New Wine Skins

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Thomas A. Edison)

We must not get tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

It is easy to grow weary, much harder to regain momentum when we have been stagnant way too long! We will face trials - challenges beyond our 'natural' reasoning, ability, or strength. What we do when we stand face-to-face with those challenges makes all the difference! Will we turn and run? Will we stand up and fight in our own strength? Or will we turn to Christ for wisdom, renewal, and increased capacity?

Sometimes we think the only thing we need when facing a hard challenge is to have more strength. More 'ability' to handle it. More 'intel' about the situation. The truth is that we might just need more capacity! Old wine skins were never meant to hold new wine. Why? As time passed, the new wine would expand until it burst from the old wine skin. God isn't trying to make us 'burst' spiritually, mentally, or even physically. He may be trying to put us into a new wine skin!

In basic training, one of my Drill Sergeants used to tell us all the time: "Giving up is not an option!" It wasn't optional - we needed to dig deeper, find some inner strength, push beyond our weariness, and move on. Those long road marches, physical training drills, long days at the obstacle courses, and even the 'after hour' boot polishing and uniform ironing were enough to do a sane person in! But...giving up was not optional! May I just say this to those of us who are facing challenges way beyond what seems 'natural' for us to handle today: "Giving up is not optional!"

Christ beckons us onward - not with the same old techniques as we used in the past. He is beckoning us into 'new wine skins' - we haven't been this way before and we need to allow him to 'outfit' us for the journey. Capacity isn't often part of our prayers when going through tough stuff, but maybe it should move up on our list. Just sayin!

Is it really a way of escape?

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-3)

Is anyone else like me, trying to get out of something a bit 'prematurely' because they are harder than you expected when you went into it? Trust me on this one, you and I will just find the next challenge a bit harder, so we might as well buckle down and finish this one! There is something that is 'required' of us and we need to see it through, or else face the next 'something' in order to do it all over again.

What is required? I don't know what your particular 'challenge' is right now, but whatever it is, God has a plan in it. That may seem a little hard for some to swallow, especially when the issue at hand seems kind of 'unfair', 'one-sided', or 'too much to handle'. It could just be that God is trying to show us we don't 'handle' these things on our own - we need and will receive his help to get through them. May what is required is our willingness to listen, then trustingly obey.

I've said this before, and I haven't changed my opinion on it - our 'faith-life' can be more than a little challenging at times. We get to the point where we feel the pressures from without, within, and who knows where. In the midst of the pressures, we sometimes want to cave. We want to throw in the towel and just walk away, thinking we will somehow be okay to 'not have finished that one'. It is a hard thing to have our 'faith-life' forced out into the open - revealing to us (and everyone else) our true colors, isn't it?

The 'work' that needs to be done is cut short whenever we 'turn tail and run'. If I had my druthers, I'd try to avoid these trials and tests, but that isn't how it works in God's family. I have learned my enemy likes to provide a way of 'escape' from the trial or test - one that will invite me to leave it way to early. I have to 'plan ahead' for his 'offers of escape' if I want to avoid leaving the path God has me on way too early to accomplish whatever it is he is trying to do within me. How about you? Do you have a plan to avoid the enemy's attempts to give you a way of 'escape' in your trial? I have found God's way of escape is often to walk right on through what it is I am trying so hard to escape. Just sayin!

Challenged to Run Well

Time is short - what are you doing with yours? This may not seem like a very significant question when you are twenty and going strong, but the recent passing of a young man just barely in his forties made me realize we cannot take life for granted. Chances are he arose every morning living life to the fullest, but none of us knows when our last breath will come. We all run this race - with urgency and equally with responsibility to run it well. When time is short and a solution is imperative, how do we run? Likely we run with a determination - because we know we have limited time and we want to be sure whatever needs to be done is accomplished. A race is more than a contest in speed - it can also be one of endurance and perseverance. How well we run is often determined by our "interpretation" of the need to run - the thing that is right in front of us that we are running toward, or the thing behind us that is making us run! If we have a wild animal charging at us, intent on making us his supper, we might just run like our life depended on it, right? If we are told by the doctor to get a little more exercise, such as running a mile a day, we might just have a different "interpretation" of the need - one is for the saving of a life, but do we interpret the other as doing the same? The crux of the defining moment is in what we see as the "intensity" of need that is right there in front of us.

