Be Still--and Breathe!

It had been a week on an emotional roller coaster. First the people’s hopes were lifted, and then they were dashed. They were trying to follow God, but it didn’t look like they had always dreamed it would. The political machinery of the day looked as if it were going to swallow them once again and relegate them to the bowels of society. They had been there long enough. They knew what that was like and they didn’t want to go back!

And now the Lord had finally freed them. They had put blood on the doorposts—not the typical way of finding relief from oppression, but it had worked. The command came to leave and they instantly obeyed before Pharaoh changed his mind. He always did. It was just a matter of time. So they left Egypt both rejoicing and looking back to see if they were being followed.

And about the time they started relaxing, someone sees a dust cloud on the horizon behind them. Looking ahead at where the giant pillar of cloud was leading, all they could see was water. They were trapped, and they knew the outcome of dealing with Pharaoh’s army. Many of them would die. Most would be re-captured and re-bound into the very slavery they had just escaped. Let’s pick up the story in Exodus chapter 14. Beginning with verse 10.

Ex 14:10-14 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Some things never change, do they? At the first sign or even sometimes, at the first hint of trouble, we grow terrified. And we start complaining and even believing that the very things we are being rescued from would now be preferable to what we are now facing. Look at vs. 11, 12 again.

Ex 14:11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”

Why do we do that? Why do we, at the first sign of anything remotely threatening to our security and well-being, start complaining and crying out in fear? To be sure, because we are human. But might it also be that we haven’t developed the ability to be still and trust that God is still in control? Could it be that we feel like we have to rescue ourselves and we don’t see how it’s going to work out? Look, once again at Moses’ command in vs. 13 and 14.

Ex 14:13-14 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

And you probably remember the story, don't you. God provided a path through the sea and when Pharaoh and his armies tried to follow them, the walls of water came crashing down on them. The Lord had done their fighting for them. They only had to stand firm and watch the Lord's deliverance.

Either we never knew, or we have already forgotten that the Lord will fight for us, we only need to be still. That’s harder than it sounds. Be still. Ok…and do what? Ponder the problem? Seek solutions? Wring your hands in anxiety? No. Psalm 46:10 says:

Psa. 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

That’s what Moses was trying to get the Israelites to see in the middle of their crisis. They didn’t have much choice, did they? The sea on one side, the army on the other…they had to be still…physically. But not all who are still physically are calm emotionally and spiritually. Have you noticed that? But they have no where else to go. So they wait on the Lord to do something. And He does.

What solved their problem? Did they solve their problem? Did they form a giant think-tank to discuss, deliberate and vote? No. How was their problem solved? They waited on God. They had to be still. Was that all? No. They also had to obey God and walk the direction He led. If they hadn’t done the walking, they would have stayed on the other side of the sea. They had to be still. Then they had to obey. Inhale, exhale. Be still, inhale, obey, exhale. We have to learn to breathe spiritually.

We talk a lot about our need for prayer, about how good prayer is, about how necessary it is to our spiritual walk, yet we seldom seem to take the time to pray. It has been said that prayer is the breath of the soul. If this is so, then perhaps the reason we so often feel anxious or overwhelmed in life is because we are not breathing!

In order to do away with the anxiety and panic in our lives, we must allow our souls to breathe deeply. And one of the primary reasons we are not breathing deeply enough is because we are not still long enough to do so. “Be still”, God says. Being still is the first requisite to breathing well.

When difficulties come; breathe. When it feels like life is going to run you over; breathe. When you feel uncertain or scared or anxious; breathe.

Ellen White, in her book Desire of Ages, page 667, says, “The path of sincerity and integrity is not a path free from obstruction, but in every difficulty we are to see a call to prayer. There is no one living who has any power that he has not received from God, and the source whence it comes is open to the weakest human being. {DA 667.4}

In every difficulty we are to see a call to prayer. A call to breathe. A call to Be still. Why? So we can

gain perspective. So we can live life without having to panic. So we can know that He is God. Being still allows God the chance to work in our lives before we go out and do something stupid in our typical reactionary mode. Being still allows us to realize Who is fighting for us. Being still will allow us to remain at peace. Isaiah tells us that.

Is. 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Phil 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Do you want peace in the midst of life’s storms? Learn to breathe. Be still. Seek God. Keep your mind fixed on Him. Allow Him to bring you peace.

