Tag: Stoner

WHEN I OPEN MY MOUTH

How do we offer answers to life?

Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. No, He wasn’t lost, and He wasn’t sightseeing. He was brought there by the Holy Spirit to be tempted by the Devil. Now the Devil was very clever, because he knew Jesus hadn’t had anything to eat during this time. The Devil made his pitch: If you are the Son of God, make these stones become bread. Pretty simple, very straight forwarded regarding what Jesus needed during this time of food deprivation.  

All that Jesus had to do was to change the stones before him into bread. After all, Jesus was and is the Son of God. He is the One who made those stones; certainly, He could change then into a few loaves of bread. But Jesus knew the evil that he was dealing with; the ruthlessness that Devil would shower on God’s children if the Devil succeeded in this temptation.

And so, Jesus responded with, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.  He was referencing Deuteronomy 8:3 when the Israelites were being reminded that their food, or manna, was being supplied by God himself. Men do not live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. The Devil had two other temptations for Jesus, which Jesus also answered by quoting the Old Testament.

POWERFUL WORDS

But why? Why would Jesus keep quoting Scripture? Because the Scriptures were not only the right answer for Him, but they are also the right answer for us.  The Scriptures are what we need to defeat the evil desires of the forces of evil. They are powerful and are the words from “the mouth of God.”

IT IS REFRESHING

It is these words that the Psalmist spoke about in Psalm 119: Oh, how I love your law. I meditate on it all day long. (v. 97) He also said, Your commands make me wiser (v.98) and then he said, I have more insight than all my teachers (v.99).  I believe you get the picture as to why the psalmist fell in love with God’s law. It is “sweet” to the taste. It’s like biting into a red delicious apple on a hot summer day. It is refreshing.

TASTE THE SWEETNESS

This law, these commands, or these precepts did for the psalmist what they can do for each of us today. Jesus made this point when he quoted the Old Testament and declared victory while standing in the presence of the evil one…the Devil. But believers today don’t always love the Word of God as they should. Many Christians today only pay lip service to the Word of God and never allow themselves to “taste” the sweetness that it offers.

HOW DO WE BEGIN?

So how do we do that? How do we offer scriptural answers to the many temptations that we face daily just like Jesus did? I believe it begins with a desire. A desire to want to get closer to God by knowing His heart, His mind, His plan for our lives. We fulfill that desire every day when we take time to read His word, and to study the deeper parts of the Bible. Some people say, “That’s for the preachers and Sunday School teachers.” Nonsense! Anybody can learn from the Bible. Remember what He taught us in Ephesians 4:11, It was He who gave some to be Apostles, some to be Prophets, some to be Evangelists, and some to be Pastors and teachers.

THE ULTIMATE TEACHER

God has given us help and above all, he gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (John 14:26)  

WHAT IS NEEDED: DESIRE

Immerse yourself in the Word of God and begin to love it and to “taste” it. The only thing it takes is desire. Do you have the desire? My editor has a sign hanging in her office which reads: “Sometimes I open my mouth and my mother comes out”.  Why not change that to: “Sometimes I open my mouth and the Words of God come out!”

AN ABUNDANCE OF LOVE

It’s hard for me to believe that I don’t have to consider God as lacking anything in His toolbox of love and care.

I was blessed to grow up with food, clothing, education and housing.  Both my parents were exceptionally hard workers (I learned my work ethic from them).  However, over the years I have tried to make sense of the emotional silence which permeated our home. Love was hard to come by in our emotional desert.

LOSING A MOTHER

Recently I read John Eldredge’s book: Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times.  A paragraph brought light on spot in my heart which I have always failed to understand: “Losing a mother, never having a mother, or living with a mother who in many ways could not offer the mothering we needed is simply devastating.” My mother fit that last category.  Emotionally damaged in many ways, it was not possible for her to offer the kind of love we children needed.  She didn’t purposely choose to be that way; it just was.

MOTHER DESOLATION

Thinking this through, I have begun to understand that as an adult very often my reactions to life has demonstrated I lacked the “assurance of abundance” as a child. Eldredge writes: “Are my actions and emotions proving that I received utter assurance that my needs matter, and that they will be met, and met joyfully? You could call this the category of “mother wounds,” but I think a far more accurate description is mother desolation. The soul is meant to receive profound nourishment from our mother—physically and emotionally, nourishment in absolute abundance. When it doesn’t, the soul experiences a famine of the most serious kind.”