You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

To run well, there is an appreciation on our part of some need, responsibility, or effort that is required of us. Until we "appreciate" it we don't even take the first step. There is something powerful that happens when we come into a full awareness of our need, responsibility, and the effort it will take - to be fully conscious of the first step, one must appreciate the need for that first step. The runner has to see the value in the race! To run aimlessly is silly. To run with purpose makes much more sense - since there is either a prize or a destination in mind! What is your urgent need? What makes you run? Being chased by a a wild animal is a "logical" reason for running as though your life depended on it. I think life is filled with all kinds of "logical" reasons for "running" like our life depended on it. Yet, life is also filled with some "illogical" reasons for "running"! Have you ever watched a scary movie on TV or in the theater and found your heart racing, the tiny hairs on the back of your neck standing on end, and being just about ready to jump out of your seat if someone were to come up behind you and tap you on the shoulder? How "illogical" is it to be afraid of what is "made up" on the TV screen? Most would say the movie was made to elicit some sense of "terror" or "fear" within you. If it did, the movie maker accomplished what they set out to do. 

How illogical is it for us to fear what is "made up"? Most of us would say it is plain silly to be so frightened by that which cannot hurt us! Yet, we walk around everyday with "illogical" thoughts plaguing us with all kinds of "made up" fears! Things like, "You are not good enough", or maybe even "You'll never amount to anything". We have other "illogical" fears which hold us in their grasp - like relationships all end in disaster, so why try? We believe the silliest stuff - just because someone, somewhere, at some time told us it was this way! God wants us to focus only on him in the race, so we have what we need in order to turn the "illogical" into the "logical". We get so wrapped up in "running" after the illogical, we often miss the logical. The logical is the valid - the illogical is the invalid. I wonder what we might accomplish for God if we started running after the logical, avoiding the illogical at every turn? The responsibility to run and run well is part of the race. We all run, but if it is without intent, we miss out on much in the race. I think God might just be focusing us on being "answerable" for how well we run. I don't know about you, but if I give something my half-effort, just barely skimming the surface of what I am capable of giving, I find the "end" a little unfulfilling. Yeah, I made it to the end, but did I give it my best along the way? We have a responsibility to run well - anything less shows we are really not concerned with the answer we will give at the end. I don't know about you, but when I am "answerable" for my actions, I want to be able to "answer well"!

We often equate effort to the idea of exertion. We "put out" and then we realize some "return" for what it is we "put into" the project at hand. All God ever asks of us is for us to make every "earnest" effort we can to live according to the plan he has for us. In other words, we begin to appreciate "obedience" as deserving of our "serious attention". For some, this may seem like a bit much, but if we take the effort to make the first step, we find the "effort" becomes less and less as time goes on. It is important to realize the time is short. We never really know how short our time may be. If we take for granted the day we are given, we may find ourselves woefully lacking when the next doesn't come! If we begin to "process" today well, we won't find ourselves disappointed by the things we "put off" doing in our yesterdays! Just sayin!

Do you clam up?

How good of a test-taker are you? I have met individuals who really struggle with this one because as soon as they get that exam in front of them they kind of 'clam up' and shut down. They just cannot focus and their efforts toward studying / preparing for the exam all go out the window. They are frozen in time. They have an anxiety moment that initiates the 'shut-down' and then they cannot seem to 'reboot' to get back on track. The testing challenges of life can sometimes put us into a mode where we find it hard to 'reboot' and get back on track again, right? There are just some challenges we don't imagine we will ever make it through, but let me assure you of this - you are prepared more than you will ever know!