A Conspiracy of Grace

Mike Yaconelli, in his book Messy Spirituality relates the following story that I think illustrates what God is doing in what Yaconelli calls “a conspiracy of grace.”

Little league baseball can be a brutal sport, especially for nine-and ten-year-olds who compete in national tournaments. It was the area Little League championship game. The stands were packed with families of each of the players. One young man brought his mother and father, both grandparents, and three uncles and aunts to watch him play.

The bottom of the seventh-inning was a nail-biter. The other team was ahead by one run, the bases were loaded, two outs, and the little boy with the large family was up to bat. If he made an out, the game would be over and his team would lose. If he walked or hit the ball, he would be the hero of the game. He swung at the first pitch and missed.

“Strike one!” the umpire yelled.

The families from the other team cheered, but his family cheered even louder. “It’s okay, Carl. No problem. You almost hit the ball! Now clobber the next pitch!”

“Strike two!” the umpire yelled after the next pitch.

Pandemonium broke out. Both teams and their families were yelling back and forth at each other. Carl’s family and team was encouraging him; the players and families of the other team were taunting. It was so loud no one could even hear themselves think.

Wrinkles appeared on the nine-year-old’s forehead as he waited for the next pitch. As the ball left the pitcher’s hand, it became very quiet. The ball sped towards Carl. It seemed like it took forever to cross the plate, but cross the plate it did, and Carl swung with all his might.

“Strike Three—You’re OUT!”

Not only was Carl out, the game was over. And he was the cause of the loss.

The winning team went crazy, their families swarmed onto the field, and everyone was dancing, laughing, cheering and celebrating. Except Carl’s team. As Carl’s team walked off the field, dejected, they mingled with their families and headed back to their cars in silence.

Except for Carl. Carl was still standing at home plate, devastated, alone, his head down in disgrace.

Suddenly someone yelled, “Ok, Carl, play ball!” Startled, Carl looked up to see his family spread out over the field. Grandpa was pitching, Dad was catching, mom was at first base, Uncle David at second, and the rest of the family had covered the other positions.

“Come on Carl, pick up the bat. Grandpa’s pitching.”
Bewildered, Carl slowly picked up the bat and swung at Grandpa’s first pitch. He missed, and he missed the next six pitches as well. But on the seventh pitch, determined to get a hit, Carl smacked the ball to left field. His aunt ran, picked up the ball in plenty of time, but the first baseman, Mom, must have lost the ball in the sun, because it went right through her hands into the dugout. “Run!” everyone yelled.

As Carl was running to second, the first baseman recovered the ball and threw it. Amazingly, Uncle David was blinded by the sun as well. “Keep running!” yelled someone, and Carl headed for third, where the throw went at least two feet over the head of the third baseman. “Keep running, Carl!” and Carl raced for home, running as hard as he had ever run. The ball was thrown with deadly accuracy as the catcher, Dad, blocking home plate, waited to tag him out, but just as Carl reached home plate, the ball bounced in and out of the catcher’s mitt, and Carl was safe!

Before he knew what happened, Carl found himself being carried around on Uncle Dave’s shoulders while the rest of the family crowded around cheering Carl’s name.
One person who was watching this amazing event commented to a friend, “I watched a little boy fall victim to a conspiracy of grace!”

Carl, the loser—the one who struck out, failed his team, disappointed his family—went from loser to hero. Carl, who would have been left with that awful memory of failure, was instead given a memory of grace, love and acceptance. He heard God’s Love song.

Just like a certain woman at the well. Just like the disciples, or the lame or the blind or those with leprosy. And God continues to sing that same song to you and I today.

Through people who show us a conspiracy of grace. Through family members who hold us in our darkest hours. Through scripture and sunsets. Through prayers and petitions on our behalf. God continues to sing His love song to you and to me. “It’s alright. I’m here…and I love you more than you will ever know. I’ve forgiven you already through the blood of my sacrifice, so whatever it is, confess it and let’s move on. I want to make you whole and happy and free. I want you truly know Love at its’ deepest level. I want you to know Me.”

All that’s left to do now, is respond.

Allowing God's Love Song to Dissolve Your Past

Haunted by your past?  Can't seem to shake it?  You aren't alone, you know.  It's  happened before.

