It’s hard to believe we are sitting on the cusp of a brand new year. I’d like to say that I’m a good resolution keeper, but I have fallen short each and every year.
This year, I intend to align my goals with what I suspect the Lord desires for me. I want to prioritize my relationship with him above my need for measurable success.
To be present, to be patient and to be pliable clay in my master’s hand, this is my goal for 2018.
Happy New Year, brothers and sisters!
Battle-weary from warring with worry, dazed and confused from the hard fall after the rug got pulled from beneath your planted feet, and insulated in isolation from the human interaction you desperately need, you find yourself staring at that familiar image in the mirror. If only you could sneak in a 5-minute date with the tub. A little too familiar? A few too many no-shower days?
When life is providing challenges, it’s easy to fall into a few of Satan’s well-hidden traps. If we learn to become vigilant and become skilled at recognizing and disarming them, we stay steady on our journey, and the no-shower days don’t hold as much power as they otherwise would.
Let’s visit a few of the deceiver’s favorite go-to snares otherwise known as lies.
Catastrophizing.
This is where you imagine the worst of outcomes. Your inner Buzz Lightyear is screaming, “This will last to infinity and beyond!” This present affliction has to be the absolute biggest and baddest of all big and bad things. In this place, convincing yourself that this difficult day is destined to be repeated for the next 365 comes easy. Words like “never” and “forever” and “always” ricochet in your brain space, piercing any positivity you might cling to. You obsess over the current cause of your hygiene hiatus and believe you will never again shower. Each of us have our own bait-lines that when swallowed, pull us into the abyss of despondency. What are yours?
Ruminating.
In an article titled “Rethinking Rumination” in Perspectives in Social Science, the authors give an excellent definition for rumination…
If your thoughts have become the equivalent of a bad vine on YouTube, identify them now.
Enumerating.
Keeping track of your woes? Adding up insults? Tabulating troubles? Multiplying misery? How often do we count our burdens when we should be counting our blessings? Becoming an accountant for the adversary is nothing but nonproductive. It’s easy on the sans-bath days to start a lengthy list of all you do for the others in your life. What are you logging into your mind’s ledger?
Generalizing.
Sweeping generalizations, the labeling of all of life. One terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day does not mean they all will be. Even if the present circumstance does permeate more time than we would choose, it will get better. It will get easier. We become healthy when we accept, adjust, and adapt. Have you painted over a brilliant fine line of promise with a wide brush stroke of generalization today?
Victimizing.
It is far too easy to adopt a victim mentality on the hard days. Human nature seeks to place blame on someone or something tangible. We step right into the snares called “If only” and “why can’t”. Here’s the deal; bad things happen, people fail us, not everything comes with a labeled reason. No matter what the source of your pain is, you get to choose whether you will live as a victim or victor. Taking control of your thought life is the first step in becoming the latter. Who do you tend to “blame” for your no-shower days?
The Solution: Spirit-filled mindfulness.
Mindfulness, apart from spirituality, is defined by Psychology Today as: “a state of active, open attention on the present. When you’re mindful, you observe your thoughts and feelings from a distance, without judging them good or bad. Instead of letting your life pass you by, mindfulness means living in the moment and awakening to experience.”
Mindfulness tells Buzz Lightyear that he’s overly dramatic. When truly mindful, we can be aware that this no-shower day is actually a no-shower hour because we are simply in the moment, hour, day. It grounds us in this truth:
Therefore, don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Matthew 6:34
See, even the Father instructs us to stay in the present!
With spiritual mindfulness, we can purposely list our blessings, identify joy in mundane moments, cultivate a garden of gratitude as children of a loving God who holds the future we fear.
Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 (HCSB)
Here’s the best part! As Christ-followers, we have an abundance of help. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit to be discerning of our thoughts and motives. He is waiting to gently and graciously expose those destructive thought patterns which make us so vulnerable to Satan’s lies.
