Islands form how?

Baltasar Gracian wrote: "True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island... to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing."  Life without friends is like life on a desert island - both barren and isolated!  It is empty - almost as though it were depleted and fruitless.  To go through life without the discovery of a close friend is to walk without legs!  It is possible to get through life, but the journey is so much tougher!

A true friend loves regardless of the situation, and a real brother exists to share the tough times.  (Proverbs 17:17 VOICE)

What does an island symbolize to you?  The first thing which comes to mind is a body of land surrounded by water on all sides.  It may be kind of lush in appearance, as there is much greenery upon that island, surrounded by some beaches. Did you know there are really about three ways islands are formed?  As I began to look at the ways they form, I kind of saw some illustrations we might all learn a little from:

- When rising water surrounds a body of land and leaves no other pathway to that land again except through the water which now surrounds it, an island is said to have formed. In terms of relationship, "islands" happen when we allow things to build up which separate us from the once so easily traveled "connection" between us.  The connection still exists, it is just under a whole lot of stuff which makes it appear there is no connection any longer.  The waters around the island don't mean there is no connection to the mainland - it just means that connection has been interrupted by the water!  What we might need to do is build a bridge!  In relationship, we do a whole lot of bridge-building, don't we?  It would be nice if the need for bridges never existed, but in reality, there are just some things in life which cause the connection to be less than apparent.  The bridge actually helps us restore the connection and remember the benefits of that connectedness!

- When volcanoes begin to spew their molten lava to the surface, coming into contact with that which makes them hard (water and air), islands can form.  This is a slower process, where the layers form until the volcanoes byproduct (lava) rises above the level of the water.  Lava is a "hot" substance which hardens in the presence of a "colder" substance (water and air).  In relationships, there are times when we think the best thing to do when tempers run "hot" is throw cold water on them!  We calm down the anger with whatever it takes to diffuse the erupting force - not realizing all we are doing is allowing a hardened crust to form.  Do this often enough and you will have enough "crust" to form that island of isolation which is hard, barren, and fruitless! 

-  When creatures in the sea known as "polyps" form hard shell-like limestone covering in order to survive, it adds to the surface of the ocean floor in slowly multiplying layers. These "coral-like" creatures don't know any better - it is their defensive mechanism to protect themselves from things they think will harm them.  They protect the "softness" of their bodies by building limestone walls!  In relationship, we often deal with the "softness" of our emotions and heart by building walls whenever we think we need to protect ourselves from someone else in that relationship.  Those polyps have to live in a big sea - there are a lot of things which could harm them.  To provide the best protection, they live in colonies - huddling together.  We often do the same thing when we feel threatened, or under attack in relationship.  We huddle into small groups with others who also feel the threat in their own lives.  In time, we learn if we will build some kind of wall between us and whatever threatens us, we will be "safer" than just a blob of raw emotions floating in the sea of relationships!  This hardness builds up again and again until we find ourselves "covered", but isolated with no one other than people of "like emotional distress".  

Islands might not be as beautiful as they first look - because understanding how they formed in the first place gives us insight into just how barren, disconnected, and isolated they may be!  We need one another, but the work of friendship is difficult - no doubt about it!  We might see the circumstance surrounding us as too far a span to reach, with no sign of connectedness any longer - but it is there.  We might only see the hardness and walls, but underneath is a sign of life - we may just have to look a little deeper.  We might have found companions who do little more than reinforce our misery and loneliness, but are they really helping us to grow, or just isolating us further from all other signs of life?  Just asking!

Insulated and Isolated

I beg you from the bottom of my heart: smile, be gracious to me just as you promised.  When I took a long, careful look at your ways, I got my feet back on the trail you blazed. I was up at once, didn't drag my feet, was quick to follow your orders.  The wicked hemmed me in—there was no way out—but not for a minute did I forget your plan for me.  I get up in the middle of the night to thank you; your decisions are so right, so true—I can't wait till morning! 

(Psalm 119:58-62 The Message)

It is not an uncommon thing to tell God that we want ALL his blessings - each and every good thing that he has promised to us.  I wonder how many of us really know how to receive what has been given!  Most of us do a good job with the "asking" part -- but when it comes to "receiving" we stink!  We simply don't believe the provision is true, or we just don't reach out and make the blessing fully ours.  

David reminds us that it is in the times of taking those "long and hard looks" into our lives - truly seeing the way are headed by the choices we are making - that we come face to face with the provisions of God.  In the "pondering of our ways" we often realize that course corrections are in order.  We have a tendency to drift without even knowing we are drifting - yet our choices are clear cut indications of the direction we are traveling!

When we are "adrift" in life choices, we often find ourselves at a point where our "feet are swept out from under us".  Many times we don't even know what happened to get us "down" -- we just know we are no longer standing strong.  Yesterday I told a co-worker that I sometimes feel alone in a whole crowd of people.  I can be surrounded with people enjoying life and having a great time celebrating each other -- yet in the midst of all that revelry, I feel isolated.

Why is it that I get to this place?  Why is it that you may find yourself alongside me in that same place of "isolation" in the midst of so much activity?  There are probably a couple of reasons:

- I think it might be because we have "insulated" ourselves so that we cannot really be approached by others and affected by their lives.  There are times in life that we just don't want any influence from "without" to impact what it is that we are experiencing "within".  So, we insulate ourselves, keeping what we are experiencing to ourselves.  This can be a very dangerous spot to find ourselves in -- isolated people who insulate themselves from the influence of others often drift deeper into the "stories" they are telling themselves!  For instance, if we honestly believe that we have not one talent that the group may benefit from, we isolate and insulate, so that we won't be hurt when we experience their PERCEIVED "rejection".  In actuality, if we never venture out of our protection, we will never know if there will be rejection!

