But...we know him

Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. (Matthew 6:27-33)

Changes come and changes go. We cannot control them, nor can we escape them. To worry over them is simply not productive. Jesus says this type of "worrying" or "creation of emotional chaos" in our lives because of the frequency or consistency of change is what those who don't know him engage in. It isn't to be the "mode of operation" for those of us who are all a part of his family. When our focus is centered correctly on "who" gets us through the present change rather than the change itself, we find this perspective keeps the "emotional chaos" at bay. Only then will our intentional actions that allow us to navigate through the changes we are facing become ordered, productive, and on-target. 

It isn't always our responsibility or even within our ability to control the change, nor is it to be the change which controls us. We are to bring the change to God, allow him to set the course, then settle into the course he has us on. In the end, we find as long as we remain set on observing his "navigational instruction" in our lives, we don't have the overwhelming chaos in the midst of change. We might have a little "turmoil" because change suggests the old is being purged and the new is coming into focus, but this is a good kind of turmoil - nothing to worry over.

What gets our clothes clean in the washing machine? Isn't it the turmoil of tumbling over each other and the friction caused by the changing of the cycles within that machine? Without this action, the resulting effect of "being in the washer" would be of no value. Clean and ready clothes are a result of the action and the "agents" within the washer. Water, soap, and the action of the spinning or agitating tub are essential. So, not all types of turmoil are bad - sometimes they help create the "friction" we need to get us to a new level of "cleanliness" or "readiness" in life. The turmoil is "helped along" to do the work it needs to do when God adds in a little of his living water and a lot of his cleansing power! Just sayin!

Out of THIS you will bring WHAT?

Times come when we might just feel like things are spinning a little out of control - or at least out of our control. Those times can be disconcerting and might just send us into a tailspin if we don't maintain the right focus. There are always moments in each day when I cry out a short prayer to Jesus just because things seem to be creeping in that are capable of disturbing the control which has been maintained - because I don't want that control to go to anyone else other than him!

Every morning you'll hear me at it again. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend. (Psalm 5:2-3)

Some days just seek like chaos is created wherever we go. Yet, if we look closely, the very thing that is the same in each of those situations is US. Where we are, there is chaos. True that it may be that God brings good stuff out of chaos, we don't want to be the thing creating that chaos. Some of us feel like all that God is up to in and around us is chaos. King David was no exception. He frequently conversed with God about the "stuff" that just seemed to surround him with all kinds of challenge, busy-work, and unknown outcomes. Every morning you'll hear me at it again! These words reflect his response to the mounting chaos around him.

I honestly believe we might think God gets tired hearing about our lives. After all, how many times does he need to hear that we are frustrated with our pain, or disappointed with the loss of our youthfulness? How many times does he need to listen to the "stories" of our waywardness? How often has he heard the same story of repentance, only to hear us at it again in a short matter of time? The "chaos" just seems to keep coming - and we just seem to keep bringing it before God. Why? Because we can!

Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar and watch for fire to descend. Remember we are to come EVERY morning to God. There is to be no fear in our heart that God will get tired of hearing from us or be put off by the continual struggles we have! Lay it all out before God...holding nothing back. That is how a sacrifice was prepared in Old Testament times - it was laid out for all the pieces to be seen. Sometimes, we'd like to hold a little back, but it is in laying it all out that it is available for God to affect.

If that doesn't paint the picture, we need to see that it is in the laying of the pieces on the altar that that we express our hope for the changes we desire to occur. Why is this important? Simply because the altar is the ONLY place we can actually be altered! It is the laying out of our lives that God is able to affect change - to bring order out of what looks like nothing more than chaos! Do it and then wait watchfully for God's fire to descend. This is the hardest part of bringing it to God - waiting watchfully for his move! Nothing is more of a struggle for us than waiting. In the waiting, we want nothing more than to retrieve a few pieces off the altar and tuck them carefully away for "another time". The sacrifice is only consumed if it is whole!

So, if life seems a little like CHAOS right now...don't lose hope! It probably is! In that CHAOS God is at work bringing something beautiful out of it. CHAOS is really Christ Having Authority Over Sin in our lives. CHAOS is really Christ Honoring Abandoned Obedient Service. CHAOS is Christ Healing And Opening Spirits. CHAOS is simply God at work! Embrace it! It has a purpose far greater than you'd ever imagine! Just sayin!

But it is a fire, Jesus!

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  (Philippians 4:8 NLT)

In a time with so much negative input through media of all sorts, it is imperative that we not lose our perspective on just exactly who remains in control. It has never ceased to be Jesus - for he holds all things together by his word. It has never once veered from the course of justice - for his reign demands nothing else. We can get caught up in the hype of the moment, distracted by all the violence and protests, or we can redouble our efforts to remember God is able to turn the circumstances of even the worst imaginable conclusion into something no one ever expected. 

Don't believe me? I would only have to remind you of a very hot, fiery furnace of old, where four men were planned for their final fate. The day they stepped into the furnace, the fires were stoked to astronomical proportions. What should have consumed them actually didn't even scorch them! Why? God was in the midst of them and he never forgot that his purpose was something greater than anything they could possibly have imagined!

In terms of "getting through" what seems to not be heading in the right direction, I'd have to point us back to our passage today. In these times of confusion, chaos, and calamity - turn to what is true, honorable, right and pure. Refuse to see only the ugly and look deeply to find the lovely and admirable - it is there - we may just have to look for it in unexpected places! Life is lived well when we refuse to focus on what seems unlikely to change - for all change is a result of someone being willing to focus on what is true, brings honor, stands morally and spiritually right, and is pure through and through!