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit – the Father will send Him in My name – will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful. John 14:26 (HCSB)
When we allow The Spirit to control our thought live vs. dialing him up for damage control, our no-shower days aren’t so distressing and the image we see as we pass the mirror is not that of a worried and worn-out woman, but that of a gentle and quiet spirit who just happens to be tired. Big difference, my friends.
In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. And He who searches the hearts knows the Spirit’s mind-set, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27 (HCSB)
So, you there with the greasy hair and the baggy sweats, know first that you are loved fiercely by your Father God. Become obsessed with that. Ruminate on that. Count the ways He loves you.
BE MINDFUL OF HIM WHO LONGS TO FILL YOUR MIND!
For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth , or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (HCSB)
Make a plan for your next no-shower day. Right now!!! Here’s your have-ready list:
Blessings my friends!
(1) (http://drsonja.net/wp-content/themes/drsonja/papers/NWL2008.pdf)
Our eyes met briefly before she ducked her head. She in her hijab, me in my gaudy elf hat. She, fresh from Syria. Me, fresh from Fear. She, needing protective winter coats for her family. Me, needing to shed the armored cloak I’d wrapped around my heart. She, fleeing from a war zone. Me, with a son who served in one.
Our church is very intentional about ministering to the marginalized in our community and we have both the blessing and responsibility of reaching our refugee community. I’ve served at a couple of events now where I was in direct contact with refugees of other faiths, and I have a hard time finding words to describe the blessings I’ve received each time.
Having said that, I must give full disclosure. I’m scared. Each time, I’ve experienced fear. I’ll even be transparent enough to tell you, I played through the scenario of a radical Islamic terrorist coming in to our serve event and blowing us all away. And yet, we both found ourselves there. She, fleeing that. Me, fearing that. All we have to do is watch a news segment or read an article flashing across our social media, and we start cultivating the ground in which Satan is ready to seed the thorny thistle, Fear.
Months ago, I engaged in a debate with fellow believers regarding the wisdom in accepting certain refugees or immigrants. I took a hard stance against it. As time passed, the Holy Spirit just wouldn’t stop stirring my pot. He’s been holding up a mirror, and I’m ashamed of what I see. There is validity to both sides of the argument, and balancing intellectual arguments with spiritual admonitions is difficult at best.
It’s the head verses heart problem.
Or, is it the them verses me problem?
My comfort. My safety. My beliefs. My opinions. My politics.
The days immediately following my encounter, we watched Aleppo’s torment continue with unspeakable acts of deadly violence against thousands of men, women and children who were created in the image of God. They were known to Him from conception regardless of their current spiritual state. No pagan God created these fragile human beings, MY God spoke them into being just as he did me. This week, I saw her in my TV screen. I saw her losing all she had and all she had ever known. I saw her losing her babies, her husband, her parents, her siblings. I saw her eyes meet mine and this time, they held the gaze. I saw her, and I wept.
I have so fortified my heart against fear, pounding in crucifying nails and drilling holes in biblical teaching, that I have not heard the still, small voice of God. So bound was my heart, it could not appropriately break in sync with my Lord’s surely rent heart.
This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 1 John 3:16-17 (The Message)
The question isn’t what have I done. The question is what have I not done! The question isn’t what do we need to legislate or how do we screen, I think the question is simply this….what does God’s word mandate? He makes it so easy!
“Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.” Matthew 22:36-40 (HCSB)
How do we do this? Your mandate will look different from mine. Prayer will show you yours. Of this I am certain, the pile of Christmas gifts under our tree is an affront to the needs of people fleeing from terror if all I do is watch the suffering on high def under the twinkling lights. Join me in praying for Peace on Earth. Join me for praying for how we, in our cozy comfort, can be the hands and feet of Jesus to the survivors of atrocity both collectively and individually.
I wish I had a legitimately vetted list of organizations to add to this blog. I will suggest Samaritan’s Purse, and please feel free to add suggestions in the comments.
I want to leave you with this.
Jesus drives out demons. People drive out Jesus.