- Perhaps it might be a result of some failure that we are brooding over.  We find ourselves bemoaning some aspect of character flaw that we continue to struggle with and "pull inside" so as not to allow others to see that "flaw" any clearer than it is already apparent.  Guess what?  No matter how much "cover-up stick" we apply to a blemish, there is still a blemish underneath all that make-up!  It may not be glowing bright red on the end of our nose, but it is still there!  It is amazing to me that we think that our character flaws will simply not be apparent if we skillfully cover over them with some type of "mask" we apply.  The truth is -- God is in the business of uncovering us so that we can be comfortable being just as we are -- no masks needed.

David reminds us that he gets down sometimes.  He gets off course at others. Maybe the two go hand-in-hand.  Yet, when he does, he recalls God's promise to be gracious to him -- a sinful man, prone to act in wrong ways on occasion, given to thinking wrongly about himself and others.  The grace of God is the basis of all of God's promises toward us.  Look at just a few of God's promises that David often recounted:

 ⁸ Real help comes from God.  Your blessing clothes your people! (Psalm 3:8 The Message)

^3-4 The day my enemies turned tail and ran, they stumbled on you and fell on their faces.   You took over and set everything right; when I needed you, you were there, taking charge.  (Psalm 9:3-4 The Message)

⁸ And I'm an olive tree, growing green in God's house. I trusted in the generous mercy of God then and now.  (Psalm 52:8 The Message)

David knew his help was found in God and no other.  He recognized that the blessings of God are an encompassing thing - clothing his people in grace and mercy.  His protector and deliverer was none other than God - he kept that squarely before him even in the times when enemy influences seemed to be closing in around him, making him feel isolated and insulated.  He counted on the fact that God would regain control - even when he had taken the control out of God's hands for a while.  He owned up to the fact that growth was simply impossible unless God did the planting.  Look at the theme of what he repeatedly recounts -- I trusted God THEN and NOW.  

Getting back up on one's feet is not an easy matter -- it is made much easier when we trust God to do the lifting!  Trust him when you see no way out.  Recount his mercies when you feel no hope in your failure.  Open up to him when you begin to feel isolated and insulated from the very blessings he has placed in your life.  Then, and only then, will you be able to say, "I am walking in every promise you have given!"

Isolation gets pretty lonely

^15-17Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

(I John 2:15-17)

Today, we will consider two important commands:  1) Don't love the world's ways, and 2) Don't love the world's goods.  At first, when we read this passage, we might gloss over these commands, but there is much value in considering them when you read the consequences of being too caught up in the ways of this world system or in seeking after what it offers.  John reminds us that when we are in love with this world and what it offers us, we isolate ourselves from God.

The first command is to not love the world's ways - don't love this world's system of doing things, treating people, and focusing on self.  The plain truth is laid out for us - the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure.  It offers us what will build our pride and what will fill our coffers.  In the end, we are left empty - devoid of the connection with God that fills our spirit to overflowing.  The world system teaches us that "our way" is the most important - we need to look out for #1 (us).  God's way is contrary to this - look out for your brother, let me look out for you.  

The second command is to not love the world's goods - don't be so consumed with getting everything we see, amassing to ourselves great storehouses of physical wealth and "things" that will eventually deteriorate, break, and be of no value in the end.  Craving attention is natural to human nature - we like to be the center of our universe!  As a matter of fact, we learned this quite young.  When we were not considered the center of all that was going on around us, we'd throw a little tantrum until we got our own way - until attention was focused on us.

God's plans and "systems" are different.  His desire is that we would place our attention on him - first and foremost.  That means that we consider all we do in light of answering a few simple questions:

• If I pursue this course of action, will it keep Christ central in my thoughts, attitude, and actions?
• If I pursue this moment of pleasure, will I regret the consequences?
• If I bring this "thing" into my life, will it add distraction to my life?

These are not really "rocket-science" kind of questions.  They are practical questions that help us to evaluate decisions "in the moment".  The world only offers us a continual craving for physical pleasure - if it feels good, do it.  It encourages us to want what it is that we see - even if we don't really need it.  It also encourages us to become puffed up in pride over our achievements and those physical possessions that we acquire.  If we ask ourselves these questions (run our decisions through these "filters" before making them), we might just avoid some heartache in our life.

The reminder to us is that when we fail to use some "filters" to guide our thoughts, intentions, and actions, we will drive a wedge in between God and ourselves - we isolate ourselves from God's fellowship.  Isolation is really disconnection.  When something is isolated, it is "set away from" that which it was designed to be connected to.  We isolate very contagious people in hospitals because if they were "connected to" others in the hospital without taking the proper precautions to avoid the spread of disease, we'd have an epidemic!  

Isolation from God occurs when our heart or mind places anything else in the position of authority in our lives that is designed specifically for him.  We are allowing ourselves to be "exposed" over and over to those thought patterns, cravings of our bodies, etc., that connect us more with the "disease" of our sin instead of the "remedy" for our sin.  The best thing we can do is to use the "filters" we are provided: the Word of God, our conscience, and the Holy Spirit resident within.  When we do, we find that they answer the questions posed above with pretty reliable truth - directing our behavior, our thoughts, and our intentions toward God and away from the world's systems/ways.

If you are in a place where you are realizing that your love for God has been "squeezed out" by the things you have been pursuing, it may be the perfect time to begin to evaluate your focus.  If all we can see is "us", there is not much room for God.  In other words, we have "isolated" ourselves unto ourselves - taking God out of the equation of our lives.  It may be time to step out of that isolated place and into the safety of God's arms.