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. (James 1:12 MSG)

Let's face it - testing is hard - even a bit of an insurmountable challenge at times. We might think we are prepared, but in just a short amount of time we find out just how 'unprepared' we were mentally and/or spiritually. We did all the 'book-work' ahead of time, studying scripture and thinking we know exactly how to counter every attack about to come our way, but alas - - - something comes up we didn't count on. There we are floundering and finding we just don't have all the answers. At that moment we can choose to just 'shut-down' and be 'frozen in time' by the challenge, or we can take it to the altar and get God's perspective on it!

When we are loyally in love with Jesus, we find it a whole lot easier to bring those challenges to him and get his perspective. When our loyalties aren't so well-established, what scripture refers to as being double-minded, we find we kind of get pounded by the challenge and then we just 'clam up' because it overwhelms us. We don't possess all the wisdom, nor all the power to overcome those challenges alone. We aren't made to face them alone. We ARE supposed to prepare. We ARE supposed to do what we know to do. We AREN'T expected to know it all, nor are we supposed to do it all in our own effort. There are just some challenges that are met head on by the wisdom and power we get ONLY by being loyally in love with Jesus (with him clearly in control of our lives).

The 'head-on' moment comes more frequently than we'd like, but when you are about to enter into that challenge it isn't like a game of 'chicken'. It is more like a gladiator in the ring! We find we have power far above our own power, wisdom exceeding our ability to have studied and prepared. Why? Jesus is there with us and he is fully in control of the challenge's outcome - not us, not the devil, not the world system. Live life loyally in love with Jesus and see just how differently you can face those challenges. You might just realize your days of 'clamming up' come to an immediate end! Just sayin!

We need zero skipped beats!

God is not after a big church or even 'big names' in Christian circles - he is after an obedient church and obedient children who are not concerned with making a 'name', but in sharing his love in big ways. It really doesn't matter the size of the church or the years we have been a believer. The number of pews or the size of the building really doesn't matter - nor the number of times we have read through the Bible from cover to cover. The thing that matters is the condition of the hearts that make up the "church" - the condition of our hearts - yours and mine. God often deals with obedience as he speaks with his kiddos - "Do what I tell you". There is to be evidence of obedience in our lives. The first evidence we should see is that we "treasure" God's instructions. They are not given haphazardly - they are "careful" instructions. The requirement of an obedient heart is first to learn to treasure the things that bring growth, integrity, and restoration into our lives. When we treasure something, we are regarding it in such a way that we keep it "stored up" - at the ready.

Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you'll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it! Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart. Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. They'll be with you to fend off the Temptress—that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.  (Proverbs 7:1-5)

We are reminded that the value of his teaching is as precious as our eyesight - so we need to guard it. We all probably know the extreme measures we take to remove an annoying bit of dust, or a wayward eyelash from our eye. Why?  It irritates us to no end to have that small particle on the surface of our eye and our IMMEDIATE instinct is to get it out! When God's teaching is held as the "eye" through which we filter all that comes into our lives, we will guard it from all that irritates - we will take immediate action to ensure nothing interferes with the clarity of focus we need to maintain! We are to write the Word on our hands. This is not a literal thing of tattooing these words to our hands, or even using indelible marker to accomplish it - it is figuratively spoken. What do our hands do? They touch. They either reach out or they resist - the pull together, or push apart. Why is the Word to be affecting our hands? Simply put, it is important to have the Word affecting what we touch and what touches us. We want to be instruments of his grace - involved in serving where there is a need (touching others). We also need to guard against being touched by that which will defile us (resisting). Our hands are instruments of service and should be guarded as such.