Can you make any sense of it? I can’t and of course, we can easily condemn the actions of our ancestors in scripture given we have the script in our hands. Really, what was wrong with these people?
Let’s recap the situation. There is this demon-possessed man who had run naked and lived among the tombs and hills where he didn’t sleep, wailed day and night and cut himself with stones for what the Bible says was a “long time”. He was so violent, so maniacal that he repeatedly tore off the irons and chains that the people placed on him. Imagine this uncontrollable savage whose eyes would have revealed the demonic torment raging within. Obviously, no one was safe to travel the path that ran past these tombs of terror. No Hollywood special effects needed, this was the real deal. Demons. Not one, not two, but thousands. The Legion. You can read the story for yourself in Matthew 8, Mark 5 and Luke 8.
So, Jesus, fresh from terrifying the disciples by calming the storm with three words, had just arrived to the region of the Gadarenes when this tortured man starts screaming at Jesus. Remember, “even the demons believe and tremble in terror”. (James 2:19). They, the demons, beg Jesus not to send them to the abyss but ask instead to be sent into a herd of pigs grazing on the hillside. So, with his permission, the evil spirits exited the man and entered the approximately 2,000 pigs who then promptly drown themselves.
At this point, the horrified hog handlers book it and they broadcast to fellow farmers and townsmen alike what they just witnessed with their very own eyes. There was no choice between the fight or flight response. Unadulterated, adrenaline-laced fear fueled them as the fled the scene of deliverance.
Out come the people to see for themselves, and there he is! The crazed man is totally coherent. He is sane. He is clothed. He is sitting at the feet of Jesus hanging on every word. Here’s where the story takes a twist. The reaction of the people is not what we would expect. No praise. No worship. No gratitude. No falling on their knees in the presence of the healer. Just dead pigs in the lake, leftover excrement, and fear. Fear. So much fear that they begged Jesus to leave their region. What? Send Jesus away? But, I don’t understand! He just performed a miracle of gigantic proportion! The whole community benefited from this.
Oh, the fear factor. I have an intimate knowledge of fear and the sin that springs from it. I believe it is one of Satan’s favorite tools.
The translation of this particular “fear” from the Greek ephobethesan, is “to be struck with fear, to be seized with alarm” and in this case, “of those startled by strange sites or occurrences”. (Strongs). Let’s look at a couple other instances where this definition of fear is written about.
Are there any words to describe the terror which strikes at the frail human heart when brought face to face with the supernatural acts of our sovereign Christ? No, for it is at that moment that we become engulfed by our finite and frail humanity and yes, the flames of spontaneous, sinful fear send us fleeing or, as in this case, begging the Savior to leave our territory.
There they were, sending away the solution as they stood ankle deep in pig poop, the disgusting waste of Satan’s evil army. No pigs, no demons, just the leftovers. What is it that made them fear the Sovereign Solution over the remnants of years of torment? What is it that made them fear the Supreme over the damned? Why did they not want more of what Jesus had to offer?
It has been suggested that money drove their fear. Two thousand hogs was a costly loss, and what else was this Jesus going to do; however, I don’t think it was that when we look at the other scriptures where the Greek “ephobethesan” is used.
I think the pure power that pours from our Lord and Savior frightens us in ways we aren’t always aware of. Why?
Maybe because we are always trying to be the ones in control.
Maybe because we are more comfortable with the status quo than we are with being moved out of our comfort zone.
Maybe because when we see how unfathomably great our God is, we realize how small we really are.
Maybe because we don’t believe we are worth delivering.
Maybe because we are actually afraid of what He may ask of us.
Maybe, just maybe, its because we don’t truly know the totality of who it is we worship and serve and because of that, faith gives way to fear.
Sit with this question:
Are you standing ankle-deep in your leftover mess while sending away the solution? Why? What are you afraid of?
Lord, forgive us for sending you, our Sovereign Solution, away. Forgive us for not falling to our knees in worshipful respect and awe at your power. Forgive us for not calling on you to exercise it in our daily lives. In Jesus precious name, Amen.
soultracings 