THE FAMINE EXPERIENCE

That famine experience has carried over to my relationship with my heavenly Father. I ask Him: “Do my needs matter? Will You meet them joyfully?” I find that God’s love is far different than my famine experience. 

NEVER FORGOTTEN!

What does His love look like? God is unable to forget us. “Even if mothers were to forget, I could never forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15) Burn these words into your heart: “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close” (Psalm 27:10). Contrary to all those childhood experiences, God is NEVER going to forget me.  God will never push me away. 

GOD’S TOOLBOX

“Mother desolation” is part of my bio.  My mother died years ago and it took years for me to forgive her for lacking the qualities that were never in her toolbox as a parent.  It’s hard for me to believe that I don’t have to consider God as lacking anything in His toolbox of love and care. God WANTS to carry me in His arms, to hold me, to converse with me, to attach with me. 

A NEW ATTACHMENT

I don’t understand such attachment and have trouble trusting it.  God is working on that. He offers to mother us — to come and heal our souls here, in this essential place. Eldredge writes, “God yearns to bring us the assurance of abundance.” God wants to deeply attach to us. “Salvation is a new attachment, the soul’s loving bond to our loving God.”

ALWAYS ROOM FOR YOU

Maybe as you walk through 2024, you may want to rethink the quality of your attachment to God. Try attaching to God in 2024. He always has room for you. There is an abundance of love.

GROWING UP IN CHURCH

I was reading about a church in Florida which is for “Exvangelicals.”

I, like a lot of you, grew up in church. It was the same church that my dad went to, my aunts, my grandmother, and about half of Wrightsville attended. Most of the weddings, church suppers, Christmas eve services, funerals, family activities, and even the Boys Scouts met there. We even had an evangelist come once a year to stir up the spiritual fire. That fire always seemed to burn out a few weeks after the evangelist left town.

CATECHISM CLASS

Not being a Christian then (I didn’t get saved until I was 16 years old), I saw everything through a set of eyes that reflected the world’s standards.  I didn’t have spiritual eyes that could see everything through the lens of Christ. The one thing I remember from those years of growing up in church was catechism class. Pastor Wilson met with a dozen of us 6th graders every Saturday morning for about 6 weeks. Now, I don’t remember the particulars, but I do remember Pastor Wilson emphasized: “None of these facts matter if you can’t back them up with Scripture, because Scripture is God’s Word given to man.” For a dumb 6th grader who knew little about the Bible, those words would have a great impact on me later in life.

THE REASON FOR THE HOPE YOU HAVE

I do not believe that the Apostle Peter ever had to go to catechism class, but he learned the same truth which I learned on those Saturday mornings. Peter wrote in I Peter 3:15, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. As Pastor Wilson would say, everything we believe, we need to be able to back up with Scripture.

THEY NEVER ASKED THE QUESTION

Growing up in the church, I had a lot of friends who learned the same songs that I did, who heard the same Sunday School lessons and attended the same youth group as I did. However, they never asked the questions: “Why did Jesus die on the cross for their sins? Is Jesus God? Are the Scriptures the only source of truth that can provide hope for Christians everywhere?”

EXVANGELICALS

I frequently remember Pastor Wilson’ words. Just this week I was reading about a church in Florida which is for “Exvangelicals.” This is a church with all of the trappings of an evangelical church, without the presence of someone “telling” you what to believe. If you have a problem with hell, fine, this is the church for you! Tired of people telling you what the Bible says about sexuality? Then settle in, because you have come to the right place.

OUR SOURCE OF TRUTH

Sadly, this movement is spreading throughout the country. It reminds me of those friends that I had growing up in church. They believed that if you want to be a Christian, just act like a Christian; you don’t have to believe like a Christian. Acts 17:11 says: Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Remember, it is essential that the Scriptures always be our source of Truth. It provides an awful lot of answers. Gee, I wish we would have had some Bereans in the church that I grew up in!

GOD’S GOOD PLANS

The patients were wheeled into a room where they waited and waited. No teacher arrived.  Someone said, “I guess we have to cancel; we don’t have a preacher.” 

