Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Blind Man Fighting

Living Hope member, Jason Hall, introduced me to the song, "Eyes on You" by Shane and Shane from there album, "Bring Nothing."  I have listened to this song about 100 times in the past week.  I truly resonates with me at this season of my life.  Every time I hear it, I am reminded of the promise of Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."  The Scripture and the song remind me that in a world that demands clarity, what if faith is best experienced in those times when the only thing that is clear is God's faithfulness.  I hope the lyrics to this song speaks to some other fellow "blind man or woman fighting the world" out there today!  Here are the songs lyrics:

I don't know which way to go
But my eyes are on You
I don't know which way to turn
But my ears are to the ground
You say that I can hear Your voice
So I am listening

All I know is that I believe
It's not with my eyes that I can see
I'm a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me
There's a vision now in another eye
You've given sight to a man inside;
Of a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me

I still don't know which way to go
But my eyes are on You
I still don't know which way to turn
But my ears are to the ground
As long as You are lifted up
I don't have to understand

All I know is that I believe
It's not with my eyes that I can see
I'm a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me
There's a vision now in another eye
You've given sight to a man inside;
Of a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me

The battle is the Lord's
So I'll walk towards You in the dark
Cause I know that in the end we win
So I'm all in
Lead me I'm Yours

All I know is that I believe
It's not with my eyes that I can see
I'm a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me
There's a vision now in another eye
You've given sight to a man inside;
Of a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me

There's a vision now in another eye
You've given sight to a man inside;
Of a blind man fighting the world
Swinging back at me

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Time for a Date

Last week I noticed that our daughter Anna (age 7) was having a hard time.  She seemed very sensitive and like she was trying to get my attention in all the wrong ways. Finally, on Sunday afternoon I asked, "Anna, what is wrong?  What do you need?" 

She started to cry.  "Daddy, I just think I need a date with you.  I miss you." 

Well, that's all it took...big, firm dad became a sap on the spot...My heart melted.  I pulled her close and said, "We can have a date tonight." 

A few hours later I was opening the door for her at the, always classy, and her favorite place for a date with me, Taco Bell.  She reserved "our seats" and for about an hour I stared into the big brown eyes of my baby girl as she downloaded everything that she felt like she had not had time to share with me.  We walked out of Taco Bell, she squeezed my hand and said, "I love you, Daddy."  All she needed was a little time.

Friends, I am eating that up for as long as I can get it because I know full well that time is growing shorter with every second.  But in the past year I have experienced a similar need with my Father in heaven that one will never outgrow.

The past year, for me, has had some very dark days, but in the midst of some bouts of tears, hurt and anger, it is almost as if I could hear the Father asking a question he already knew the answer to:  "What's wrong?  What do you need?" 

About a year ago, I cried out, "I just need you.  I need to feel your presence and hear your voice again.  I miss you."  God has honored that cry by allowing me to be deprived of sleep. Whether I have been awoken in the middle of the night or hours before what is necessary, the Father keeps inviting me on dates with him.  He gives me time to download all that is whirling around in me.  And like the psalmists teach us in the Bible, we can share it all with him and I have.  I have found myself engaged in uncensored prayers that would surely make even mature believers squirm, but not my Father.  He listens and then he leads.  I have been amazed at how he leads me to and through his Word gently speaking exactly what I need to hear.

I met with a new person to our church family this week.  She has this awesome story of how God has been courting her.  She said the other day she had been asking God how she could know his voice and she "randomly" opened her Bible to 1 Kings 19:11-13:

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
 
The new person to our church family said she read this and then she knew..."God is in the whisper."

If we can hear him in the whisper, we can hear him anywhere; right?  But to hear him in the whisper, we have to set aside the time to "date" him.  Time just to BE with him. In the book named after him, the half brother of Jesus, James, says, "Draw near to God and he will draw near to you."  

Do you feel disconnected?  Weary?  Frustrated?  Discouraged? Alone? May be what you need more than what you think you need is to simply, but desperately cry out,
"Daddy, I just think I need a date with you.  I miss you." 

And friends, if I, as a wicked earthly father, will answer that cry immediately for my daughter, how much more is the Father in heaven willing to answer that prayer for you, his child.  Go ahead.  You have the time and if not, then its worth making the time, ask the Father out on a date today.  I know he would love to share more than a taco with you.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Get Back Up

Last night I came home from work and our son, Seth (age 5) was ready to talk.  His Kindergarten teacher had shared about the all-school roller skating party that night.  He was so excited. 

"Daddy, can I go?  Mommy said she would have to talk to you.  What did you say?"  He asked. 

His sister did not want to go, so it became as he called it a "boys night." 

As we drove to the skating rink, he wondered which of his new found friends might attend.  He named all the kids in his class he could remember and described in great detail those whose names he did not know.  I love how people-oriented he is (He does not get that extroversion from me). 

