More than a moment

It was Dr. Seuss who said, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." We pretty much like how things begin, but we often feel let down when they end. I know that is the way I approach vacation times - happy that the day has arrived to embark on my adventure; then the final day comes and I must begin the journey back to "normal". Some projects begin the same way - with great gusto and good cheer; then end with a few bumps and bruises, tired muscles, and a sense of a little let down to be completing it. I wonder if we approach some of the moments in our lives with Christ in much this same manner - seeing a closed door behind us as something to mourn rather than to smile about 'because it happened". There will be bumps and bruises along the way sometimes, but remember...we grow by falling and getting up again!

Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should. (Psalm 90:12 TLB)

Our days are few - we must make the best of each one. Life doesn't just 'happen' - we aren't just abandoned to whatever happens without any apparent reason. Even those things that seem to escape reason have a purpose; although that purpose may not be understood some times. The other day I took my daughter to the airport for one of the first flights of the day. It was an early flight, so we anticipated being at the airport about one hour early would be sufficient. We judged leaving 1.5 hours before the flight would allow the 30 minutes travel time and enough time for her to take her time to get to the gate. Well, you guessed it - - - there was a huge traffic issue on the freeway and we were caught in the middle of the muddle. We sat on a two mile stretch of the journey (our last leg of it, mind you) for an hour waiting for traffic to clear from a huge roll-over accident at the specific exit we needed in order to get to the airport. In fact, we were trapped with no way of escape, for there were no other exits. 

Sometimes we feel trapped by what our days bring to us, much like we did in that traffic jam. The minutes just ticked by, the flight came closer and closer to take-off time, and my daughter's peers all sat at the gate awaiting her arrival so they could begin their journey that day. The truth of the matter is that she arrived at the door of the airport 18 minutes before her flight, somehow made it past TSA security checkpoint, and to the door of that flight just as they paged her name for the last time! But...the lesson of the adventure is not the ending, but rather the beginning of this journey. You see, as she loaded her stuff into the car, I was ready to pull out and go, but she needed to talk for a moment with her husband, delaying our start that day by just a few minutes. The cats stood ready at the open door contemplating an escape, and she needed to remind him to herd them back into the house just in case they scurried under her parked car without him noticing.

That simple delay seemed like an eternity as we sat on that traffic clogged section of freeway that day, but 5 minutes earlier might just have placed us in the very spot where that out of control driver created such a mess and sent innocent people to the hospital that day. As we waiting for what seemed an eternity, I knew we were being taught a lesson. The lesson? God holds our lives securely in his hands. As traffic began to clear, we all began to move - picking up the speed as separation between vehicles began to increase. As my speedometer approached 45 mph, we were suddenly cut off from a vehicle to the left of us, crossing two lanes of traffic, cutting across the gore point into oncoming traffic exiting the freeway, and we were run off the road, narrowly avoiding a collision of our own. In a blink of an eye, our vehicle veered off the road, avoiding all other traffic around us, and we were kept safe from what could have proven to be the permanent delay in my daughter's adventure that day.

Sometimes we set out with one thing in mind, but come to the realization the journey will yield something quite different. We saw miracles that day - both in our own lives and in those lives around us. We saw provision that day - both in delivering us safely to our destination and in allowing that flight to be delayed ever so slightly for air conditioning repairs! In those moments, stress levels rose to high proportions, but in equal proportions God's peace overshadowed us. I simply turned to my daughter and spoke with the peaceful assurance of God's control of the matter and said, "You are going to make your flight." We started well, but I think we ended better. We might have wanted to cry with the let down of it all being over and her being safely on her way, but we smiled in the peace of knowing God's hand was clearly in each moment of that early morning's adventure. Maybe you are there today - feeling a little let down at the end of your adventure - don't look back and mourn, but smile with the assurance of having experienced the teachable moments! Just sayin!

Sargent Dan Moments

The French novelist Anatole France reminds us: "If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." We can certainly gussy up foolish thought and word as much as we want to, but in the end, it is still going to bring us into foolish behavior at some point! My best friend and I were eating at Bubba Gump's once while in Florida. I broke into my impersonation of Forrest Gump's conversations with Sargent Dan and before long, we were both cracking up about things. We had a moment of frivolity all because of a little foolishness on my part. While that didn't hurt anyone, nor did it send us down some terrible pathway in our lives, to use that same foolishness in a meeting of the Board members of our organization would likely be less than appropriate! Sometimes even the "good things" we engage in are a little inappropriate or "foolish" at other times. The most awesome part of the Forrest Gump movie is those "teachable moments" which came out of his life. He always loved, and he always "tried again" - despite the challenges. He never settled for being told it was impossible. It is good to constantly guard our hearts so that we "learn" to engage in those things (good paths) that are always appropriate, not easily taking us down paths we should avoid entirely (foolishness), and that are both tested and true in our lives.