The Word of God needs to be etched on the chambers of our hearts because the heart is key to life - any absence of a 'beat' of our heart puts us at risk - interrupted beats one after another are not good at all! No circulation occurs without the heart. Simply put, the very thing that brings life to our being is carried in the blood - the instrument for ensuring that the blood is transported to every living cell is the heart. Blood passes through the heart on the way to and from each cell. The Word of God is to be what gives us life - energizing us from within. Last, but not least, we are to treat Wisdom as a sister and Insight as our companion. Think of wisdom as a person for a moment - a sister. If we have had a rocky relationship with our sister in the natural sense, this may be a little difficult to grasp, but bear with me. Sisters are of the same bloodline. They have a connection to us that goes beyond close association - it is more than skin deep. There is a connection through the DNA we share. God wants us to have that same depth of connection with his Son - the embodiment of all wisdom. He wants us to share the same DNA.

Insight as our companion is simply having the discernment we need when we face a set of values that we need to evaluate for the "truth" contained within them. We are bombarded by all kinds of values - some right on and solid, others not so trustworthy. We need the discernment of a spirit connected to through the DNA of Christ. A companion is one who walks with us at all times, not turning away in the face of danger or conflict of misunderstanding. That is what we can count on from the Spirit of God - always there in the face of danger, standing strong with us even when we waiver in our own allegiance. So, God's desire is an obedient church and obedient children make up that church. Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to take seriously what this means. When we are "born-again" into spiritual life with Christ, there is a "DNA exchange" that occurs - all things old pass away, all things become new. Then we begin to explore the Word of God, not as a novel, but as a source of life (that which regenerates, refreshes, and reignites). Soon, we find that we begin to desire to serve others. In time, we begin to evaluate what our hands touch and what our eyes behold. It all works together - one upon the other. The mission may seem "impossible", but if we see the inter-related parts as a whole, we soon realize that we have what we need for the mission of obedience! Just sayin!

Current strong?

It was the late Woodrow Wilson who said, "The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it." I imagine there are more than a few individuals in my circle of influence today who feel like they are swimming against the current - toughing it out and trying to battle to the other side. A long time ago, I learned if you'd 'tie off' on one side of the river to a sturdy tree or large rock, you could use the momentum of the river's current to carry you across to the other side, all while still tethered to the anchor on the side you were abandoning. That tether could serve as the guide to help others get across, because you would solidly secure it to the opposite side of the strong current's flow on the other riverbank. The next behind you could then 'tether on' and be guided safely across. Many times we are the ones taking the first risk to cross those troublesome currents of life, but as long as our anchor is secure, we can prepare the way for others!

Disaster strikes like a cyclone and the wicked are whirled away. But the good man has a strong anchor. (Proverbs 10:25 MSG)

The strength of the current doesn't have to be our worry when we have solid anchor. The current can toss us to and fro a bit, but as long as the anchor is firm, we are going to weather the tossing. The current serves the purpose of pushing us to our limits and then it requires we allow God to show us where our limits end and his take over! The moment we try to navigate the current without that anchor, the current is free to exercise a great deal more 'liberty' with where it takes us, what we brush up against, and how frequently we 'go under'. The current doesn't change - the anchor just changes the 'influence' of the current upon us.

We all have varying degrees of 'strong anchors' we have trusted in over the course of our lifetime, some of which have proven to be unstable in the face of the strength of the current itself. The current exerted enough pressure against the ANCHOR that the 'hold' was broken. The captain of a large sailing vessel wouldn't expect a 12 inch rock tied to a length of rope to even begin to 'hold steady' the vessel against the current's strength. The size of the anchor is equally as important as the strength of the current against which it must give anchorage! We sometimes trust in 'anchors' that are less than trustworthy - like money or talent. While both are capable of giving us 'security' for a while, they can both be very untrustworthy anchors.

There is but one solid anchor to which we must 'tie on' as we face the currents of life. That anchor isn't crafted out of anything material or even taken from nature. It is Christ and Christ alone. There is not stronger or more secure anchor than the cross! Just sayin!

Squeeze me - go ahead!