"Hi!" he said with great enthusiasm to each of his classmates as we arrived.

We laced up his skates and he was off.  Or, I guess I should say, down.  He fell and fell and fell and no sooner would he get up that he fell again.  I actually began to hurt for the poor little guy.  I was even tempted to rush to his aid, but there is only one way to learn to skate and he was doing it:  Every time he fell, he got back up. 

He was determined to get to the middle of the rink where beginners were allowed to practice because two of his classmates had made it there.  He skated and fell and got back up again all the way across the rink.  Finally, he made it to his classmates only to fall again. Which is when the boy and girl in his class leaned down, said something to him and offered a hand.  Of course, they did not do that again because then they fell down, too.  In fact, they fell down and got back up again almost as much as Seth.

I wrote in my prayer journal last night that while I was watching Seth and his friends fall and get back up over and over again, it became an unexpected, meaningful moment with God for me.  I found myself saying, "Wow, Father!  Look how Seth keeps getting back up! I was never like that. Lord, you know I would have given up about 20 falls ago.  Thank you that Seth is not like me." 

And then, quietly, in that still small voice that was louder than all the roller skating party noise and music, God's Spirit whispered to my spirit, "May be the son can teach the Dad something tonight."  The Father always knows right where to get us, doesn't he?  I began to tear up, but I shut that down...no need to embarrass myself or my boy.  But as I kept watching him fall and get up, it was like the Father was saying to me, "It doesn't matter how many times you fall or you get knocked down as long as you get back up."  I wish I could explain to you what those words mean to me.  Certainly, He is speaking to something so close to my heart and so deep in my spirit that I won't even attempt to explain it, but I have a feeling a few of you may know exactly what I am talking about.  You know what I mean not because you know what this all means to me, but because it means something to you, too.  "It doesn't matter how many times you fall or you get knocked down as long as you get back up."

When we got back to the house, Anna asked, "Did Seth fall any?"  I gave her the answer the Father gave me, "Anna, it doesn't matter how many times he fell.  What matters is how many times he got back up! And I am so proud of Seth for that!"

I certainly think this applies to this 911 anniversary today.  There will always be somebody or something that will blow up buildings and destroy lives.  Jesus said that such comes straight from hell itself (see John 10).  Certainly we will all get knocked down, there is no question about that...But what does remain in question is whetaher or not, in the name of Christ, we will get back up.  That is why Jesus was knocked down by the cross so he could show us that through God's love and power we can even climb back up out of the grave.  Praise be to God!

"Father, we pray for all those directly impacted by the loss of a loved one on 911.  By your love and power will you use your Church to help people get back up. Amen."

Thursday, September 5, 2013

"If You Would Just Look" by Nicole Sizemore

This week my random thoughts are not mine.  They come from Living Hope Member and fellow Jesus Freak, Nicole Sizemore.  I can't say it better, so this one is all you, Nicole! 
"I have been thinking... you get what you look for. I remember my first time at Living Hope Church, I was sitting there an uncomfortable sweaty hot mess trying to gain my composure after the worship band's beautiful rendition of Amazing Grace (my chains are gone), and then Pastor Chad takes the stage and starts talking about how when he was little and couldn't find things Ms. Rose would always ask "well did you look?" Pretty soon he had me laughing and relaxed just enough to open up to his message about going through life blind. It was a life changing day for me, and I will never forget it. When I was little and I couldn't find something my ma maw would always say "Nikki! if you would just look" and then grab whatever it was right out from under my nose. So yesterday I was sitting in the drive through jamming out to "My Savior lives", letting lose in full worship mode and this older gentleman walks by and starts singing with me. Before I could die from embarrassment he shoots me a thumbs up...and I had to laugh. Then I thought "man I have never in my life came across as many Jesus freaks as I have the last few months or so" and then I heard my ma maw say "well if you would just look!" That got me thinking about how you really do find what you look for. There was never any shortage of trouble when I went searching. I used to know a million different ways to find a million different things that were terrible for me. And the saddest thing is you don't even have to be looking for really bad things like heroin or cocaine...you can wake up in the morning "looking" for your boss to be a jerk, or a terrible drive to work, or your kids to be bratty. You can look for all sorts of things that make you unhappy, or even discontent, and you will find those things. But say if you look at the job you are blessed with, the car you have to drive, the beautiful children whose crankiness will leave a gaping hole one day when they are all grown up, look at that stuff instead, look for the blessing behind every inconvenience and you will start to find those blessings. Look for miracles and you will see them all over and every day! I am not claiming that I got it all together by any means, I look for trouble all the time by worrying about things that I have no control over, but I have also spent a lot less time lately praying for all things I need and praising for what I have instead. I see blessings everywhere! and the more I see the more I look so the more I see... get it? I think Jesus said something like "seek and ye will find" or something like that (I will "look" it up later harhar), but pretty much I think what He said was you get what you look for. Peace, love and prayers my friends!!"