Did you ever question God’s timing? My friend, Margie, recently passed out and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. After a week in the hospital, she was transported to a rehab facility.  When she was finally released, Margie shared with me her best moment in her recovery.

WE DON’T HAVE A PREACHER

At the nursing home/rehab facility there was supposed to be an afternoon Bible Study.  The patients were wheeled into a room where they waited and waited some more. No teacher arrived.  Finally, someone said, “I guess we have to cancel; we don’t have a preacher.”  Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Margie piped up and said, “I can do it.” She proceeded to not only share how she came to Christ (which had been during the Advent season many years ago) but also shared with them the real message of hope in Jesus Christ. Many of her fellow patients were living the holidays warehoused and forgotten.

GOD HAD OTHER PLANS

God maneuvered the dynamics in that meeting room so Margie could tell them about eternal hope possible through Jesus Christ. Margie’s gameplan for December had not been to have her life disrupted by the hospital stay and then the rehab facility, but God had other plans and they were good.

PLAYING THE LONG GAME

I have not always appreciated the fact that God “takes actions in the present with the aim of yielding desired results in the future”. That’s what it means when people reference God “playing the long game”. God played the long game with Margie. God’s brilliant half-time show was to get Margie in to share with the patients in the rehab unit.

HE WAS BATTLING GOD

Matthew 21-18 introduces us to a mass murderer, King Herod. He was responsible for the deaths of his wife, 3 sons, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and uncle. The emperor Augustus popularized the saying, “Better to be Herod’s pig than his son.” The birth of the promised Messiah threatened everything that Herod ever loved = himself.  The arrival of the Magi must have seemed to him a stroke of luck – Herod would be able to discover the location of this new threat to his power and eliminate the competition. He didn’t realize He was battling the God who plays the long game.

IN THE PRESENCE OF EVIL

God’s hands are all over the Advent story.  He guided “foreigners to Christ to worship him. God exerted global—probably even universal—influence and power to get it done. Matthew records God moving the stars in the sky to get foreign magi to Bethlehem so that they could worship the Christ. This is God’s design. His aim is that the nations—all the nations (Matthew 24:14)—worship his Son.” (From Good News of Great Joy) That was and is God’s long game. God has always had good plans, regardless of Herod’s execution of the infants in Matthew 2. God worked, even in the presence of evil.

GOD’S LONG GAME OF REDEMPTION

Margie’s stay at the rehab facility isn’t anything she has ever longed for.  However, God gave her the privilege of inviting forgotten people to know the Savior. While Satan plays a short game of destruction, God plays the long game of redemption. That’s Who God is, even when we can’t see it. God has good plans. It’s your choice in who you place or do not place your trust.

GOD IS IN THE HOUSE!

This new inhabitant would send shock waves across the world that would exist for centuries.

At the end of our block is a sign which says, “Apartment for Rent”, advertising the unit below us.  The tenant moved away Thanksgiving weekend. In the entire year she lived under us, we never heard a peep.  She moved in a complete stranger and stayed a stranger.  One day I asked her name but she only told me her first name.  Our lives were not rocked by her entrance or exit.

What if instead she had been a co-tenant with us? Lived in our apartment, shared our furniture, our utilities, our conversations, our life.  Her arrival and departure would have affected our lives.  We may have either wept or rejoiced, but our lives would have shifted. 

THE NEW NEIGHBOR

John 1:1-14 describes someone whose entrance into the world rocked the existence of mankind. This new neighbor is referred to as The Word. If The Word had to fill out an application to live with us, John would write “The Word’s previous address was the universe, from eternity.” As for previous housemates, John would write, “The Word was with God.” He might also have written in parenthesis: (by the way, The Word was God).  This new neighbor, announced by John, was not going to be someone unseen, who would silently go about his business. This new inhabitant would send shock waves across the world that would exist for centuries. In other words, The Word is Immanuel, “God with us”.

HE’S NOT A LONG WAY OFF

The Old Testament tells us about another situation where God lived in the midst of people. The Tabernacle and Solomon’s temple both contained the “Holy of Holies” – the Glory of God. This was called by Jewish rabbis the “Shekhinah Glory”; “the visible presence of God among men”. God decided to room among a people who rarely loved Him or fully devoted themselves to Him.  In the Book of John, God is announced as again pitching His tent, but this time the Tent was in human form, “Immanuel”; God with us. Spurgeon warns us about our attitude about the new neighbor, Immanuel, “Do not let us live as if God were a long way off.” 

