The old new wasn't all that bad, was it?

For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19)

The 'old' may have seemed pretty awesome, but have you ever considered what God may be doing when he is beginning something new in you? There have been times when I have been so comfortable with the 'old new' that God did in me that I resist his moving me on into something 'new' again. I want to look back instead of forward, making it harder for him to keep me focused on what he is about to do. God may be laying out some pretty awesome change right ahead of us, but as long as we are constantly looking back and longing for the 'old new', we aren't going to fully embrace the 'new' he has in store.

I have noticed that God begins something 'new' and then he kind of 'wraps up' the 'old new' for us. It is like he is repainting the walls of our lives. The old was good for a time, but it doesn't quite 'measure up' to what he wants to see displayed in our lives now. So, he prepares us for the new by calling us, challenging us to see what he is doing, and then entering into it. We may not have realized how much of a 'wasteland' our 'old' had become until we see how he is transforming it. Hold onto the wasteland and eventually you will become crusted, dry, and hardened.

We get to the new from the old by following the pathway God provides. He has already made the pathway, but we might not see where it leads yet. His promise is that it is 'through' the wilderness of the 'old' and into the freshness of the new. To be entirely truthful with you, there have been times when I have known God is moving in my life but have had no idea what he was doing. As hard as I tried to understand what he was doing, where he was leading me, or what the need was for the 'move', I just didn't see it. God isn't finished and we need to trust him even when all we see is the wasteland around us. The path is THROUGH it! 

Give God the reins. Let him reveal the path, then set out to see where it leads. The 'old new' was pretty awesome when we came into it, but what God is about to do may be even more awesome. God doesn't want crusty Christians - he wants living, vital ones. Just sayin!

Life Hack #25: Turn Here

Life Hack #25:

According to Webster, a crisis is a "turning point" in a set of circumstances where the future outcome is determined. The point of crisis in any issue we face is pivotal to where we will end up - it is not 'pre-determined' for it to end one way. Understanding how to hold up in the midst of the "point of turning" can be the most important part of actually making it through. Most of us just think of a crisis as something ugly happening to us at the moment and it is a little difficult to endure. If we begin to see it as a "turning point", we might just handle it differently. We might just decide we don't like what is determined and embrace a different path back into the arms of Jesus!

If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place. (Proverbs 24:10)

In times of crises the things we focus on make all the difference. If all we see is the insurmountable odds against us, we will tend to see only the difficulties and ignore the possibilities. Even insurmountable odds have possibilities. We think of crisis as a point of instability in our lives - when things are just about to cave in around us and take us down with them. The upheaval created in the midst of crisis is sometimes what keeps us from being able to focus on anything other than the issues at hand.

For a crisis to be a "turning point" in our lives, we must begin to take a step back from the issue, just breathe a little, and then settle into the peace God. In turn, we begin to focus less on the upheaval and turn our focus toward the point where victory is determined - Jesus holds the future, so he determines the victory. When we are able to step back a little, we get things in perspective. God's perspective is found at the point of stepping back - bringing a little clarity in the midst of a whole lot of muck and mire.

A turning point is a place where we actually slow down, consider the direction we are heading, and then take the necessary steps to reposition ourselves in a totally new direction. Many of life's challenges come complete with some form of "signs" which we must either heed or we will find ourselves going in a totally wrong direction. Learning how to read the signs before we actually need to take the "redirection" needed actually helps us to be ready for the necessary repositioning of our steps. We actually learn to read the signs long before we set out on the journey, don't we? 

We learn about dealing with the uncertainties of these challenges in the quiet times of our lives when we are able to hear and incorporate learning best. Trying to figure out the signs and how to read the road map while barreling ahead at life's fast pace is not the best methodology for getting safely to the destination! Time with Jesus is not done out of obligation, but out of necessity - for it is in this quietness and connection where we learn to read the "turning points" in our lives. Learn to see "crises" as turning points to help steer our lives in a direction which will bring growth and increased wisdom. As long as we are with Jesus in this journey, each turning point can be just that! Just sayin!

Are you paying attention?

Has it ever occurred to you to actually watch the road signs on your journey home from somewhere you frequent, such as work, a visit to the family, or the trip to the theater? Most likely, you just go there, and then head back the same way. You don't even consider those road signs along the way. Why? You know the way! You have made the trip so many times you don't even have to pay all that close attention. You probably navigate by landmarks instead. If someone were to change one of those landmarks, would it be possible for you to miss your turn? Maybe, but not likely. Change your route home because there is a major traffic snafu or significant road repairs underway and you have to pay closer attention, don't you? You likely follow the traffic - you go where you see them going because they must know the way, right? Having followed a few lines of traffic through winding neighborhoods only to end up further away from my destination than I was to begin with, let me assure you following the most traveled path is not always the best choice! 

“Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and the road is wide that leads to hell, and many people enter through that gate. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road." (Matthew 7:13-14)

Imagine someone who is curious about Christ, but really doesn't know the 'way' into his presence. They know there are 'signs' and 'landmarks' to guide them into that relationship, but the only road they see is the one that seems to be traveled the most frequently by the most people. They follow others because they believe they must know the way. Sadly, if you are a person genuinely seeking Christ and come into many a church this weekend looking for Christ, you may be disappointed to find there is little more than 'religion' there. The road 'looked right', but it didn't lead you into genuine relationship with him. Maybe that statement seems a bit harsh to some, but it is true. Pew upon pew is filled by people who are little more than 'Sunday Christians' - the rest of the week is spent living as they like and Christ is the furthest thing from their thoughts. 

Do you recall the conversation Jesus had about believers and those who do little more than give 'lip service' to God? “Not all those who say ‘You are our Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. The only people who will enter the kingdom of heaven are those who do what my Father in heaven wants. On the last day many people will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, we spoke for you, and through you we forced out demons and did many miracles.’ Then I will tell them clearly, ‘Get away from me, you who do evil. I never knew you.’" (Matthew 7:21-23) It is quite possible to be a mere 'lip servant' and not have our heart in that service at all. Jesus asks for our heart - that means we take the road less traveled, and we pay attention to the 'signs' along the way that help to guide our travels in this walk with him. There will always be the need to be 'paying attention' as long as we are walking with him. When we begin to just 'glide along', it could be we have actually begun to just 'follow the crowd' and not been paying close attention to where he is guiding us. Just sayin!

Compounding interest?

I think Henry Ford may have been the one to remind us, "Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal". We all seem to lose focus on the mission, if even for a temporary span of time, when we get wrapped up in the obstacles in our midst. Booker T. Washington said, "Success is to be measured not so much by the position one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome." An obstacle is anything or anyone that "obstructs" our vision, progress, or stand. It almost blocks our passage from one point to the other. If you are like me, these are simple annoyances that you "deal with" and then quickly move on. I sometimes "paint myself into a corner", then am left trying to figure a way out - tackling more than an 'annoyance'. How about you? The truth is, there has never been an obstacle (or a corner) that God has not been right there with the wisdom to help me through it (or around it). The perception of how we feel and what it is we are perceiving in life when obstacles riddle our pathway is important. It LOOKS like everything is falling apart on us. Yet, it is on the inside where we need to keep our focus - not on the external evidence of obstacles! The inside is where God is at work - where his grace and wisdom give us the ability to overcome the obstacles in our midst (or find a way out of the corner we are in). Even the ability to see an obstacle is a measure of God's grace. If you don't believe me, consider just how many times you DIDN'T stub your toe on the dresser instead of the one time you did!

So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

The evidence of obstacles in our lives is not evidence of God's displeasure with us - they are a means of discovering greater depths in his love, protection and grace. Those very things that seem to be our greatest challenges are really the things that will produce the greatest growth in our lives. We SEE the obstacle - God sees the opportunity. I would like to challenge us to begin to equate "obstacle" with the word "opportunity". When we pair these two together, we might just come to the place of developing a different perspective of the thing which causes us so great a degree of distress. God's intention is never to allow an obstacle so great HE cannot overcome it in our lives. Every obstacle is God's opportunity - it is his chance to connect a little more of his grace with our need. God sees the obstacle as a temporary "stoppage" - not a full "blockage". When we get "stopped" in our path by the obstacle, we are just at a place of inactivity - we cannot move forward as we'd have liked to. When we are "blocked" from making progress, it is with intent. When a stop light creates a "stoppage" of traffic, it is to facilitate the safety of those who must turn at a certain intersection, or traverse in the opposite direction of the other traffic. When a police officer puts up a road-block, it is to keep traffic out because a certain pathway has been declared unsafe for passage. By the blockage, we are diverted away from hazards unknown. What appeared as an obstacle actually becomes a means of ensuring our safety down the road.

When we see obstacles, we usually engage in some "self-talk". "Now why did I get myself into this mess?" or "What on earth was I thinking?" We ask the "why" and "how come" questions a lot. It is almost like we immediately assume the position of being a "victim" when we are faced with the obstacle. Why is it in my path right now? How come I couldn't have avoided this hurdle? Why is it I always run into this kind of stuff when I try to make any forward progress with God? And the list goes on. We need to learn how to "talk to" the obstacles in our midst instead of talking "about" them! The truth be told, some obstacles are there by our own doing - others because someone else places them there. Those which our own doing often come with other types of "compounding obstacles" such as guilt or shame. Those which are the doing of another may also have their "compounding obstacles" such as anger or resentment. It is amazing to me how many times one small obstacle becomes a bigger one just by the "compounding obstacles" we introduce into the mix. The "shift" in seeing an obstacle as an opportunity may just help us not "add to" the obstacle in our midst by keeping us away from the negative self-talk and the introduction of those compounding obstacles! Just sayin!