That chaos and calamity might be what you see around you in our country right now. It could also be what you see in the shambles of broken and disappointing relationships. It might even be the state of your financial condition, or the brokenness of your body as disease ravages it beyond what you believed possible. Regardless of our circumstantial "need", God is the one who brings us to center again. He is the one who restores balance - not through conventional means, but through the unconventional.

You see, God empties us before he fills us - otherwise we'd not have capacity. God opens us up to see what is broken before he shows us the way to our healing. He shows up in the circumstance, not as doubt or fear, but as truth and faith in the midst of the lapping flames of doubt and fear. He is revealed not in the chaos, but standing firm and true in the midst of it! As we walk steadily in the truth he reveals, we might see the flames closer than we'd really desire, but never forget he is in the midst of them - drawing us deeper into them, not away from them! Just sayin!

Got a little turmoil going on?

Ever been in a place some might call a real "brouhaha"?  You know what I mean - the place in your life where everywhere you turn, it is like total conflict.  It could be conflict all created by your own mind and soulish desires, or it could be external to you, but affecting your life nonetheless.  It is that place where someone or something is lying in wait for that moment when the attack will be just right to take you down.  It is as though things are on a slow boil up to a point, then all of a sudden the boil begins to roll and steams begins to build.  At that point, what do you do?  For most of us, it is too late to do much because when it finally builds to that point, it is harder and harder for us to find peace, get a clear picture of what is happening, or even call a retreat from it.  We are there for the duration - simply because we didn't know how to avoid the conflict in the first place!

I am pleading with the Eternal for this one thing, my soul’s desire:  To live with Him all of my days—in the shadow of His temple, to behold His beauty and ponder His ways in the company of His people.  His house is my shelter and secret retreat.  It is there I find peace in the midst of storm and turmoil.  Safety sits with me in the hiding place of God.  He will set me on a rock, high above the fray.  (Psalm 27:4-5 VOICE)

At the point of turmoil's first hint, where we turn with that turmoil makes all the difference in the outcome.  Turmoil takes on all manner of "appearances" in our lives.  Probably one of the most noticeable types of turmoil in our lives is that which we call "anxiety" - the internal type of turmoil which really is a matter of trust.  Anxiety is really caused because of some question of who or what we are going to trust in within that area of our life.  If we lean heavily upon our own "wisdom" and don't have much use for the wisdom God provides, we might find that turmoil builds until we reach levels of anxiety which are difficult for us to manage.  The problem is that WE created the turmoil - by placing our trust in something which is unreliable in our lives.  Until WE step out of the way, the peace we now lack cannot be re-established by God.  It is as things BEGIN to build within our minds and hearts which seem to be creating internal unrest that we must turn to the sanctuary of God's shelter and secret retreat - not after we have allowed all the angst to build to the point of breaking!  Our psalmist describes this as "living with" God in the shadow of his temple - not occasionally taking our messy lives to him to sort out.

For others, the greatest place of turmoil comes when there has been some type of "mix-up" in life.  It is like you "thought" things were going one way and then you come to discover they are going in the opposite direction.  You discover (often too late) that the road you have been traveling is not the one you expected.  Expectations cause us a great deal of turmoil in life - either because we didn't live up to them, or because someone else dashed our hopes by not living up to ours.  In those moments, the greatest thing we need to realize is that our expectations were the wrong focus for us to maintain.  It is okay to have expectations, but who or what we choose to focus on to meet those expectations is another matter.  If we are counting on ourselves to meet those expectations - all our desires and aspirations in life - we may come up a little short in the deal.  We are limited a great deal of the time by our talent, energy, or time.  In the end, we either burn out along the way, or we get to where we were going to find we are too "spent" to enjoy what we have achieved.  The best way to avoid the turmoil of the "mixed-up" expectations in life is to sit with the one who provides "safety" for us.  We need to constantly be turning to him to seek clarity and a "re-sorting" of our priorities so our expectations are realistic, not based on the performance of another, or even ourselves, but squarely on the boundaries he provides for our safety and protection.

Perhaps one of the most difficult types of turmoil for us to deal with is that of feeling a sense of rebellion - a place of resistance exists and we just don't know how to break free of that turmoil it causes. Simply put, rebellion occurs when there is a schism of sorts which takes place, allowing two parties who are "at odds" to exist in the same "space".  It is like oil on water - the two exist together, but they are totally "unmixed" and remain "at odds" with each other despite being in the same "space".  Within our minds, rebellion wreaks havoc.  We are at odds with none other than ourselves - our spirit tells us to do one thing, but our emotions are pulling us a dozen different directions - leaving us "at odds" with ourselves.  In turn, we give in to the "voice" which is making the most "noise" in us at that moment.  This "noise" is often created by the very thing we don't want to be pursuing because we "know" it is clearly not the right thing to do, but we "feel" the opposite about it.  Until we learn to shut out some of those voices which scream the loudest within us, we won't rise above the rebellion brewing within.  When we want to overcome rebellion, we don't argue with it, we withdraw from it - we get away from the voices!  It isn't a sign of weakness to say we are weak!  It is a sign of strength to recognize when the voices are too loud for us to resist!

It may seem a little too over-simplified to say this, but the greatest way to avoid turmoil in our lives is to run to the place where turmoil doesn't exist!  David went regularly (with consistency and purpose) the place of where "safety sat with him", bringing order and peace into the midst of his turmoil.  Safety isn't a "thing", but a person!  As long as we give into the people, circumstances, and voices of turmoil in our lives, we are not going to understand the benefits of running to the person who provides safety for us when turmoil abounds.  God can set at rest the things which are spinning out of control, and he can settle the screaming voices of compromise, but we need to be in the place to allow him to do this.  Here is the key to overcoming - we go regularly, with consistency, and with determined purpose into the presence of the one who can set right what is totally wrong within or without our lives.  Just sayin!