LIVED WITH US IN ORDER TO DIE

Immanuel did not come as judge and executioner. All of us already were guilty before Him and were doomed to everlasting punishment. John Piper writes: “The Word, the Son, who is God, became flesh to reveal a divine glory that is “full of grace and truth.” The Word of God became flesh to be gracious to us.” “Grace” is “God’s favor toward the unworthy”. In His grace, God is willing to forgive us and bless us abundantly, in spite of the fact that we don’t deserve to be treated so well or dealt with so generously. Piper continues, “The Word became flesh so that this graciousness to us would come in accord with God’s truthfulness. This is a righteous, God-exalting, costly grace. It led straight to Jesus’ death on the cross. In fact, this is why he became flesh. He had to have flesh in order to die.”

HE WILL LIVE WITH YOU

God has come close to you in Jesus Christ. He is Immanuel. You don’t have to struggle to make a connection with this new Neighbor, just invite Him in. He will come to you. God is in the House! This Neighbor has rocked my world.  I will never be the same.  He lives in my apartment, my heart, my soul.  He has promised to never leave me or forsake me.  I don’t have to go searching for someone else. That sign announcing room for rent has gone down, because God has made His Home with me for eternity.   

In case you want to read further about this New Neighbor, click Revelation 19:11-16

THE MIRACLE IN THE MUNDANE

We do know one thing: their lives were changed forever. Showing up made a difference. God was there.

Have you ever worked a job that drains you mentally, physically, and emotionally? It seems the others actually have checked out mentally the minute they arrive. You see them checking their phones, updating their stats on Football Fantasy, or searching the internet for favorite cat videos.

And yet you still come to work every day. You believe that God, not human management, is actually your Boss. Your Heavenly Boss wants to be proud of you. He exists even in the mundane.

REIMAGINE THE SHEPHERDS

Try reimagining the shepherd portion of the Christmas story (Luke 2:8-20) through contemporary eyes.  Shepherd’s wages are lousy. The work is hard. Shepherding is not considered a rung on the ladder of success.  What if half the work crew didn’t show up the night mentioned in Luke 2? Maybe they stayed home because the Eagles were competing in the playoffs. Did those who showed up want to be there? 

SHOWING UP MADE A DIFFERENCE

The Bible does not tell us the number of shepherds that came to work that night.  We do know one thing: their lives were changed forever. Showing up made a difference. God was there.

IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LATE SHIFT

In the dead of night, suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. To the group of terrified farmworkers, the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid! I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.  The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” The shepherds were serenaded by God’s #1 singing group. Joined by a vast host of others (the armies of heaven), they praised God and sang: “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

There was no lengthy employee meeting over what the shepherds should do next.  They ran as fast as they could to Bethlehem to witness the event, the arrival of the Promised Messiah. Their mundane jobs were no longer mundane.

LIVES NEVER THE SAME AGAIN

We do know from the account that they told everyone they could about what they had witnessed.  These uneducated, rough men from the “wrong side of the tracks” were God’s first messengers. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. They had seen the Hand of God.

THEY MISSED THE BLESSING

What about those who didn’t show up for work that night? They missed seeing Heaven come down and God’s grand opening show.  They missed the blessing because they were tired of the mundane.

BARELY SHOWING UP FOR LIFE

Who am I writing this piece for? Those of us who are barely showing up for life.  Our bodies are present, but our hearts, minds and spirits are elsewhere.  We assume that God can’t be in the everyday, the mundane. Chuck Swindoll wrote: “God specializes in turning the mundane into the meaningful. God not only moves in unusual ways; He also moves on uneventful days. He is just as involved in the mundane as He is in the miraculous.”

GOD IS INVOLVED IN THE MUNDANE

Are you glad the shepherds showed up that night? Maybe your life seems dry, boring or just downright difficult. God asks us daily to show up and be ready for Him to be present. “He is just as involved in the mundane as He is in the miraculous.” Will you invite Him to inhabit you life, even when it seems mundane?