Go to the well of Samaria in John 4 and see the search of a woman trying to escape her past and hear the Song of God's Love in response to her life. Religion has told the Samaritan woman about the possibility of a Messiah, and then she meets the real Messiah, who immediately recognizes her thirst and offers her the living water of His grace.

What this woman expects from the Messiah is a lengthy critique of her life, or an enlightening lecture on what she should do or a justifiable reminder of the consequences of her destructive choices on others. What she receives instead is compassion, gentleness, kindness and a way out of the ruins of her life. She hears God’s love song for her. Jesus goes straight for her longings, finds them and, in the process finds her. And in so doing, His love song liberates her from her past.

After her conversation with Jesus, the woman at the well is just beginning a whole new way of living, but none of the facts of her life have changed! She is still living with a man who is not her husband. She still has been divorced 5 times. Her reputation is still a disaster. Jesus often told people not to tell anyone what He had done for them, but not this woman.

Her faith is only a few minutes old and already she becomes an evangelist with a huge impact on her community. What does she say? Not much. “Uh….come see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done.” Everyone in town knows what this woman has done. Big deal. What she says is not the point. The fact that she can talk about her shameful past publicly is what grabs their attention.

Her words are few and seemingly insignificant, but her saying them is very significant. In effect she says, “I know you know who I am, but I just met a person who liberated me from my past, my reputation, and I am no longer the person you think I am. I am no longer hostage to my bad choices. I am free!”

Still, nothing has changed. But everything has changed. Her neighbors can hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes. Her words are all they need to race to the man she describes. For reasons they don’t understand, who this woman is now seems more relevant than who she was then.

The implications for us are almost overwhelming. Those of us who want to move on from our past, those who have come to the end of the road, can start with our unchanged life, now. We don’t have to wait until we are “mature.” We don’t have to move to a new town or convince others we are serious; we simply start. We begin. We hear God’s Love Song and respond. We take the first bumbling, stumbling, teetering steps toward the spiritual life, even if we are not very good at it.

What a gift of God.  To leave the past in the past.  And as we continue to tune into the Song of Love and allow it to permeate our guilt-ridden hearts, our very lives begin to change and a daily new beginning will allow that past to melt into the story of our lives, where it has meaning and significance but no power to harm us anymore.  It simply is the setting to show off still another example of God's Amazing Grace.

The Deck Chairs of Life...

One of my favorite Peanuts cartoons starts with Lucy sitting in her five-cent psychology booth, where Charlie Brown has stopped for advice about life.

“Life is like a deck chair, Charlie Brown,” she says. “On the cruise ship of life, some people place their deck chair at the rear of the ship so they can see where they have been. Others place their deck chair at the front of the ship so they can see where they are going.” The good “doctor” looks at her puzzled client and asks, “Which way is your deck chair facing, Charlie Brown?”

Without hesitating, Charlie replies glumly, “I can’t even get my deck chair unfolded.”

Mike Yaconelli, in his book Messy Spirituality asked, "Ever felt like that? I know the feeling—especially in the spiritual walk. Everywhere I look on the cruise ship of Christianity, I see a crew of instructors, teachers, experts and gurus eager to explain God’s placement of my deck chair, but I still can’t seem to get it unfolded. No wonder when I check out the titles in a Christian bookstore, I feel like I am the only klutz in the Kingdom of God, a spiritual fool lost in a ship full of brilliant biblical thinkers, an ungodly midget in a world of spiritual giants. When I compare my life with the experts in the church, I feel sloppy and messed up in a world of immaculately dressed saints…and I’m a minister!"

Can you relate? What happens when you feel like you can’t even get your deck chair open? You long for a deeper relationship with God, you seek it, but your spiritual growth chart looks more like a kindergartners scribbles than an upward line towards God.

Or perhaps there was a time when you were going pretty good in your spiritual walk, but something huge happened and it sent you reeling. A death in the family. A divorce. An unplanned pregnancy outside of marriage. An abortion. One moment you were happily walking down the beach enjoying the view, and the next you are rolling over and over in the surf trying to get your feet back under you, a hapless victim of one of Satan’s sneaker waves that suddenly lashed out and knocked you over and then began pulling you out to sea. And you go from worrying about getting your deck chair unfolded to just wishing there were a life raft somewhere. Forget about which way you face the chair.

