The Plumbline

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. (Genesis 12:1, 4-5 NLT) If God were to tell you to pick up and go, would you? Having been settled for so long in a particular job, community, and relationships - would you be able to disconnect from those things and go as he asked? It might come as a little bit of a surprise to some, but most of us would have a very hard time with this 'ask' from God, wouldn't we? Why? We have become 'rooted' in our comfort and it would be hard to 'disconnect' from that level of comfort to go into the 'discomfort' of the unknown. The very idea ...

Be generous with me and I’ll live a full life; not for a minute will I take my eyes off your road. Open my eyes so I can see what you show me of your miracle-wonders. I’m a stranger in these parts; give me clear directions. My soul is starved and hungry, ravenous!— insatiable for your nourishing commands. (Psalm 119:18) If you have ever been in a situation where you kind of feel like it is 'foreign' to you, you probably felt a little like a fish out of water. You flopped around, struggling to find a way back to where you felt comfort and ease. I know moments like these cause most of us some angst, increasing our anxiety level more and more as we wander around a little lost and insecure. Being a 'stranger' isn't easy to deal with, probably because as 'sojourners' in this place of discomfort we find it hard for us to  move from stranger or foreigner to being at ease dwelling where we are placed. God isn't immune to our discomfort - he has a plan for it! ...

You know that I believe in the best "control" in our lives as the transition of control - giving control to the one who is able to manage our lives the best - God. "Losing what is dear to us" really doesn't excite any of us because it wouldn't be 'dear' to us unless we wanted to keep in near! It is in loss that we understand the need for comfort and most of us would rather bypass the loss part entirely. It is also in loss that we connect with that which is most important to us - because sometimes it takes loss to help us see very clearly how much importance something has in our lives. There is just something about loss - physical, emotional, financial, or relational - that causes us to look at our lives again and evaluate where we are now that the loss has occurred. We become "evaluators" of where we have been, what we have done, and the cost that we have paid for where we find ourselves today. "You're blessed when you feel you...