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-3 MSG)

What tests have you done rather well on recently? What challenges came at you that you just faced head on and mastered without even looking back? We remember and rehearse the ones we failed, or that did us in, right? Do we do a good enough job celebrating the ones we "pass"? It is likely we rehearse the failures way more than we celebrate the successes. Why? We aren't satisfied with the outcome! We want to see that altered in some way when that challenge is faced the next time - we want to get a much better "grade" on the test!

You know me...I had to look up the difference between these two words because I didn't really understand why God would tell us we'd face them. A test is defined as the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined - it tests quality. A challenge is a contest of skill or strength - it defines whose strength or skill we are counting on more - ours or God's. The test might reveal the degree to which something is present, while the challenge reveals the degree to which we allow what is present to be manifest!

Have you ever traveled up a mountain in your car with groceries? I remember taking a trip with my BFF and as we ascended the mountainside grades, I could hear things in the bags / boxes of food items making noises. It wasn't that they were shifting in those boxes or bags, it was that there was this gradual pressure building in some of the items and they were expanding! The bag of chips went from being only halfway expanded to being like a pillow of air! The pressure caused them to expand, but thank goodness, not beyond their capacity!

Capacity "expansion" was "planned" as they packaged those chips, put the seals on the tops of yogurts, etc. They left room for the challenge the climb! I think God does the same thing with us - he seals us with his Holy Spirit, leaving lots and lots of room for expansion! The challenges may come, but we have "room" for the pressure to build a little. We have "expandable capacity" - readying us for the mounting pressure that seeks to change the "quality" of what resides within us. In other words, when our enemy challenges us with the test, he wants to see God "squeezed out of us"! Just sayin!

I hear the thunder!

5 His voice is glorious in the thunder. We cannot comprehend the greatness of his power. 6 For he directs the snow, the showers, and storm to fall upon the earth. 7 Man’s work stops at such a time so that all men everywhere may recognize his power. (Job 37:5-7 TLB)

Ever notice how thunder gets your attention? I have been so absorbed in fishing at a stream on occasion, not even noticing the storm clouds gathering in the skies behind me, and then all of a sudden there is this huge rumble of thunder that manages to call me back to awareness. It wasn't that the storm wasn't there already. It was that I wasn't aware of it coming my way! The thunder alerts me to the approach of the storm oftentimes in enough time to "shelter" prior to the downpour. Yet, there have been the occasions when the thunder came so close to the downpour that I just didn't escape it! In both cases, if I had been paying attention, I would have observed the signs of the impending storm!

While it is not always possible to escape the storm, it is usually possible to "shelter" from it. Life's storms come at us in many different ways - making it sometimes a little harder than others to actually know one is on the way. We live in the dry deserts of Arizona and just about any afternoon in the hot summer days can result in a billowing dust storm. The rolling walls of dust darken the sky, turning the light able to pass through its thickness a reddened hue, giving a pretty eerie feeling. I have also lived in the Alaskan winters and endured many a grey, cloudy and snowy day. The blizzards can white-out the sky and create quite a challenge, as well. Yet, nothing quite brings one to attention like the peel of lightning and the crack of thunder.

Did you know thunder can be heard at a distance of about 3-4 miles away? That means if we are able to hear it, pay attention to the storm's approach, and then move into action, we should be able to "shelter" from the approaching storm. The average thunderstorm is 5-6 miles wide, meaning it can cover ground we may not have imagined it would hit. If we hear the thunder, it is always wisest to get to a place of safety! In real life, we'd like "early warning systems" to alert us to approaching "life storms", wouldn't we? Well, if we keep in mind that God speaks to his kids well in advance of whatever is coming our way, we might just be able to "shelter" quicker. It isn't that he doesn't warn - it is that we don't always pay attention to the warning signs! Just sayin!