CORE OF THE MATTER

We were having the best time. Then all of a sudden, just as I was about to take the last bite, I saw this huge ugly worm right where I was about to bite.

Sunday dinner at Grandpa and Grandma Myers was always a noisy, joyous time with five adults and three kids.  Everyone was excited to be together; sharing stories of the previous week. As they all dug into Grandma’s meatloaf, mashed potatoes and Jell-O salad, brother Jake couldn’t wait to share his story of the HUGE fish that unfortunately got away!

“It was the biggest one I’ve ever seen.” he announced. “Even bigger than the one that Tony caught last summer! I almost had it in, when the line broke.”

“Seems like that happens to you a lot,” Wes added. “I can’t remember when you actually brought a fish in!”

All through Jake’s fish tale, Kimmy was bouncing up and down in her chair waiting for her turn to talk about her adventure.  “It looks like you’re pretty anxious to tell us what you’ve been up to, Kimmy,” Mom said. “What’s been going on”?

“Oh, she probably just dressed up like a princess again.” Jake wisecracked.

“Nope!” Kimmy answered. “It’s about me and Sally.”

“Sally and I,” Mom corrected.

“Yeah, Sally and I had the best time. We were going to ride our bikes to the pool, but it was such a hot day we decided not to pedal that far.  And then Sally remembered that big old apple tree by the side of the road with branches just right for climbing.”

“Isn’t that tree behind a fence?” Dad asked.

“Yeah,” Kimmy answered, “But the fence is so old and rusty any kid can climb right through it. So that’s what we decided to do. We almost changed our minds, though, when a whole bunch of boys came.  They were loud and punching each other, but then they just kept moving.”

“Weren’t you scared of the boys?” Nana Ahlseen asked.  

“Nah, they’re from our school. They’re always noisy.  But me and Sally could’ve beat ‘em up easy!”

Jake added, “Yeah, that Sally’s tough. She knocked out Billy Green’s tooth last year.”

“That tooth was just a baby tooth and ready to fall out anyway,” Wes laughed.

“We’re getting a little off track here,” Dad said. “Let’s let Kimmy finish her story but maybe with a little less violence.”

“Anyway,” said Kimmy, “We got there, climbed through the fence, and got up the tree into the top branches.  It was nice and cool up there after being hot and tired.  So, we just sat there eating apples and talking about all kinds of stuff and planning what to wear on the first day back to school. The apples were bright red and juicy. We were having the best time. Then all of a sudden, just as I was about to take the last bite, I saw this huge ugly worm right where I was about to bite. Sally screamed and I threw the apple on the ground! That was so disgusting!”

“It could have been worse,” Grandpa observed.  “You could have found half a worm!”

Everybody burst out laughing, except Kimmy.  “I don’t get it,” she said.  “Why would half a worm be worse?”

“Don’t you see, Sweetheart?” Grandma asked. “That would mean you had swallowed the other half!”

“EEEWWWW gross!” Kimmy screamed.  “I’m never ever going to climb that apple tree again and I’m never ever going to eat another apple!”

Mom set a warm apple pie on the table and said, “You might want to think again about eating apples.  I’ve looked carefully and I’m pretty sure there are no worms in this pie.”

Nana Ahlseen smiled.  “You never really know what’s inside, do you? That reminds me of a verse I read this morning.  It says that God can see inside the hearts and minds of people.  I know we can have some pretty awful thoughts.  The Bible says: ‘For whatever God says to us is full of living power: it is sharper than the sharpest dagger, cutting swift and deep into our innermost thoughts and desires with all their parts, exposing us for what we really are.’ (Hebrews 4:12) In other words, there are no worms, no bad things that God can’t see, even those things hidden deep inside our hearts.”

Dad said, “Why don’t we pray about that?  Dear Lord, thanks so much that You can see deep inside of us, even the things we try to hide from you.  Please, may the verses we learn in the Bible show us the truth, even the truths that aren’t very pleasant, so that we can daily get right with You.”

Mom placed a big slice of pie covered with vanilla ice cream at Kimmy’s place.

“Mmmmmmm, there are no worms in this apple pie and there aren’t any worms in the ice cream either,” said Kimmy as apple and ice cream dribbled down her chin.

