What's That Word?

 

Futility. That’s the word that came to mind. Yet upon looking it up to make sure I was using it correctly, I was wrong. Futility means pointlessness or uselessness.

Then the word redundancy came to mind. That one technically means ‘the state of being not or no longer needed or useful’.

So, no, that’s not the word I’m looking for, either.

Sometimes we find ourselves stuck in a rut where we know that what we’re doing has a point and is needed and useful to someone, somewhere.

Shout out to all my factory worker friends, those who stand on an assembly line doing their part; forever playing your role in the production of something useful to someone else, but perhaps never seeing or using the end product yourself.

I mentioned to a friend that sometimes it feels like we’re all cogs in a giant clock, each pushing the next cog forward one click at a time.

Maybe I’m just longing for a glimpse of the big picture. And I hear this whispered into my heart:

“Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” – Psalm 27:14 NKJV

I feel like I have my spoon in a lot of pots, stirring up others to fruitfulness, while watching from the background. Maybe that’s my role. Maybe I’m right where I’m supposed to be.

But I can’t help but feel like there’s something more for me. Somewhere. A new pot to stir?

Is it just time for a change?

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV

All those years as a military wife were filled with upheaval and moving from time to time. And you know what? I loved it! Now I feel like I’ve been sitting in the same chair for too long. I need to get up and stretch my legs, if you know what I mean – before I get too old to get up out of the chair at all.

Right now, I feel like I’m pacing around in Limbo. Waiting. Not even knowing exactly what I’m waiting for.

But you know Who’s right here with me, waiting alongside me? You know Who knows the whole plan and sees the big picture? You know Who’s got His hand on my shoulder all the while calming my anxiousness? You know Who’s holding me on the faint days and dancing with me on the days I feel more ready to go than I am?

Yep. My Jesus. He’s with me.

I’m still fine. F.I.N.E.

[Finally, and] forever in need of Emmanuel.

I’m anchored in the Rock of Ages.

If you’ve ever been to the lake or an ocean and walked along the shore, you may have noticed large rocks or pieces of concrete with big metal links anchored deep into them. I have no idea what they may have been used for, but something was chained there for its own safekeeping. It was protected from drifting out to sea or from being lost in a storm or dashed against the rocky shoreline.

Jesus is my Rock. I’m safely anchored in His peace, living in my purpose. – Even when I can’t see the whole picture.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.” – Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV

I guess the word I was searching for is TRUST! I’m TRUSTING GOD!

Trusting You'll Breakthrough

(picture from startcaving .com)

I believe that “breakthrough” is simply the breaking down of the walls that separate us from God's perfect will in our lives. I also believe the bricks of those walls are made of the lies we believe.

Imagine being trapped in a mine cave-in, a wall of rubble stands between you and your freedom. From inside you feel helpless until you recognize you're not alone. Your best friend, your most trustworthy friend, is there showing you which rocks to push and which to pull to prevent further cave-in and make a hole in the wall. This is Jesus revealing the lies in each rock. We can see the rock (the lie) but choose not to move it, perhaps out of fear - because it LOOKS like moving that one will cause the rest to come tumbling down on you.

We get to choose to listen to His voice or fall back on our own wisdom, becoming our own voice of authority; the voice that failed us in the beginning.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.” (NLT)

“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. (AMP)

(picture from mediqus .com)

When we listen and obey, we remove one rock at a time, or rocks tumble away because we obediently removed the right one. Aha moment! “Sonlight” bursts through the darkness! (God has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.  1 Peter 2:9 ) Fresh air comes through the passageway providing refreshing, rejuvenation and hope.

Can we trust our friend with the next few rocks? One hole in the wall won't lead to freedom unless we make that hole big enough to pass through. With refreshing and new hope, we are encouraged to push or pull the next rock He points to. If we stay with it, the hole will eventually become big enough to make our way through. Sometimes, God may even instruct us to make that breakthrough passable to all who come that way, removing even more of the rocks as we make our way to freedom.

We might be able to exist in the cave with our friend, Jesus. But He wants to take us all the way out of the cave, into His glorious creation - physical AND spiritual. There's so much we haven't even seen or been exposed to yet.

If you’ve been in the cave a while, it’s familiar. Familiarity can be sneaky because we're already accustomed to our compromised position.

(picture from cftministry .com)

When Peter stepped out of the familiarity of his boat (that was already sinking) into the fiercely wind-whipped waters in obedience to Jesus calling him to Himself (which looked impossible to do), where was Peter safer? In the boat that was going down, or stepping out in faith, even though this was something he’d never done before? He’d never seen anyone walk on water – till then.

Jesus didn't build a sturdy bridge for Peter to step onto; He needed Peter to trust Him.

What walls do you need to breakthrough today? Will you trust Him?

It might require doing something you’ve never done before….

Crumbling Rock

Photo courtesy of www.pbase.com

“For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 (NIV)

One among the ten verses I pull up when searching for “love your neighbor” in the Bible (NIV).  

Of course, those aren’t the only scriptures that instruct us to love each other, there are many. 

Mark 12:30-31 tell us to: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

This is God’s Word for us. If we have not love, we have nothing. If we say we loveGod but hate our brother, we make ourselves liars.  

Our entire foundation is on shifting sand if we cannot love our neighbors. If once we believed we could, but now find ourselves hating someone, our foundation is broken and our entire world will fall apart without serious repair. Once we’ve given ourselves permission to hate, our foundation is really no foundation at all, merely crumbling rock, good for nothing.

As Christians, our foundation is Jesus Christ – The Rock, the only true foundation. He is the source we are to be found in; we are in Him and He lives through us – from inside of us!

God is love, He doesn’t just have love or do love; He is love. The song from First John 4:7-8 claims my mind, we have to go to the KJV for this: 

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

The crack in our foundation that will crumble our world, is hatred. It’s a strong word, but like water seeps into rock, freezes, swells and produces fissures that become enormous cracks…..so hatred destroys our foundation, which brings down our house.

Ponder this, who among us do I not love, and why?