Do any of you know what I’m talking about here? There are times in our spiritual walk where things don’t seem so spiritual. There are times when our own messy spirituality seems to get in the way of our walk with God, causing us to question whether or not we really even know Him.

Times when you call out, but God seems so silent or distant. Times when you can’t hear the music of your soul, anymore. Times when you wish you could do better in your spiritual walk, yet lured away and enticed by your own evil desires, you end up messing up again and again, and the persistent call of the devil to just give up and be swept out to drown in a sea of despair washes over you and everything within you wants to stop trying to reach the shore and simply go with the pull of the world. It all feels so useless and pointless…and yet, in the midst of all of the pounding surf rolling us over and over, listen carefully, and you will hear a song that breathes hope. It is not a loud, raucous song. Rather it is a simple, yet persistent song of love that is meant to bring the hearer courage and hope.

It is when you feel the most hopeless, and at your weakest that God sings His song of Love to you. Actually, God is always singing His love to you, but it seems we have to be down and out before we really hear it.

But know this…No matter what you are facing, in whatever situation you find yourself, God’s Love Song will reach your need. He sings it in many situations. He does it in all sorts of ways, but the message is always the same. God loves you and wants the best for you, no matter what you’ve done or where you find yourself.  Will you let yourself believe that and rest in it today?

The Roller Coaster...of Life.

Have you noticed that life is just like a roller coaster ride? You spend years notching up for it, anticipating, waiting, kind of knowing what’s in store because you’ve watched others go around on the coaster. As you get close to the top of the coaster, you start yelling, “Can’t turn back now boys!” and then you hang at the top for just a brief second and all of a sudden, you’re holding on for dear life! There are tons of twists and turns and rises and drops and you are moving so fast, you can only see what’s coming right in front of you, all the while anticipating the next big drop. Your blood pumps faster, adrenaline races and without really meaning to, you hear yourself screaming at the top of your lungs. And then, you come into another long climb.

Your heart slows down a bit, but now that you know what is in store, you realize that the climb is really only a catch your breath place. It’s a little relief before you go into part two of the ride. The ominous clack, clack, clack of the chain below you tells you that you’re in for another gut-wrenching series of twists and turns. You’re up and over the top, tossed to the left, then slammed to the right. Now your stomach is in your throat and now it’s in your toes and just as suddenly, it’s over. And when your body fully understands that you’ve actually survived, and a rush of adrenaline and relief washes over you, then you are suddenly free to enjoy the ride.

What a tragedy!   What a tragedy that we have to go all the way through life, anxious and worrying over every last thing only to look back and say, “that wasn’t so bad.” What if you could enjoy every part of the journey? You can.

Listen to what Jesus said: John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

There it is! Hold onto Jesus...and enjoy the ride!

What About the Change?

Rom. 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2Cor. 3:18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.


A true Christian is marked by a change for the better, in their life. A countenance that is changing to be more and more like Jesus. An attitude that is changing to be more and more like Jesus. A heart for people that is changing to be more and more like Jesus.

But change isn’t natural.

Change comes when you and I put in the time to be near Jesus. When we spend time reading His

word and conversing with Him through prayer. But also, when we practice the presence of Jesus in our lives.

That is, when we get to the point where we realize Jesus is always with us, and we make decisions based on His desire for our life, and not ours. When we treat people the way we would if Jesus were standing right next to us while we interacted with them.

Phil. 2:5-8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!

So what about you? And what about the change?

The Hound of Heaven

God’s love is so amazingly persistent, that He will continually seek you out. Nothing can separate you from God’s love—even if you try to be separated from God.

Francis Thompsen found that out. Francis Thompson was running, running. He was running from his father, from his failure as a medical student, from God himself, and yet, by the end of his life, had learned to what extent God will pursue a person.

The author of what has been called the greatest ode in the English language characterized God as a relentless pursuer, calling Him “The Hound of Heaven.” Thousands have read "The Hound of Heaven" with tears, for it is the story of God's pursuit of us, who, like Thompson reject him, and try to flee from him.

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind...

The poet knew that: "All things betray thee, who betrayest Me." But still he ran--into the slums of London, into starvation, dirt, drug addiction and disease. But why?

...For, though I knew His love Who follow'd,
Yet I was sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside...

How did he get so low? In 1859, he was born into a well-to-do Roman Catholic home. But his parents wanted him to become a physician, a career he detested. He failed his exams three times and then fled to London.