And all the family said, “Amen!”

QUESTIONS:

  • What was inside the apple?
  • What can God see inside of our minds and hearts?
  • What are some things that people try to keep hidden?
  • How can we have forgiven the bad things we try to hide?

Challenge: spend some quiet time with God, asking forgiveness for those things we have tried to hide from Him.

WHEN GOD MAKES NO SENSE

Did you ever have a big question for God?

Did you ever have a big question for God? How many stars are in the sky? How can each snowflake be unique? I’ve looked at my sons and wondered how they can both be over six feet and their parents are barely 5 ½ ft tall. Of course, then there are more painful questions like, “Why do good people suffer?”

MARY’S ZINGER QUESTION

Whatever your questions, Mary had a zinger of a question. As a farm girl in an agrarian society, she knew the facts of life and had no clue how a virgin could conceive and still be a virgin.  It did not make sense. The account in Luke 1: 26-38 is well beyond our understanding. The angel told her: Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you. Of all of the thousands of Jewish girls, how did she become the one that the angel visited? Furthermore, as a virgin, how could she remain a virgin yet become pregnant?

UPENDING THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS

The angel presented an additional conundrum. Elizabeth, an elderly relative of Mary’s, was six months pregnant.  This was not medically possible.  God was upending the natural order of things. His plan was to pay the price for a world racing toward an eternity without God. For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible. The regular course of mankind was being overturned turned by a God Who has no respect for our neat order of things. 

THE QUESTION: “WHY?”

In all these enigmas, God also didn’t think it necessary to fill in all the blanks. He didn’t answer the questions; God was and is Sovereign. Recently, two individuals asked me identical questions regarding their loved ones who were suffering: “Why is God permitting this?” The answer is not a popular one: “Because God is Sovereign.” His character is true and good, regardless of how the moment appears.  We cannot see how things fit into eternity, but we do have clues to His character.

WHO GOD IS

Clear as day Scripture records: God is love (I John 4:8); He is light and in Him is no darkness at all (I John 1:5); He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11); For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. (Psalm 30:5); God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. (Numbers 23:19)

For those who wonder about God’s future plans for His own: And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:1-27) This is God in all His glory.

GOD KNOWS

God knows how many stars are in the sky and how to create each individual snowflake. He can even create giant sons from short parents.  God knew how to visit an awkward farm girl and create the birth that would change the course of mankind.  He brought vast comfort for a young teenage girl by creating an additional miraculous pregnancy. This one was experienced by a woman old enough to be a grandmother (a couple of times over). God knew then and He knows now what is best. These are the characteristics of God to meditate on during the long dark hours of the night when we wrestle with the mysteries of God.  For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.  

Additional reading regarding God’s purpose, read the story of Daniel Ritchie, the man who was born without arms.  

ARE YOU A TOTO?

Are you familiar with the expression “pulling back the curtain”? It comes from a scene in the movie The Wizard of Oz. Yegor Bugayenko writes: “the intrepid band of adventurers confront the seemingly all-powerful Wizard of Oz, who proceeds to unleash a bombastic tirade on Dorothy and friends. Only, the dog Toto ends up pulling back the curtain, literally, to reveal that the Wizard of Oz is nothing but an ordinary man in a machine.” 

I AM AN IDEALIST

By nature, I am an idealist.  I will always be a “Toto”.  Over the years, I often innocently pulled back a lot of curtains. To my surprise, I discovered individuals who have become lost in believing their own press, their own sycophants.  In their pride, they have become deaf to the voice of reason. Maybe some of you are also “Totos”?

THE RIGGED SYSTEM

I once worked for a large corporation.  Someone in charge had decided that a way to build up morale and teamwork was plan to celebrate an exceptional employee.  Quarterly, a committee appointed by company management, would decide who to give such an honor. A group of management would then parade to the employee’s cubicle, decorate it with balloons and give the individual their congratulations.  On paper, this seemed like a great idea.  However, over time, the committee kept repeatedly recognizing the same people and some of those winners were actually on the committee itself which appointed the winners. The system was rigged and bound for failure.

SOMETHING ROTTEN IN DENMARK

As a Toto, I often assume that if you tell someone that there is a flaw in something, that it will be exposed, there will have dialogue on it and resolution will be found. In the case of the corporation, I wrote the CEO an email regarding the program.  I assumed that he would want to know, as the saying goes, “there was something was rotten in Denmark”. 