The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. (Proverbs 23:24 NLT) 

As a parent, I observed my kids "not listening" to any advice or instruction on occasion, leading right into them making less than "reliable" decisions. In those moments, was I particularly celebratory of their failure to exercise wisdom? Nope! Had I tried to steer them away from those bad decisions, either through positive example or sharing the lesson I had learned from similar choices? Yup! Were they going to heed my advice, or embrace the teaching from scripture they should have embraced? Nope! We sometimes know very well what should be done, or even hear many warnings not to do it, then go right ahead and exercise the poorest of judgment anyway! Honestly, I don't think wisdom is always "learned" in those moments when someone else tries to tell us what to do, but in having done some of the "unwise" stuff we have done and then God using those occurrences as "teachable moments" in our lives.

The important thing is that we are "teachable" - we take away something that keeps us from making those "unwise" choices again and again. Will we repeat them? It is quite possible we will, but when we really want to learn from what we go through, we rarely make those same unwise choices in quite the same manner. The outcome may appear similar, but usually we arrive at the outcome in a little bit of a different way. Even then, we are able to experience that "teachable moment" - beginning to understand we can get the same "negative result" from more than one pathway! There is more than one pathway to sin, but it stems from very similar roots - we don't heed warning - either written, spoken, or "prompting" warnings we might receive.

Over the years, I have accumulated a little bit of wisdom on some matters. Have I managed to complete the "lesson" when it comes to those matters? Probably not. The truth of the matter is that there are far more ways to "dress up" wrong decisions than we might imagine! In the end, it is the focus we maintain that actually helps us determine when a particular path may not lead us exactly where it is we want to go. Herein may be the greatest of all wisdom we can learn from God's "teachable moments" - that sin has many paths, but grace has but one. When our eyes remain steadfast upon the person of Grace - Jesus Christ - we begin to put the choices in perspective a little better. We might occasionally "slip up", but even when we do, grace is awaiting us at the end of that pathway. This is probably what amazes me the most - we can travel the wrong path, realizing the worst destination or outcome - but smack-dab in the middle of that we can still find grace. 

Yes, we need to learn our lessons from those teachable moments. Yes, we need to be "selective" about the path we choose, exercising solid wisdom and sound judgment as we choose. Yes, we will make wrong choices - it is part of our human nature. Yet, in the end, what will we learn from those choices? What will we take with us the next time we are enticed to go that similar direction? What is it we will do differently "next time"? These are perhaps the hardest questions to answer when it comes right down to it, but they can also be the most enlightening and rewarding. Just sayin!

Teachable moments

If you have ever been around someone who is struggling to do something, or get through something, and you just offer them one piece of advice to make it easier or quicker, you might have been surprised to receive less than a welcoming and warm response to your "advice".  You know what I mean - when they looked you in the eye, expression of disgust on their face suggesting that you must be daft to even suggest such a thing.  Some people just cannot see any other solution to their issue than what they can manage to come up with in their own minds or power.  To suggest something outside of that imagined solution makes you the "crazy one" in the equation!

Some people like to do things their own way, and they get upset when people give them advice. Fools don’t want to learn from others. They only want to tell their own ideas. (Proverbs 18:1-2 ERV)

There is a lot of danger in being so determined to just do things our own way, though.  In many circumstances, the way we determine to be the "best" or "right" one may just be the easiest and present the least resistance.  I know I have chosen this option more than a few times, only to find out that the easiest "up front" isn't always the easiest on the "back end".  I have set up huge workbooks of data in Excel spreadsheets only to find it was set up so poorly it was impossible to drill down on the data to get any kind of useful report from it. I found myself "hand calculating" the data!  Now, maybe someone could have helped me if I had just have asked up front, but my pride kept me from finding out if there was an "easier" or "better" way other than what my mind could muster on its own.

This is often the case when it comes to our ability to learn in life - pride determines the course we take whenever we are faced with something a bit "over our heads".  We might think we have a solution, but pride keeps us from asking if we are even on the right track!  At this point in my career, I am often asked to build these workbooks for another to use - creating tools to make something they are doing in their job a little easier.  How silly would it be of me to just assume I know what their needs are and then to go ahead with building that tool for them without their input?  I have regular check-ins with these individuals because I know they will have to use the tool I create, so unless I listen to their needs, let them experiment with it a little, and then take their criticism or advice seriously, I will be creating something "for" them, but it won't be useful "to" them.

