My favorite shorts

One of my most comfortable pair of 'knock about the house' shorts has developed a stress tear at a very 'not so easy to fix' location. I will attempt to fix it, but a stress tear is kind of hard to fix because it follows the path knit in the shorts and it isn't parallel to the seam! So, try as I might, these may be 'beyond fixing' in the long run. Try as we might, we can attempt to bring the frayed edges of the tears in our lives known as "stress tears" together without the tear being noticed, but it is almost impossible. Things just don't match up and if we simply join at the point of 'stress', the surrounding fabric of our lives has also been weakened, so that patch is not going to last long either.

“Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. And no one puts new wine into old wine skins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wine skins so that both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:16-17)

We experience these same kind of "stress-tears" in our character, commitments, and constitution. The things we have become so familiar and comfortable with, like our little habits or routines, actually "fit" us well, but are riddled with weakened areas that can "burst-out" at anytime. The very moment that the stress of life gets a little too much to contain, we experience the "stress-tear" and it leaves us feeling a little too exposed! A lot of us think that the answer to those "stress-tears" is to simply apply a little patch here and there, until what was exposed is covered up well again. Some of these "patches" are not all that bad - like when we attempt to incorporate prayer as a "patch" to our worries. The thing we don't recognize is that the entire "garment" of worry is what is giving us the trouble - patch one area and another will give out under the stress of life! It isn't the tear that is the problem - it is the quality of the fabric we are attempting to bind together!

Jesus doesn't offer us "patches" in our lives. He offers us completely new garments! He says to be clothed with his righteousness - to be outfit with his graces, power, and authority. The "patches" are our doing - the new garments are his! In various times in our 'fashion history' as a nation, patched jeans were the "in" thing - but that did not last long. Now kids wear purposefully "distressed" or 'whole-riddled' jeans - paying good money for those "stress-tears" in perfectly new fabric! I may not fully understand the "statement" of such attire, but I do know that my Lord is not keeping up with the latest fads when it comes to our lives! His garments are perfect - fitting us to a "T" and adorning us with just what we need in those areas of our life where character, commitments, or constitution are a little too 'stressed' and 'flawed'! I don't know about you, but the times of simply "patching-up" the failures of my life have not been working and they need to be over. I am serious - we need this spiritual wardrobe exchange of our ragged garments for his beautiful garments! Isn't it about time that we evaluate the "patch" jobs of our lives and truly shed the old garments in exchange for his new ones? Just askin!

Get fixed!

David spends a good deal of time in the Psalms addressing his enemies, those he considers to be his close friends, and even himself.  He is proclaiming his position in God - impregnable, immovable, solid.  When one finds that they are mobile - they are capable of being moved - changeable in mood, appearance, or purpose. When one is immobile - there is a fixed position in mind - incapable of being moved or not moving at all. The 'position' we find ourselves in at this moment, and even the next, will determine how well we are either moving according to plan, or immovable by the plans of those intent on changing God's plans for our lives!

God, the one and only— I'll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not? He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle: I'm set for life. (Psalm 62:1-2 MSG)

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-2 NIV)

David was surrounded by enemies - the battle was totally ON for him.  Though surrounded on all sides, he declares that he is fixed on God and will not be moved as a result.  Sometimes the afflictions in our lives become so much like huge weights that serve the purpose of pulling us down, getting us bogged down and kind of immovable.  When we see them through the eyes of Jesus, we realize that they are meant to help us dig deeper into Christ, not to crush us or bury us alive in the mire of the pit - they are meant to help us keep moving, not to bog us down.

When affliction comes, we have many responses - one of the most common being that of fear.  Fear is an open door for Satan, the adversary of our soul and spirit, to enter.  Fear demonstrates a lack of confidence in our source of inner stability - we are admitting that we have the capacity of being moved or shaken. If we are grounded in Christ, why does fear enter in at all?  It comes because we have some forces at work in our life that want to make us believe that what we believe in, who we believe in, and the very foundation that provides in our lives is somehow faulty or unreliable.

Satan is constantly working to move upon our lives in an attempt to get us to DO wrong - he wants us saying wrong things, thinking wrong thoughts, demonstrating wrong actions.  He knows that if he can do this, he takes us out of step with God.  He places us on ground that is less secure and our movement in a forward direction is impaired.  If he gets us moving ahead of God's timing, or lagging behind when God is asking us to move forward, he gets us in a place where we are no longer on solid ground. Sin in our own lives affects our solid foundation - tempting us to move in ways that are not honoring to God. Whenever things like envy, anger, bitterness, revenge, lust or greed become the focus in our lives, we are on shaky ground.  These things pull us down faster than we realize.  We also have temptations that seek to destroy or damage our foothold that are more subtle, not always noticed for the effect they have. Things like wrong types of friendships, pressures to conform to a peer group's values, or the pressure mounted by the media to conform to the societal values of the time are also placing this undue pressure on us to question our position in Christ.

There are some key points in our passage that we need to latch onto in order to avoid the pitfalls that make us movable, less "fixed" in our position in Christ.  First, our soul MUST find rest in God and no other source.  When there is rest, there is a purposeful cessation of activity - we stop trying to do what God has already done for us in the work of salvation.  Second, we must come to a place where we trust him at ALL times.  Trust is a total, unwavering reliance in his character, ability, and strength in our lives - we become dependent on him, not ourselves.  Third, we must pour out our heart and soul to him.  God desires intimate communion with his children - allowing all that is within (even our fears) to be expressed freely in his presence.  Last, but certainly not least, we must find God as our REFUGE.  He is the shelter we need - the escape and protection from danger we long for.  He should be our resort in times of difficulty, just as he is to be our enjoyment in times of great joy. Get FIXED on God.  Get FIXED in God.  Then let God get FIXED in you.  You will find great safety, strength, and assurance in that foothold. Who knows...maybe we will finally get "FIXED" from all that brokenness that we have been carrying for such a long time! Just sayin!