Slip sliding away

When I said, “My foot is slipping!” Your unfailing love, O Eternal One, held me up. When anxiety overtakes me and worries are many, Your comfort lightens my soul.  (Psalm 94:18-19 VOICE)

    Martin Luther King said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."  We have a moment of success and feel like we are standing on the top of the world - as though nothing could "undo" the feeling we are riding high on for that moment in time.  We also all know just how fleeting "riding" on success can be - for nothing soars forever - all things must return to ground level!  Comfort and convenience can be the enemies of challenge and controversy as much as the other way around.  We don't want to move when we are comfortable, much less find ourselves in a position in which we might actually feel the footing going out from underneath ourselves!  It is the moments of near "slippage" that we come to know how sure our footing in life really is, though.

    When challenge and controversy come your way - where do you stand?  What motivates you to continue in the midst of doubt and frustration?  Who is it you look to for advice, direction, and solutions to the thing standing clearly in your path?  Much of what we "go through" in life is really that - something we will get to the other side of eventually - but to get through, one must move!  We all know worries can be the enemy of movement - we might just tend to think of worrying as "running in place".  We want an escape, so we run, but we just run in place, making a rut in the place we are standing.  Worrying "wears down" the space because we tend to spend too much time allowing it to "rub us raw"!  A challenge is what we enter into whenever the authority we are submitted to and live under is challenged.  A controversy is that moment in time when we recognize we are in direct opposition to whatever it is we are facing - either because we are standing on the right side of the argument, or the wrong side of it.

    We can either embrace God harder and closer as we face the challenge and deal with the controversy, or we can choose to weather it on our own.  Truly, we might just find the things which prove to be the best challenges and hardest controversies manage to sort themselves out, bringing clarity and purpose into our lives just because of how close they brought us to realizing we don't walk them alone!  Look again at what our psalmist wants us to see in this passage - it isn't that we face the challenge, or deal with the controversy - it is that we admit we are not able to stand alone - our foot is slipping.  Every now and again, while I am on a daily walk with my BFF, she reminds me to not fall.  You see, she was there the day I almost face-planted on the hard gravel outside our building.  She saw me moving so quickly toward the ground nothing could stop my descent.  She and I still laugh when we think about me hitting those rocks with the full weight of my body and then bouncing up quickly so no one would see me!  But something she does that even lightens my spirit more than bringing me to see the levity of that moment is when she sees me slipping in my spiritual life, the way I am dealing with an issue, or even when I am just grumbling through life - the moment she helps me realize my footing isn't all that great.  

    You see, we don't always understand where our feet are planted until we need to reach out for something to catch onto when we are about to slip!  It is at the point of realizing our footing is giving way that we reach out.  Isn't it important to know when we need a stronghold to strengthen our stand that stronghold is actually the arms of Jesus?  Just askin!

Prepare to develop

I recently saw a post on my social media feed with a simply phrase:  "You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it."  It was set over a simple photo of a farm and farmhouse.  I think it probably had a couple of messages behind it, such as farming is not for wimps!  It probably had another meaning closer to the passage below - we don't receive lessons in this life through osmosis, but because we walk through them and learn from them.  Someone might think they were given the life they were given because only THEY could live up to the challenge.  The challenge wasn't given to you because you had the strength, it was given to you to reveal the strength the Almighty would give you to walk through it.

Those who learn from the lessons of life will join the others who are wise.  Those who disregard discipline sabotage themselves, but those who are open to correction gain understanding. Reverence for the Eternal is the first lesson of wisdom, and humility always precedes honor.  (Proverbs 15:31-33 VOICE)

Some think the process of learning comes as a result of enrolling in some course which will somehow "educate" you.  This may be true when it comes to learning how to fix air conditioning compressors, or successfully anesthetize a patient for surgery, but there are far more lessons learned in the school we never really "enroll" in!  We call it life and it comes at us at extraordinary speeds on occasion.  The lessons of life will lure us in like a slow, lazy river gives us the sense all will be peaceful as we launch our raft upon it, only to find it takes us straight into the roaring rapids of chaos!  Most of us want the lazy river kind of lessons - the ones we learn by laying back, luxuriating in the beauty of the moments which pass, and the sounds of peaceful breezes coming through the trees.  