He failed every occupation he tried. Although his father sent a little money to him in care of a library, he was refused admission because he was so shabby. When he collapsed in the street, a prostitute rescued him. Some poems he scribbled on sugar paper were printed by Wilfred Meynell, who finally rescued Thompson. Under the care of a Franciscan community, Thompson escaped his drug addiction, but his health was permanently injured. He died November 13, 1907, having finally given himself to “Hound of Heaven”.

If you haven't read it--or if it is has been awhile, I've included it here. It's not an easy read because of turn of the century language. But as you read, you begin to pick up on how desperately he ran...and yet he realizes how great the Love of God really is.  Did you know that God is still persistently pursuing you?


THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

Francis Thompson

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the midst of tears

I hid from Him, and under running laughter.
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated,
Adown Titanic glooms of chasmed fears,

From those strong Feet that followed, followed after.
But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbèd pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat—and a Voice beat
More instant than the Feet—
'All things betray thee, who betrayest Me'.

I pleaded, outlaw-wise,
By many a hearted casement, curtained red,
Trellised with intertwining charities;
(For, though I knew His love Who followed,
Yet was I sore adread
Lest, having Him, I must have naught beside.)

But, if one little casement parted wide,
The gust of His approach would clash it to:
Fear wist not to evade, as Love wist to pursue.
Across the margent of the world I fled,
And troubled the gold gateway of the stars,
Smiting for shelter on their clanged bars;
Fretted to dulcet jars
And silvern chatter the pale ports o' the moon.

I said to Dawn: Be sudden—to Eve: Be soon;
With thy young skiey blossom heap me over
From this tremendous Lover—
Float thy vague veil about me, lest He see!
I tempted all His servitors, but to find
My own betrayal in their constancy,

In faith to Him their fickleness to me,
Their traitorous trueness, and their loyal deceit.
To all swift things for swiftness did I sue;
Clung to the whistling mane of every wind.
But whether they swept, smoothly fleet,
The long savannahs of the blue;
Or, whether, Thunder-driven,
They clanged his chariot 'thwart a heaven,
Plashy with flying lightnings round the spurn o' their feet:—

Fear wist not to evade as Love wist to pursue.
Still with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
Came on the following Feet,
And a Voice above their beat—
'Naught shelters thee, who wilt not shelter Me.'

I sought no more after that which I strayed
In face of man or maid;
But still within the little children's eyes
Seems something, something that replies,
They at least are for me, surely for me!
I turned me to them very wistfully;
But just as their young eyes grew sudden fair
With dawning answers there,
Their angel plucked them from me by the hair.

Come then, ye other children, Nature's—share
With me’ (said I) 'your delicate fellowship;
Let me greet you lip to lip,
Let me twine with you caresses,
Wantoning
With our Lady-Mother's vagrant tresses,
Banqueting
With her in her wind-walled palace,
Underneath her azured dais,
Quaffing, as your taintless way is,
From a chalice
Lucent-weeping out of the dayspring.’

So it was done:
I in their delicate fellowship was one—
Drew the bolt of Nature's secrecies.
I knew all the swift importings
On the wilful face of skies;
I knew how the clouds arise
Spumèd of the wild sea-snortings;
All that's born or dies
Rose and drooped with; made them shapers

Of mine own moods, or wailful divine;
With them joyed and was bereaven.
I was heavy with the even,
When she lit her glimmering tapers
Round the day's dead sanctities.
I laughed in the morning's eyes.
I triumphed and I saddened with all weather,
Heaven and I wept together,
And its sweet tears were salt with mortal mine:
Against the red throb of its sunset-heart
I laid my own to beat,
And share commingling heat;
But not by that, by that, was eased my human smart.

In vain my tears were wet on Heaven's grey cheek.
For ah! we know not what each other says,
These things and I; in sound I speak—
Their sound is but their stir, they speak by silences.
Nature, poor stepdame, cannot slake my drouth;
Let her, if she would owe me,
Drop yon blue bosom-veil of sky, and show me
The breasts o’ her tenderness:
Never did any milk of hers once bless
My thirsting mouth.

Nigh and nigh draws the chase,
With unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy;
And past those noisèd Feet
A voice comes yet more fleet—
'Lo! naught contents thee, who content'st not Me.'

