Safety Belts

Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Even darkness will be as bright as morning. Having hope will give you courage. You will be protected and will rest in safety. You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help. - Job 11:17-19 (NLT)

Many years ago, there was a fervent debate about proposed seat belt laws. Was it an infringement on personal rights? If I understand the risks and I'm the only one affected, should I be forced to comply with a rule? Even if I would wear my seat belt anyway, who is the government to tell me I have to?

Many years later, most of us automatically buckle up. (1) We don't want a ticket. (2) Although we don't plan to crash, we'd like to be prepared if we do. Seat belts save lives. But not everyone who wears a seat belt survives a crash.

God gives us hope as a safety belt. Hope gives us courage just as seat belts give us a sense of security. In both cases, we're relying on something or someone else. We have hope in God and his courage strengthens us. We feel secure by the strap of fabric across our chest. God protects us, as does the seat belt. We can rest in safety. Not safety of a 100% accident-free record (or trouble-free life). Safety of using the wisdom and guidance God gives us and resting in his will for us.

How do you feel about wearing a seat belt? How do you feel about God's security?

Commit to one of the following verses as God's safety belt for you this week.

Keep me safe, O God,for I have come to you for refuge. - Psalm 16:1 (NLT)

Those who trust their own insight are foolish,but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe. - Proverbs 28:26 (NLT)

Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” - John 11:9-10 (NLT)

Mountain Top

I've been to the mountain top today. Literally. Figuratively, it's been more like a dumpster diving day...a little smelly and sticky.

I've been surrounded the past couple days by gorgeous hills, building into the Appalachians. Covered with vibrant green trees and often skirted in mist. A friend and I trekked to a lookout point yesterday, and it was well worth the climb. I even decided to take another route to the same location later in the day. I wondered how many miles I could see from that vantage point. A lot. Funny how even when our perspective is expanded, we still have no clue how much, or how little, of the big picture we're actually seeing.

God gave me a glimpse of the big picture today. My schedule was hectic, and the time in which I thought I could easily fit in a short hike suddenly flooded with trouble-shooting and adjustments. But God was beckoning me to spend some time with him. Because I was expected to soon be encouraging a large group of women, helping them laugh with each other and dance in God's presence, I knew that if I kept on my own course, I'd be zapped of energy and enthusiasm. So I did something I don't do often enough. I said "no" to an obligation and said "yes" to God. And I hiked to the lookout point I'd visited yesterday.

The climb was steep. And I started thinking how being obedience to God is not easy. Obedience challenges me. But I do better with it when I'm well-equipped. For hiking, my map and water are musts. For obedience, constant communication with God. Through his word, prayer, worship. So as I climbed, I took each step for him. When I stopped to take a drink, I savored God's words to me. When a heard the sounds of the hills, I listened for his voice. When I reached the top and marvelled again at the complexity and beauty of his creation, I raised my face to his in worship.

The hike down was just as challenging physically, and spiritually, God reminded me that I can go too fast sometimes and get caught up in the rush of everyday life. I was walking back to my obligations and daily life, but with renewed purpose. Only God knew the challenges waiting for me at the bottom of that mountain top, but I sure am thankful I chose obedience today, so he could prepare me in his providential way.

Send out your light and your truth;let them guide me.Let them lead me to your holy mountain,to the place where you live. - Psalm 43:3 (NLT)

Make A Difference

My husband and I have great conversations as we're walking. He's getting ready to speak at a community leaders' luncheon this week, so we were recently discussing his topic: making a difference through community service. Because we're both in ministry, we started talking about our different experiences, when our ministries have had the most significant impact, and how God uses our gifts at different times in different ways.

I'm sure we're not the first ones to recognize this, but significant impact often follows a shift or change. A new leader comes into a church. A ministry team is reorganized. Volunteers are recruited and trained church wide. Each time we've moved, the ministries we've moved out of and into both changed. People's lives were impacted.

Make a difference by doing something different.

When I took on a new position as Small Groups Coordinator, the seeds planted in the first six months were super-seeds. I sometimes wondered if God was using his version of Miracle-Gro every day! Groups grew, leaders emerged, and individual lives were changed. Then we reached a plateau. There was still growth, but enthusiasm waned and was replaced by some "maintain status quo" attitudes. When a new Coordinator replaced me, I strongly encouraged him to question everything I had put in place, not because I didn't believe in the vision and direction I had but because I had experienced how people respond to freshness. It's essential to growth.

Make a difference by doing something different.

Change is essential to growth. You can keep watering the same seeds in the same way every day, but the plant changes and will eventually rot from too much water, outgrow the pot, or consume all the nutrients in the soil.

Make a difference by doing something different.

Are you too comfortable? Are you where God wants you to be? Or is where you are more about where you want to be (and don't want to be) right now? I'm not saying your gifts or passions are always changing, but how you use your God-given gifts and passions can definitely change. Does your hand always do the same thing for you every day, all day? No! It would take you a long time just to make a list of everything your hand does in a single day. Consider your gifts and passions in the same way. How will you use them? Be creative. God is.

Make a difference by doing something different.

You may be asking why I changed my plan. Do you think I make my plans carelessly? Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”? As surely as God is faithful, my word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.” - 2 Corinthians 1: 17-18

Sticky Rain

I walked outside the church building the other day while it was raining, and I stood under the awning, mesmerized. There were few cars in the parking lot, and as the wind blew, it looked as if tiny waves moved across the pavement. I watched as individual drops quickly fell into the mass of puddles and those individual drops instantly rippled and absorbed into the moving water.

I thought of the church. Individuals each coming on their own and then being absorbed into the mass of water, adhering to other raindrops and moving with fluidity together. The wind doesn't blow one raindrop by itself. The combined drops wave together. Shared direction, firm togetherness.

Sounds great in theory. I'm pretty sure the idea of sticking together as believers is even biblical. And while I've caught glimpses of shared vision, purpose, and movement within the church, I've also experienced a lot of room for improvement (which is the nice way to say "we often stink at biblical community!).

Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. - Philippians 1:2-3 (NLT)

Alright. So it's definitely biblical. Which is another way of saying "we'd better practice what we say we believe!" What can you do this week to apply Philippians 1:2-3 to your life?

• What are you bitter or discontent about? Worship music? Church leadership? Children's programing? How are your dealing with your discontentedness? Speak the truth in love. Confront when necessary. But also realize sometimes you'll be unhappy with something because it's just not your style or it's inconvenient for you. When you take a close look, you may find nothing biblically wrong with what's going on, and if that's the case, you may just need to change your own attitude!
• Are you involved, or are you waiting for someone to invite you to be involved? Take intitiative. Explore different areas of service. If you've served in the same area for years, and you find yourself dreading meetings or ministry, maybe it's time to move to another ministry. Talk with people, gather information, and take a step.
• Humility. According to Mirriam-Webster, humble means "not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive." It's thinking of yourself less...not thinking of yourself as less but just less. When you're feeling sorry for yourself or unappreciated, or you're just having one of those days when you don't seem to be able to focus on anything except your own challenges (even coffee isn't jumpstarting you!), SERVE someone. Get your mind on someone else. It does the trick for me every time!

The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. - Isaiah 55:10 (NLT).