me when I put the blinders on...  thanks for gently pulling them away from my eyes and letting me see Your hand in my life.... You are so great, so awesome, so loving that I just can't even fully grasp Your greatness.  I am humbled by your sheer magnificance.  Thanks for loving me, and my friends and for watching over us and protecting us and just for being there.....

Did I hear you right?

"If ... they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry."      
                                                                                                                              Ex 22:23


     Do you ever feel as if people aren't really listening to what you say?  I just hate that.  It burns me up.  But truth be told, I do it to other people too.   I try to listen but somehow the words just fade away and it sound like "BlahBlahBlahBlah".   It's kind of like the sound that Charlie Brown's parents and teachers make in the "Peanuts" cartoons.    You do know what I mean don't you?  I mean, you do it too, don't you?    I sure hope that I am not the only one.... No, I know I am not the only one. 
      The bible tells us to pray without ceasing.  To pray is to talk to God.   The bible also says that if we talk to God, that God will hear our prayers.   He never hears "BlahBlahBlahBlah", but instead He hears our words, and the meaning of the words in our heart.  He hears our prayers even when we don't have the words to express what we want to say.    How great is that!   God stops what He is doing.  He gives each and every one of us His fullest attention.  He hears our cries.   All of them.    God does not selectively listen.    
       We talk about listening for the still quiet voice of God in our lives and yet we can't even listen to the not so quiet voices of those whom we call friends.   My pastor told us in church on Sunday that we need each other.  That God puts people in our lives to be our support system, to help us to stay on track and focused on God.   But if we aren't hearing these folks, aren't we disrespecting God in a way.... I mean if He put them here for us, and we blow them off, well......
        Plus it really hurts when you know that you have told someone something and then they seem to have no idea of what you are talking about the next time you see them.... and you know you told them.....    
        I am guilty of this too.   I will try to be a better listener.    I mean, how can I hear God's voice if I can't even hear the voices of those whom He has put close to me.   After all; sometimes their words ARE His words...it's got to make you wonder...
         Dear Lord,  please help me to quiet my soul and listen, really listen to those around me.   Help me to listen to them the way that You listen to me.     And help me to not feel  hurt when those around me don't do any better at listening than I do.... Thanks.
   

You've Got To Love That Competitive Spirit

"I can do all things through Him who gives me strength."   Philippians 4:13


        It's football season again.   I can feel the blood tingling through my veins.   My heart is racing.  I can't wait for next weekend to watch some more games.  I don't even care who is playing.  It's football.  It's great. I just love football.   I am playing in two fantasy football leagues this season and they just make watching the games even more enjoyable.  I am very competitive.   I like to win.  I don't have to win.  I certainly enjoy winning more than losing, but my joy doesn't come from the win.  Instead, it comes from the competitive nature of the game.   
              I think that sports and games of all kinds are great fun because they bring out the competitive nature in me.   I really try to do my best at each and every game I play.   I enjoy watching games where people are really trying to do their best.   Kind of weird huh?   Unbiblical you say?  Relying on self?   Trying to be better than others?   I don't think so.   Let me explain....
              If, as the bible say "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength" then I should be good at everything I do.... logically that would make sense, but we are human and not alway really good at everything.   However,   If we do everything that we do to the glory of God, then wouldn't we always strive to do our very best.   Even knowing that we might not win.  Might not be the best there is.  But at least we are giving the best we have.    I see sports kind of like that...   I might not be the best softball player in the world.   But if I give it everything I have.   And if I play a good clean game, with no cheating or hard feelings.  and if I give God the glory if I do well, and don't get down if i don't do so well...   Then haven't I honored God in what I have done.   
              I believe that God wants us to be the best we can be.  That He wants us to give our all in all that we do.   I believe that He wants us to understand that we can't be the best on our own, but only through Him.   Now I am not saying that we should pray to win.... that just seems so wrong.... but rather, that we should pray that we play fair, and give it all that we have to give.  
              If you look around, there are Christians in professional sports who are out there sharing their faith with others and inspiring our youth.   They are being a positive witness for Christ.   They give all they have.  They know that they are only able to be where they are by the grace and blessing of God.   And all they do, they do for His glory.    
             Competition is good folks.   As Christians we are not called to let others win.  We are called to do our very best in all we do.  To give all.   To be the tool.   It is a witness to His glory.  So in that vein, I will go out there and play my fantasy football.  I will do my very best to win week after week after week.   And no matter how it goes, I will have given my all, and I will have enjoyed the competition.   Praise the Lord.  It's got to make you wonder.
             Dear Lord,  please help my friends and I to give our all.  To try to do our very best for you in all that we do.   Help us to engage in healthy competition, but not to take it to heart if we win or lose.   And help our good natured competitive attitude be a shining light to others as they see our love for You in all we do.


    

Did you say you have "spiritual diarrhea?"

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."   Matthew 7:24-27


      Lets talk about diarrhea a bit.  Have you ever had diarrhea? Let me tell you it is not fun.   Diarrhea is what happens when your body is full of stuff that is not solid...   (Well that is a simplified explanation but it will suffice for our purposes...)  If you want to prevent diarrhea they say that Pepto-Bismal is the thing to take.    If you already have it, then they say that Immodium is a good solution.... OK. Fine, you say, but what does that have to do with the verse above?


         Have you ever had "spiritual" diarrhea?  "Spiritual" diarrhea would be when your full of so called "spiritual" stuff that is not solid....   by solid, I mean not solid in the word.   It would be akin to your house not being built on the rock but on sand instead.   Spiritual diarrhea can be prevented by a diet heavy in the word of God and quiet time spent with Him.  If spiritual diarrhea is already happening, the cure would include the same thing as the prevention.   A diet heavy in the word, and more time alone with God.


       A steady regular diet of the word is good for a lot of things....  it's kind of like "chicken soup" for the soul...   (I hope that whoever coined that phrase doesn't go after me for using it...)  You can never get too much of it...   If a little is good... a lot is better....   Just listening to people talk about God is not always a good thing.   You must read the word and know it so that you can evaluate what those who teach you are saying.   What they are teaching should be backed up by the word.  If it is not then we ought not be listening to them.  If we know the word, really know it... then we can weed out the bad..... Our foundation will be strong.   Our house will be built upon the rock.   


        Dear Lord,  thank You for giving us the word.   Thank You for allowing Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us to help us to understand the word.   Thank You for how the Holy Spirit helps us to discern the words of our teachers and to seek their foundation in Your word.  Thanks for that smack upside the head when we finally get it....  and for always showing us something new in passages that we may have read over and over and over again...