Naked I wait Thy love's uplifted stroke!
My harness piece by piece Thou has hewn from me,
And smitten me to my knee;
I am defenceless utterly.
I slept, methinks, and woke,
And, slowly gazing, find me stripped in sleep.
In the rash lustihead of my young powers,
I shook the pillaring hours
And pulled my life upon me; grimed with smears,
I stand amidst the dust o' the mounded years—
My mangled youth lies dead beneath the heap.
My days have crackled and gone up in smoke,
Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream.
Yea, faileth now even dream
The dreamer, and the lute the lutanist;
Even the linked fantasies, in whose blossomy twist
I swung the earth a trinket at my wrist,
Are yielding; cords of all too weak account
For earth with heavy griefs so overplussed.
Ah! is Thy love indeed
A weed, albeit an amarinthine weed,
Suffering no flowers except its own to mount?

Ah! must—
Designer infinite!—
Ah! must Thou char the wood ere Thou canst limn with it?
My freshness spent its wavering shower i' the dust;
And now my heart is as a broken fount,
Wherein tear-drippings stagnate, spilt down ever
From the dank thoughts that shiver
Upon the sighful branches of my mind.
Such is; what is to be?
The pulp so bitter, how shall taste the rind?
I dimly guess what Time in mists confounds;
Yet ever and anon a trumpet sounds
From the hid battlements of Eternity;
Those shaken mists a space unsettle, then
Round the half-glimpsed turrets slowly wash again.
But not ere him who summoneth
I first have seen, enwound
With glooming robes purpureal, cypress-crowned;
His name I know and what his trumpet saith.
Whether man's heart or life it be which yields
Thee harvest, must Thy harvest-fields
Be dunged with rotten death?

Now of that long pursuit
Comes on at hand the bruit;
That Voice is round me like a bursting sea:
'And is thy earth so marred,
Shattered in shard on shard?
Lo, all things fly thee, for thou fliest Me!

'Strange, piteous, futile thing!
Wherefore should any set thee love apart?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught' (He said),
'And human love needs human meriting:
How hast thou merited—
Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot?
Alack, thou knowest not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom wilt thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me?

All which I took from thee I did but take,
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might'st seek it in My arms.
All which thy child's mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!'

Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
'Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seekest!
Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.'

Elijah Becomes a Mentor

Elisha had accepted God into his life years before. He had daily learned the lessons of hard work and humility. He had been taught the lessons of kindness and faithfulness to duty. He had been told that God had a special plan for his life. But when it came time to answer the call, he had to count the cost. He had to make a decision to leave the comforts of wealth and live the life of a wandering prophet, often misunderstood, often ignored, often abused. Yet that was his calling. He had to make a choice. And Elisha determined that nothing would stand in the way of his following God. So he ate his farewell meal and then went to learn from Elijah.

Elijah was moving into another phase of his calling. For years he had stood tall in Israel as God’s chosen mouthpiece. He had rebuked and called the people back. Day in and day out he had instructed, pleaded, preached and tried to arouse the people to remember the God of their fathers and to return and follow Him. Finally, at God’s command, he had prophesied no rain and then, three and a half years later, had his big day on Mt. Carmel.

And now God was calling Elijah to a new phase of ministry. He would still rebuke sin. He would still preach and call the people back. He would still deliver the word of the Lord wherever the Lord instructed him to, but now, instead of doing it alone, he was to mentor God’s next man. He was to prepare him for the ministry. He was to allow Elisha to work alongside him and ask questions and watch and learn. He was to give Elisha the full inside scoop on a prophet’s ministry. And it was to be day in and day out for the next few years.

That may not seem like that big of a deal to you, but just think what that would mean in your life, at your job, if you were called on to mentor and train one of the next generation of new workers, day in and day out, for two or three years, and then they went home with every night. That’s huge! That’s what Elijah was being called to. And he had to make a decision as well. Would he really follow God’s command at the risk of having his style cramped; his life intruded upon.

So maybe God isn't calling you to have someone move in, but perhaps He is calling you to share with the next generation. Could be your kids, younger siblings, or perhaps a kid with no dad in your church or neighborhood. Maybe it's time for you to move to a new phase of ministry. Maybe.