We might get a little curious when we begin to hear the rapids in the far off distance, but we still don't connect those sounds with the river we are afloat upon.  As our raft begins to rock a little, picking up speed, we may begin to wonder a little, but we are still not stirred enough to make course corrections.  Yet, when the full-on rapids begin to jerk us back and forth, tossing all manner of cool spray into our faces, and the horror of the moment grips our emotions, we somehow begin to pay attention!  

The wise don't avoid the river altogether - they learn to navigate it because they don't allow it to lull them into repose and stupor.  They remain attentive to the sounds of the journey, for the subtle changes only catch a listening ear - for they alert them to course corrections long before they become "necessary".  They enjoy the journey not because it is without challenges, but because each challenge reveals a new opportunity to embrace life and learn what is revealed in the moment.  

There are those who regard discipline as "control" - either that which you exert in the moment, or that which is imposed upon you at the time.  Did you know the word "discipline" can be translated "education".  To learn is to live a disciplined life - a "discipled" life.  The followers of Jesus were asked to do more than just "float the river" with him.  They were asked to "learn of him" - to engage in life with him, actively participating in the journey.  We learn the greatest lessons when we actually participate in them.

Disciples (disciplined individuals) actually exhibit two very important character traits:  1) development and 2) preparation.  Lest we think we can learn without either of these traits, let's think about that one again.  Preparation involves time - time spent "getting ready".  A baby is in the womb for how many months?  Nine, if they are full-term.  What is happening during that time?  The baby is developing - getting ready to be born.  Born too early and it needs all manner of artificial support, because it wasn't intended to live outside the womb that early on its own.

What happens to the parents during the time the baby is in the womb?  They are preparing for that which is developing within!  They are making adjustments to their lives in order to be ready for the new life about to become part of theirs for a long, long time.  The room is set up, the seat is installed in the car which will ensure the baby is secure for whatever journey they will take together, and the clothes are amassed which will keep that infant warm as it slumbers through nap times galore. 

The parents are not only preparing, they are developing, as well.  As they read the books on what to expect when an infant is born, they are preparing for the labor process, the delivery, and the subsequent sleepless nights!  Sometimes they actually make life corrections, such as beginning to save money, knowing the time has come to change how much they spend on only themselves, as another is coming who will count on them to provide for their needs. They are learning - preparing and developing.

As we go through life, it isn't the challenge which actually prepares and develops us, but the one who walks us up to the challenge, then continues to walk with us throughout it!  He prepares us in the quiet, lazy river moments, only if we are attentive to his lessons.  He strengthens us and takes us into the "advanced lessons" of life in the rapids, but he never abandons us upon the waters - ever!  Just sayin!

Another wilderness journey?

Have you ever really considered the lessons you have learned because of the experience of another?  You know, the stuff you just never really explore because you see how the exploration of another left them kind of unfulfilled, reasonably sane, but just so not excited about their experience?  Well, I think this is all part of God's plan for us in life - to learn from the experiences of those who go before us.  The first astronaut into space paved the way for all the others who came behind.  The first one to fly above the earth had a whole lot of failures before there was truly lift-off.  The experiences of the first made an example of both what not to do and what to do in the midst of the experiences of the many who followed.  I think the same is true in our spiritual lives - we learn a great deal about what not to do and what really is the best path for us simply by looking at those who've gone before us.