Pride is one of the most limiting things we can face - probably more limiting than just about any other issue in our lives.  Why?  Pride limits our ability to see any other solution to life's issue than our own - it is our way, or the highway. We don't even look for another solution because we have our minds and hearts so wrapped around what we believe to be best that we almost shut out any other possibilities.  Pride escalates one's ideas and beliefs to the place of superiority and shuts down any other idea or belief not completely like one's own.  There is a tell-tale sign one is experiencing some issue with pride in their life - whenever you are presented with another solution to what is front of you and immediately reject it as "wrong" or "unworthy" of your time or attention.

Now, there are times when we want this immediate rejection of ideas - like when they are totally wrong or violate God's commands.  For example, if someone says the way to get to work sooner is to just be a ding-dong of a driver on the road and weave furiously in and out of traffic until you nearly run every driver off the road, you might want to reject that one!  On the other hand, if someone tells you to set your alarm 15 minutes earlier and avoid hitting the snooze button five times, you might want to give that one some consideration. When my son had a hard time getting up for school, I moved the alarm clock to the other side of the room so he'd have to get up to shut it off.  Good theory, but it didn't work!  It wasn't something he really cared about, so he'd just let the alarm ring and ring - knowing it would eventually shut off!  Pulling the pillow over his head worked well enough to deaden the sound!

Some of what we imagine is "right" or "good" may not be "bad" - it just may not be what is best in the moment.  We need to first weigh what we are about to do against God's commands - if it is okay there, it is likely okay for us to pursue. Then if the scripture doesn't give us any real clear advice on the matter, we have to rely upon conscience - something a little less reliable.  When another comes alongside to give us advice, we weigh it against scripture and our conscience.  If it doesn't violate either, we might do well to give it consideration. We may never know when that "teachable moment" may occur which actually helps us move beyond something we've been struggling with for a while!  Just sayin!

Teachable heart - Part III

¹¹ Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!
   Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.
 ¹² With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.  I will give glory to your name forever, ¹³ for your love for me is very great.
      You have rescued me from the depths of death.

(Psalm 86:11-12)

David's plea for a teachable (trainable) heart is followed by the cry for God to "grant him" the purity of heart so that he may live as God desires - in a manner that honors God.  We don't use the term "grant me" very much any more, but it was common when David penned these words.  It means to be "awarded".  It carries the idea of carefully weighing the evidence and then giving what is desired to the one requesting it.

David is certain that the desire to honor God with his entire life is what he will present to God - in turn, he is confident that God will bestow what he seeks because he has a desperation of need.  David recognized that his heart had a tendency to wander - to be "divided" in its affections.  The same is true for each of us.  Try as we might, we commit to "being good" and then find that we are pursuing something "bad" all over again.

Don't believe me?  Make the determination today to do something you have been putting off that you know is exactly the right thing to do - like taking a walk every morning to improve your cardiovascular health, or eliminating sweets from your diet.  See how long that lasts!  At best, unless our mind and heart agree, we will start well, but end poorly.  

A singleness of heart is what David really desires - he is tired of the confusion of mind and soul that comes from trying to do things his own way and then expecting God to bless the outcome.  David knows that he cannot obtain this singleness of heart (purity of heart) without God's granting it (giving it) to him.  It is the desire to be pruned, bent, tended, and positioned in such a way that the course of his heart's decisions is totally "fixed" on God's plans and purposes.

There are times we look at individuals with "mixed" motives and call them hypocrites.  They say one thing, but do another.  That conflict between what we say and do is what scripture refers to as being double-minded.  The desire of David's heart was that his mind, will and emotions would contain nothing that would be in conflict with what God desires.  That is what moves us from living hypocritical lives into living consistent, trustworthy lives.

The goal of David's prayer - that I may honor you, God.  What David may not have known was that the Spirit of God dwells in the purity of a man's heart.  A pure heart is one that has been touched by the graces of God over and over again until it is firmly and finally brought back to its original condition - perfect harmony with the will and intentions of God.  

The last lesson of a teachable heart is that it desires purity - it desires the sanctifying process.  Purity must be learned - just as a fire must be kindled.  It is a process - with our hearts being built up little by little as a result of incremental obedience to what God reveals.  A pure heart is a teachable heart - a heart that is willing to live according to the truth as revealed in the Word of God.  

Teachable heart - Part II

Train me, God, to walk straight;
      then I'll follow your true path.
   Put me together, one heart and mind;
      then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear.

(Psalm 86:11-12)

The teach-ability of one's heart is in direct comparison to the openness of one's mind.  Our actions begin in our mind - learning to perform new actions is made easiest when our minds are opening to considering the possibilities of those actions!  David's prayer reveals the secret of teach-ability:  God putting us together - making one heart and mind out of the "muddle" of the divided attention and direction of these two parts of our being.


This is the prayer of a teachable heart - put me together!  David begins with "teach me" and "show me how to do this".  He concludes with the idea that he's not as "all together" as he'd like to portray to the world.  One of the signs of a truly teachable heart is the ability to be "transparent" - first with yourself and with God, then with those around you.


