One honestly fearful step

Light, space, zest—that’s God! So, with him on my side I’m fearless, afraid of no one and nothing... I’m sure now I’ll see God’s goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take heart. Don’t quit. I’ll say it again: Stay with God. (Psalm 27:1, 13)

Begin with God, and we will surely end well! I wonder what could happen within our days if we'd make a conscious effort to begin with God and then at the end of the day begin to recount the things of our day in the light of what he brought us through, showed us, and even kept us from experiencing some harshness just because of his awesome oversight? Beginnings often differ from endings, do they not? Some of us begin quite well, ending with less than stellar performance. Others begin on a little bit of a shaky footing but somehow end pretty well considering how we began. One thing I believe God wants for us is the certainty of beginning well AND the reward of ending well. If we consider there is a whole lot of "in between" wedged in the middle of the beginning and ending, we might just get a little discouraged with the process, but the truth is, begin well and we stand a whole lot better chance of dealing with the "in between" within a different frame of reference!

One of the things which frequently keeps us from even beginning is the fear of what lays ahead. When we know who protects our life, we have less grounds to fear the unknown we call the "in between". We are more likely to take the first step when we feel well-protected and what better way to feel well-protected than to put our hands in the one who commands the Angel Armies! The goodness of God is what keeps us as we face the "in between". His nature is always what we call good - meaning his plans will be nothing but good, making his actions consistently good toward mankind, and declaring his outcomes overwhelmingly good. Most of us get hung up with the "bad" we see in this world, thinking God must be "handing out" bad stuff. Truth is - bad exists because we have a free will - we all have the opportunity of choice, and we don't always make the right ones. Mankind can choose to either live out the "in between" by making good choices or determining to make all the ones which result in nothing but bad outcomes. When we choose the latter, we see the worst in people. When we choose the former, we have the opportunity to see little bits of God's goodness on display.

We know things about our choices that we honestly think no one else sees - we think we have insulated those choices so well that they are never on display for others to see. Try as we might, little "hints" of our choices are constantly creeping through. We can say we are not fearless - stepping out in what seems like boldness and extreme courage - but wherever choice exists, there is always an element of fear. It is human nature to experience "fear" whenever faced with the unknown. It may only be a little apprehension manifest on the surface, but deep inside, there is something pretty overwhelming about the unknown (the in between). This is why it is so important for us to begin well. God already knows our uncertainty and the deeper sense we have of feeling overwhelmed with our "in between". Since he does, isn't it pretty comical for us to try to convince ourselves, others, and even HIM that the unknown doesn't bother us? I'd like us to accept a challenge today - to begin to be honest with God about what it is we fear the most. This is a pretty big challenge for those who like to "put their best foot forward", even with God. I think there is great wisdom in admitting we are afraid of the "in between" - especially to God! What we are willing to bring to him he stands at the ready to accept as an opportunity to reveal something about himself which we might not experience otherwise. God does more with an honest confession and an open heart than he does with false confidence and prideful first steps! He can do more with an honestly fearful first step than hundreds of prideful ones!

If we read the "in between" of this Psalm, we will observe many "ups and downs" of the writer's heart, mind, and spirit. Bullies are bearing down on him, but he will play it cool. The world around him is bombarding him with all kinds of noise, but he will choose to filter it out by contemplating the goodness of the one he serves. Others are trying to pull him down, but he chooses to march ahead, rise above, and allow praise to carry him through the opposition. The temptations around him have "loud voices", but he will respond only to the "whisper" of God's which comes from deep within him. Family doesn't even appear to be loyal, but he has never experienced abandon from the one to whom he has committed his life. He is dogged by enemies on every side who spout words of taunting and terror, but his determination is to allow God to answer their taunts and threats. I am sure he feels a little like the "in between" wants to keep him from making the first steps but look at his response each and every time. He is confident in the one who stands above the rest - he knows the one in whom he has placed his trust - and he stands determined to face the "in between" with the confidence of one who is protected on all sides. Looking at these few verses, we see he addresses the things which affect his mind, heart, will and emotions. Why? Simply because these are the areas of attack where we face the greatest fears of the "in between".