When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.  (Deuteronomy 6:10-12 MSG)

Egypt was a place of barrenness for Israel.  When they came out of Egypt, they were "high" on the promises of great provision and purpose.  I imagine they never expected to face the barrenness of the wilderness in between their deliverance from Egypt and their entrance into the Promised Land!  Most of us never really expect any barrenness - any wilderness experiences - along the way in our spiritual lives.  I think we hope for life to let us get a "buy" on some of the challenges others have faced.  I think we do get a "buy" on occasion - simply because we learn from those who go before us.  Yet, there are times when we just find ourselves smack dab in the middle of the wilderness, wondering why we are experiencing such barrenness in our lives. In those moments, remember this - to move from promise to provision we will likely face a few problems along the way - the biggest of which is our unbelief.

Think about this - would you ever begin a journey if there was no promise of something at the end of that journey?  Not likely!  You'd probably just remain in your contented little world, as bad as it may be, without ever moving forward.  It is the disturbance of our peacefulness in our present circumstances which actually makes us hope for the promise of something different on the "other side".  Between the promise and the realization of the provision we face problems.  Problems are a way of life - they are God's opportunities to reveal himself strong in our lives, but they are also his opportunities to reveal where it is we are leaning on our own strength to just "get by".  In between the place of our bondage and our provision we will encounter a whole lot of testing.  Testing is really what occurs in the wilderness experience.  In the wilderness, God has the chance to show us who and what it is we really rely upon for the provision which is promised!

One thing I don't think we realize is the leading which brings us into the wilderness.  You know, Israel did not end up in the wilderness because they took a wrong turn!  God brought them there!  They left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, came across and found themselves smack dab in the midst of the wilderness.  Between their deliverance and their provision, God led them into the wilderness.  Now, they chose how long they'd stay in the wilderness, but God was the one leading them into it.  This should give us some hope because I think most of us think we are in the wilderness by our own doing. It is quite the opposite - God brought us into it, he goes with us through it, and he will lead us out of it.  The only thing we have control over is how long we need to stay in it!

Most of us fail to recognize the wilderness is not about our comfort - if we wanted to be comfortable we would have never left what was familiar to us. The wilderness is about our character - for it is in the midst of moments of decision that our choices are refined.  You know, an oak tree grows over the course of a man's lifetime.  A weed only takes a matter of a few days to reach its maturity!  I don't know about you, but an oak tree appeals to me a whole lot more than a huge weed!  Maybe we'd resist the wilderness a little less if we realized the Lord is just after the oak he sees in us!  We want the fast fix. God wants the permanent fix!  We want the quick provision.  God wants to prepare us for the provision.  Guess what?  We never get to the provision until we have learned the lessons of the wilderness.  Think of the wilderness as God's refining ground - his proving ground.  It is there where our motives are uncovered and our true identity is discovered.  

If we begin to see the wilderness as a time of taking us from promise to provision - we might just begin to understand the middle part - process. Nothing good in life ever comes without the evidence of some type of process. Cookies in the jar are a result of someone following a process to actually bake those cookies.  They follow a recipe - what someone who has gone before them has learned.  In following the recipe, they prepare the batch of cookies and take them through the process of baking.  The right ingredients are a result of someone making a whole lot of trial and error decisions.  The right baking time is a result of someone determining how "done" cookies look and feel.  The enjoyment of the cookie is a result of the process.  We have a whole lot of examples of those who have experimented with the right ingredients and the proper amount of "cooking" time, don't we?  

We often want to experiment with our own "recipes" and wonder why we don't get the results another has experienced.  Guess what?  A good recipe is worth following!  The wilderness experience is pretty well "charted" by those who have gone before us.  We see the process of the wilderness if we look closely. There is the response to the promise - we get out of our place of contentment.  Then there is the walk toward provision - we take some first steps.  In the next how ever many moments, there is a whole lot of clarifying of our purpose.  The wilderness is the time of "clarifying" - getting things in right order in our lives.  Good news - we don't go into the wilderness alone, we don't walk through it alone, and we won't come out of it alone!  God goes with us!  So, instead of cursing the wilderness, you might just begin to realize between every promise and its provision comes a time of purposeful growth. God is after the oak in us - the wilderness really helps bring out the strength of the oak!  Just sayin!