2 Shares

Of Stinky Feet and Sewer Breath

As their wedding day approached, a young couple grew apprehensive. Each had a problem they had never before shared with anyone, not even each other. The groom-to-be decided to ask his father for advice. “Father,” he said, “I’m concerned about the success of my marriage. I love my fiancée very much, but I have smelly feet. I’m afraid that my future wife will find them, and me, disgusting.”

“No problem,” said his father, “All you have to do is wash your feet as often as possible and always wear socks, even to bed.” The young man thought this sounded like a workable solution.

Likewise, the bride-to-be decided to take her problem to her mom. “Mom,” she said, “when I wake up in the morning my breath is truly awful.”

Her mother advised, “In the morning, get straight out of bed, head for the bathroom, and brush your teeth. Don’t say a word until you’ve brushed them—not a word.”

The bride-to-be thought the suggestion was certainly worth a try.

The loving couple was finally married in a beautiful ceremony. Not forgetting the advice each had received—he with his perpetual socks and she with her morning silence—they managed quite well.

About six months later, shortly before dawn, the husband woke up horrified to discover that one of his socks had come off during the night. Fearful of the consequences, he frantically started searching the bed. This, of course, woke his bride. Without thinking, she blurted out, “What on earth are you doing?” “Oh no!” he gasped as he recoiled in shock. “You’ve swallowed my sock!”

Maybe you don’t have stinky feet or sewer breath, but chances are you have some embarrassing or disgusting secrets that you hope nobody ever finds out about. But no matter how hard you try to keep some things a secret, you can’t hide anything from God.

He knows you very well. He knows you so well, that according to scripture, He even knows how many hairs you have on your head….including the new count after you brushed your hair this morning. He knows all the good, the bad and the ugly about you.

But in spite of all that he knows, God still loves you. In fact, he wants to know more about you because he’s interested in you and cares about you. He thinks the world of you. He loves you so much that he gave his only son to die for you. And all he asks in return is your acceptance of that love.

What Should I Worry About Now?

Most of us spend our lives worrying, don’t we? We worry about how people will accept us. We worry about our clothes—are they nice enough or with it enough?. We worry about acne. We worry about our bodies—are we too fat or too skinny or too tall or too short or too ugly or somehow not acceptable. We worry about our social status. Will someone find us attractive or will they shun us? We worry about what the guy or girl on the other side of the classroom is thinking about us. We worry about school work—are we smart enough to handle it or will we come out failing? We worry about projects and papers and quizzes and tests. We worry about whether we can stay in school and pay the bill. We worry about our jobs—at least some of us do. Others haven’t gotten there yet as they joy ride around on the golf cart of life.

As we get older, we worry about our careers, and our income—will we make enough to pay the bills and survive in the lifestyle we’ve grown accustomed to? We worry about who we will marry, or if we will marry. We worry about whether we will be able to have kids, and once we have them, that gives us something totally new to worry about. How will we feed them and clothe them? How will we educate them? How can we get them through childhood in one piece when they continue to fall down and break bones or stick screwdrivers into electrical outlets, or jump off of swings when they are at their highest point? And how can we pay for the rising cost of Dr. bills when they do those things?

We worry that they won’t do good enough in school or that they get into too many fights or that they won’t be accepted or that they might fail and not only make themselves look bad, but make us as parents look bad too.

We worry about the perpetual cough that we can’t seem to stop or the fever of one of the kids or about our aging parents. We worry about the doctor’s report that says we have a tumor and we worry about cancer or strokes or high cholesterol and heart attacks. We worry about tornadoes and earthquakes and hurricanes and fires. We worry about our kids driving the highways at much too high a speed. We worry about the other people on the roads with our kids. Some of them we worry about because they might be drunk and could possibly hit one of our loved ones…and some we worry about because they happen to be on the road at the same time as our kid who just learned to drive—and they don’t yet know the lack of experience that our kid has. And so we worry, not only for our kid, but for the people our kid might hit.

We worry about divorce and our future. We worry about death and how to face it. We worry about hell and heaven. We worry about our family members that don’t know Jesus. We worry that we don’t know Jesus well enough. And we hate the question put to us—If you were to die right now, do you know where you would spend eternity? That worries us. We even worry when we find ourself NOT worrying, thinking that we must have forgotten something! In fact, have you noticed? We worry about just about everything.

And right in the middle of all of our worry, Jesus speaks. 

Matt. 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 

Matt. 6:28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 

Stop worrying! Take those things to Jesus...and rest...in Him.