Your "in between" may not be clear today, but if you choose to begin well, you will surely end well. In the "in between", choose to listen to the whispered voice of a good God, instead of the taunts and terror of the enemies of your soul. In the "in between", rest on the shoulder, close to the heart of the one who will carry you when you are weak, lift you when you fall, and treasure you when no one seems to exhibit any concern for your well-being. He who began a good thing in you will be sure to take you through to the end. Begin well and you will end even better than you began! Just sayin!

Okay, uncle!

Are you one of those individuals with unfinished projects tucked away here and there throughout your house? Maybe something about your house is unfinished and you have been just 'living with it' for a while because you lack the resources or energy to get it finished. We may even have things in our lives that we'd like to see changed, but the completion of that change just seems to be stalled. God, high above, sees far below - right into those areas of our lives that are 'started', but not quite 'finished' yet! We may not "see" him, but he sees us! If nothing else, the fact that God even notices humankind should bring us to our knees! Be quite clear on this - "no matter the distance, he knows everything about us". Nothing escapes his notice - nothing is overlooked for his intervention. Too many times we come to the conclusion that we are in the thick of things all alone - no one noticing the mess we are in. Just the opposite is true - God never misses a beat!

When they hear what you have to say, God, all earth's kings will say "Thank you." They'll sing of what you've done: "How great the glory of God!" And here's why: God, high above, sees far below; no matter the distance, he knows everything about us. When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, with your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal—don't quit on me now. (Psalm 138:4-8)

Our daily plea needs to be that God will finish what he began in our life. These are words that literally tug at the heart-strings of God's infinitely large heart! All of heaven knows that we are not very good at finishing what WE start! We make starts and stops like jackrabbits on a hot day! There is very little consistency in our walk, but God sees it all - both the starts and the stops - the forward movement and the perpetual stalls. Both attract his attention. When we cry out for him to finish what HE started, forgetting what it is the WE started, his hands are quick to go into action on our behalf and this can be the action that moves us into action, as well.

Why does God let us start things on our own when he knows they will end in failure? I imagine it is so we will learn just how insufficient our self-will, self-dependence, and self-determination are compared to the task at hand. Once we fail, we consider the error of OUR ways and are often more open to considering the blessing of GOD's ways to 'get er done'. God never asked for us to be robots - under his control and just going through the motions of serving him. He wants us to come to the conclusion that his ways are better than our own - so he allows us to experience the results of our own actions. He wants us to lean into him and lean upon him - not out of obligation, but out of love.

The end result is usually that we end up calling out like David, "Finish what you started God! I got it all messed up when I tried it on my own!" I honestly believe that God unleashes all of heaven's resources at those very words - uttered or screamed - it makes no difference as long as they come from a genuine heart! He never misses a step we take - all the while just waiting to hear that we need him to finish what he began and what we cannot finish on our own! Just sayin!

I started out bad, but I am not ending that way!

We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else.  But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead—only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved—and lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in the heavenly realms—all because of what Christ Jesus did.  And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all he has done for us through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:3-7 TLB)

Yesterday, we began a study in this passage. If we want to deal with the residue we have in life, we need to recognize WE started out bad, but WE don't have to finish the way we started! The truth of the matter is that none of us is truly all that different from the other - we all have a sin nature and we all need a Savior. God's love is what actually begins to differentiate us one from another - for it is his love that makes us truly unique. It is the richness of God's mercy that fills those empty spaces where sin had filled us with nothing of any value. It is his love that empties us of those burdens sin so quickly placed upon us, weighing us down with a burden we were never created to bear. 

How we start may set the course in our lives, but it doesn't have to determine our final destination - the outcome. We do need to start somewhere, but if we must start again in order to change the course of our lives, there is no harm in that "restart" or "reboot". In fact, I have had to "reboot" a few more times than I might like to admit - and sometimes without really recognizing I had somehow become corrupted in the path I had taken! Restarting just means we make things fresh or new again - the old gets left behind and the new is free to take its place.