The prayer of a teachable heart begins with the cry, "Cause me to know how to go in your ways - not mine!"  In order to learn to go in God's way instead of our own, we must understand what they are.  When David is asking God to let him understand "his ways", he wants to know what God has planned for him.  There may have been times when David doubted that God's plans would ever come to pass - like when he was fleeing for his life as Saul's men were hunting him down before he could assume the throne of leadership over Israel.  David came to a place in his walk where he recognized the futility of trusting his own judgment.  He knew God, but when he relied on his own judgment over God's, he usually realized failure, compromise, and a downward spiral in his life.


David was crying out to God to both recognize the nature of his ways and to be convinced that God's ways were definitely the best for his life.  It is one thing to recognize what God has planned, it is quite another to actually walk within that plan!  David knew it would take a firm resolve of his heart to follow in God's ways.  The key here is who is in control - David was actually asking God to take control.


The prayer continues with, "Train me in your ways."  Training a plant to grow involves several steps that we would do well to take a lesson or two from.  First, the plant is trained for its growth by being bent.  The bending of that plant may be gradual at first, but as it begins to grow, the direction of its growth is determined by the one doing the bending.  


Second, as growth continues, there is often a need for pruning to occur.  Growth is actually directed much through the pruning process.  If you want something to grow up, trim off its bottom growth.  If you want it to grow out, nip a little off the top.  Third, growth is best when the plant is positioned so as not to move.  We place stakes around small trees for this reason - to secure its placement against the struggles of wind and storm.  David realized that the best opportunity for growth was when he was deeply rooted in God - staked!


Last, but certainly not least, growth involves being formed - being made fit for growth.  This is the process of tending.  David's prayers often asked God to make him "fit" for the next step in his journey.  The "fitness" of our soul is in direct correlation to the "fitness" of our mind and heart!  It is in God's processes of making us "fit" that he is giving us the skill to proceed in the ways he intends for our lives - the development of an aptitude and ability to grow in his ways.


The goal of a teachable heart is simply that we may live according to the truths of God.  Tomorrow, we will look at the next verses in this passage.  Until then, ask God where you are not bendable, where you might be needing a little pruning, if you have resisted his "staking", or if you are resistant to the "fitting" process he has designed.  Those simple prayers can yield much growth.

Teachable heart - Part I

Train me, God, to walk straight; 

      then I'll follow your true path. 

   Put me together, one heart and mind; 

      then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear. 

(Psalm 86:11-12)

It is a hard thing for us to learn that every sin, every compromise, has some type of fruit that results from those decisions.  Every time we sin, we miss out on some portion of what God originally intended for us.  When we compromise, we are allowing the "wholeness" of our being to be compromised, as well.  It is in obedience that we experience the greatest degree of "wholeness".

The prayer reflected in our passage today is one of a "teachable" heart.  David often prayed this prayer.  He wanted nothing more than to have - really walk in - a teachable frame of mind, spirit, and will.  Here are just a few of the words of a teachable heart:

• Protect me - whenever we see David uttering these words, he is usually asking God for his covering so that he would not suffer injury or destruction at the hands of his enemies.  He was asking God to defend his cause so that he did not have to do it himself.  God's defense is usually the best!
• I am devoted to you - every part of my being is committed to you.  David was concerned that he would experience wholeness in his life - he knew this came by centering his attention and every activity of his life on what it was that God intended for him.
• Save me - a most revealing prayer, as it reflects both desperation and dependence.  Whenever David was praying for God to intervene with salvation, it was because he was experiencing some type of danger.  The danger may have been because his desire to sin would have put him in a place he did not want to be, or because he would experience some type of harm if God did not intervene.  His real prayer was that God would keep him from loss in his life.
• I serve you / I trust you - it was because David had come to know the character of God that he could confidently state it was in him that he placed his trust.  
• Be merciful - this is the prayer of a heart that doesn't deserve what he receives, but needs it desperately!
• I am calling out constantly - David was both frequent in his prayers and he was consistent.  He had learned that God never tires of hearing his needs - even when they are the same needs over and over again.
• Give me happiness / let me delight - the sign of a teachable heart is to realize that what we derive our "happiness" from is what has control of us.  David wanted to delight in God's graces and goodness, not in the pleasures of the world around him.  That thrilled the heart of God.
• My life depends on you - these are probably the most profound words he uttered.  Without God's intervention, nothing would be as it should.

These are but a handful of the prayers of David.  The Book of Psalms are full of these types of prayers.  Each unique in its own way.  David was a man commended for the teachable heart he had come to have.  It is my hope that we will have the same enjoyment of God's commendation for the teachable heart we are developing!