THE FATEFUL MEETING

Within days, I found myself having to personally meet the CEO in his lavish office. His assistant ushered me in to the inner sanctum where for the next half hour I was informed by the CEO why the employee award program was a terrific morale booster. I had no idea going in that the program was the CEO’s own brain trust.  It was like I had attempted to murder his favored pet.

TOTO DISCOVERED THE WIZARD

I left his office a little dazed, not realizing that his long harangue was to be the same speech, word for word, that he was going to give at the next company quarterly meeting the following week. At the podium, he publicly patted himself on the back. However, within one year his morale booster hit the dust, being found completely useless in improving the company. “Pride goes before the fall”. Toto had discovered the wizard.

TOTOS ARE NOT POPULAR

In the Christian community, it is not fun to be a “Toto”.  We question inconsistencies, pet projects, and possible fallacies in thinking.  Totos are not popular, no matter how innocently we may enter a conversation with those in power.  I think being a woman Toto encountering male dominated leadership can be especially hazardous.

OPEN THE CURTAINS

As a Christian Toto, I pray, “God help us in these days of darkness and uncertainty.  Please open the curtains, let the Holy Spirit air out our hearts, and drive us to our knees. Expose those who are sadly lost in believing their own press, listening to their own sycophants.  Open their eyes to their pride, as they have become hard of hearing to the voice of the Holy Spirit.”  And so, little Toto continues to pray.

WHO CAN UNDERSTAND HOW POWERFUL HE IS?

He never reads instructions or watches videos. God just speaks and it is.

It was the pandemic. A lot of us were going stir-crazy. I looked around my living room and was bothered by a rather rough piece of furniture I viewed daily. There was no money to replace it so I thought “Why not refinish it?” I watched YouTube videos and read instructions on how to do the work. I redesigned it in my head.  Then I began the physical work: sanding, stripping it down, taking it apart, painting, and then adding the hardware and coats of sealant.  Never once during this time did I ever go to my back porch (that was my work area), sit there and expect a new piece of furniture to instantly appear.  I needed the materials, the ideas, the sweat equity and the hard work to put the piece together.

I AM POWERLESS

The Holy Spirit’s approach to creation is totally different than mine. He has the ideas, the sweat equity and the hard work, but He is so powerful that He speaks the words and it happens. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath [Spirit] of His mouth. (Psalm 33:6) God has never had to go to GR Mitchell for His materials. He never reads instructions or watches videos. God just speaks and it is. His words are limitless in their power: He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. (Psalm 33:7) I have never presumed that I could gather up all the oceans in a heap. I am powerless. Often, I have found plenty of furniture projects tedious and frustrating. The Holy Spirit has a different view of work. He doesn’t get burnt out in what He wonderfully creates.  He makes no mistakes, never fumbles, and whatever He does is awesome.  We are the ones that pour the refuse and junk on His creations.

CREATING A WORLD THAT WOULD GO SIDEWAYS

When our earth’s physical clock began ticking at creation, The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2) “Hovering” is the idea of a bird sitting in a nest, sitting and brooding over her eggs, caring for these new little lives. He cares. He cares eternally. Even then, He loved us, even though He knew He was creating a world that would choose to go sideways.

SOFT WHISPERS WE HEAR FROM HIM

If you want to know God better, I especially recommend you read John 38-42. Previous to this, there is one observation of Job regarding God that is spot on: His (God’s) breath made the skies bright and clear.    His hand wounded the serpent that glides through the sea. Those are only on the edges of what He does.    They are only the soft whispers that we hear from Him.    So, who can understand how very powerful He is? (Job 26:13-14 NIRV)

I AM CREATING FURTHER BROKENESS

God, The Holy Spirit, is hovering over your life.  He cares, even when your life goes sideways.  I have found it futile when I spend a lot of time reimagining my own life, stripping it down, taking it apart, painting with a big smile, and sealing it all under my own power. I can make all the resolutions I want, try my hardest, but I am creating further brokenness.  The only One Who can create truly new life in me is the Holy Spirit. He is hovering over me. Are you letting Him hover over you?