In every "restart" there is a recognition that Christ hasn't been the one in control - we have been. This recognition is what brings us to the place where we ask for grace and sink deeper into his love than we ever have been before, instead of sinking in the mire of wrong decisions. It is where we evaluate what we have been trying to accomplish and then recognize it hasn't gone all that well! It is Christ's ALL that overcomes our limits. This is something that may take time for us to learn, because we want to do it all and then seek God's help!

The sooner we recognize we cannot do it all, the better it will be for us. Why? There is "much" we can do - obedience - but we cannot "make" the end result as it should be. We lack the wherewithal to change things within our own character just by trying harder. Truthfully, we humans try way too much and then seek forgiveness for all our trying! There isn't anything wrong with admitting we haven't a clue how to get to where we want to go - in fact, stopping to "ask for directions" may just be what we need the most in order to accomplish the course corrections we so desperately need!

If we all start out poorly - sin being at the root of all we do - then we can pretty much be assured our end will fall short of righteousness. If we admit at the start that we need to have God's help to root out this sin, then we are open to receiving God's righteousness in place of our "bad" nature. Where God's nature is exchanged with ours, that is the place of "correct" beginnings - not "corrected" beginnings. As humans, we make a lot of "corrected" beginnings - starting again and again. As inhabited by Christ, we make "correct" beginnings for the one who lives and breathes all righteousness is working within us to help us take the steps in the right direction. Just sayin!

Not ending, but beginning

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." (T. S. Eliot)

What ends have become your new beginnings? One of the most fearful places to be is at the "end" - for the "end" requires one to either choose a new beginning, or to settle for a place of stagnancy. Either way, there is something to be "feared" as one approaches the "end" of any matter. As my BFF and I were sitting at lunch the other day, we began to contemplate just how near retirement was for each of us. Not too awfully long ago, I was just "starting out" in my career as a nurse, and in about the blink of an eye, here I was contemplating what the next six years might bring before "retirement" age was reached. It is kind of scary to think about occupying my time with new ventures, while at the same time it is rather exciting. In the end, I will choose to "end" one thing, but plan to "start" something new - for idle hands and minds are never a good thing!

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT)

We may not always anticipate the "endings" we are brought to in life, but we can stand assured none of these "endings" are meant to bring us to a place of "inactivity" - for God never wants "stagnancy" in our walk with him. As we contemplate some of the "endings" we have experienced thus far this year, what might be the "new beginnings" God is working out for us? One thing is for certain - God is the God of "new beginnings". Each year, my trees drop their leaves, looking rather barren and like all the life has drained from them. Each year, the warmth of the spring sun begins to challenge those same "barren branches" to bring forth new growth. In just a matter of a few short weeks, what was seemingly barren is chocked full of abundant growth! The end wasn't the end - it was a new beginning.

As my grandsons were growing up, I became familiar with a term used in education today - something called "chapter books". I really hadn't heard that term (or paid attention to it) until they were advancing in their reading skills. When they finished these "one chapter" books, there was a new skill they needed to add - to read "chapter books". Their advancement through the grades has presented them with longer "chapter books". In life as we know it, we might start out with the simple "one chapter" issues or decisions. As we learn to master these with a sense of ease and comfort, we find ourselves being challenged to move beyond them, though. Why? There is new discovery awaiting us in the "bigger" chapter books of life. At times, I am just like you - I don't want a "bigger" challenge in life. I want to just "glide" for a while. After all, what is wrong with a little "break from life" for just a while? Nothing and everything at the same time.

There is nothing wrong with finding rest for a while in God's grace and presence. There is everything wrong with becoming so complacent that we no longer move. In the Song of Solomon, you will observe the "lover" (us) waking from a short slumber, only to find her "lover" (Jesus) isn't where she is at any longer. She calls and calls for him - asking throughout the city if anyone has seen him. What has happened here? Her "lover" hasn't "moved on" in terms of his love for her - but his absence has caused her love and need to be close to him to become very apparent to her! It is quite possible the end of one "chapter" in our lives is the very challenge we need in order to realize just how intense our love for Christ is - for in any ending, there is a new beginning - even as it applies to our intensity of devotion to our Lord and King, Jesus Christ! Just sayin!