Life Has No Movie Soundtrack

The scenario: Someone is on a stroll through the woods. The scenery is beautiful, in the background you can hear the padding of footsteps in the quiet peacefulness. Slowly the background music creeps into the scene signaling something is about to change. Suddenly the eerie sounds of music grows louder and a stranger runs onto the path. For those of us watching the movie, we anticipated something was coming because the music in the background prepared us for it. If only life was like that. The problem is. . .

Life has no movie soundtrack!

If life was more like a movie, we would know that something was going to happen because of the music or sounds playing in the background. For example, you are sitting in a restaurant having a quiet dinner and some comedic music begins to play nearby. You feel rather lighthearted for some reason and a moment later the waiter drops an entire tray on the floor. Ripples of quiet laughter erupt in the restaurant.

Or let's use that same setting and play the sounds of the dun-Dun-DUN near the handsome couple having dinner together. A sense of dread comes over the restaurant and everyone braces for what happens next: The woman tells her significant other that she wants to break up. She stands up and throws a ring in his lap while he sits with mouth agape. Cue the sad violin music.

You get the picture. Movies or television programs give us hints about what's going to happen by the music and sounds being played. This music actually manipulates us into feeling a certain way to help propel the storyline.

Real life is so much different. You suddenly find out someone wants to have a discussion with no clue about what's going to be discussed. Since the meeting was not planned, you immediately begin to anticipate the worst and pour over anything that could be wrong. It's so easy to imagine the worst rather than the best. If only there was a movie soundtrack to give you a clue!

I don't have any great revelations to share about this. It's really just a thought that occurred to me recently as I have watched life unfold all around me. Surprises--good and bad--come with nary a clue and definitely no soundtrack hints. Sometimes the blessing is in the surprise otherwise knowing the future would not be good.

I guess as believers in Jesus the best thing to do is to be prepared by staying close to God because nothing surprises Him. We have to keep our eyes on Him. He knows what is coming long before I do and the the Bible is full of examples like: Joseph, Sarah, Job, David, Peter, John, and Paul. Hebrews 11 is a list of people who trusted God when they weren't sure what was going on and God honored that faith.

I may not know what's going to happen in the next minute, the next hour, the next month, or the next year. However, I do know the Lord promises to be with me no matter what--even without the background music!

I know the Lord is always with me.    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. - Psalm 16:8

The Week in Review: Faith Testing

I try to stay consistent about posting on this blog even if it's only once a week. Last week was different. It's not that God wasn't teaching me anything--au contraire! Sometimes it's better for me to "Be Still" and just listen rather than write.

The past few weeks have been challenging in many ways. I won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say that we all have seasons in our lives that push us out of our comfort zones and stretch us in the faith department.

This morning I was working on a Bible study about faith and immediately realized that God used some of the events of the past few weeks to stretch me in the faith department. I wish I could say that I got an A+. Not even close! I had good moments and bad moments. There were times when I reacted to circumstances through my flesh by saying or doing things that were not so Christ-like. And then I had some Spirit-filled moments when I desperately prayed for God's help and turned to Scripture.

As I look back over the week, I can see that those moments when I turned to God and the Word were some of the most peace-filled moments of the week. Did my circumstances get better? No. Not really. But, I did feel peace that passed all understanding...

And the peace of God, 

which surpasses all comprehension, 

will guard your hearts 

and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 4:7

...and when I did go to God and Scripture first, I found that things fell into place a little better than if I had tried to do things in my own strength.

Fear not, for I am with you; 

be not dismayed, for I am your God; 

I will strengthen you, I will help you, 

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10

There's one other thing I learned this morning about my faith: It's been getting stronger over the years. I can now see how my faith has been shaped by my environment and other people since I was a child. My belief system has been rather limited in the past. My knowledge of Scripture was limited and therefore my knowledge of who God is and what He can do was limited. 

As I've spent more and more time in Scripture, I can see how my perception of who God is has been changing. The God I know right now is not the God I knew 10, 20, or 30 years ago. He's much bigger, He's much more loving, He's much more personal, and He's much more awesome than I would have thought a few decades ago. These are the kinds of things we learn only after spending years getting to know someone.

If you need a faith boost, read the 11th chapter of Hebrews. Faith is the confidence we need when we cannot see anything happening and it is by faith that we trust God, knowing that He is able when we are not.

Where is Hope When You Need It?

Hope.

How many times each day do we say this word (or think it)? Probably more often than we realize. Think about the situations in which we use this term:

I hope I make it to work on time.

I hope there's not too much traffic on the road.

I hope my friend will call.

I hope I don't get sick after eating that rich food.

I hope I don't have to stand in line too long.

Okay. You get the idea. In general, I think people are filled with hope. My best guess is that hope is there because we are made in God's image. He has given us that quality because God IS hope. Our souls search for hope--probably in more earthly things more often than not. Ultimately, God is the hope that our souls are longing for.

So, here's a question: If we are (in general) hopeful, why do we often feel so hopeless?  

Well, the obvious spiritual answer here is because of sin in the world. But, I'm interested in exploring the less obvious answers to this question.

Have you ever felt like a situation was hopeless? I have. From my limited perspective I only see dead ends. An impossible situation with no obvious solution requires nothing short of a miracle. Because I'm not in the miracle business and don't know anyone else who is, that leaves only God to do it.

God recently reminded me of this word HOPE. I was feeling a bit down about some circumstances. Then I started noticing this word popping up all over the place. I got the message. God was reminding me that He is hope, therefore I can have hope. My hope is in God who is able to do considerably and abundantly more than I can ever do (Ephesians 3:20). God has my back. He's powerful. And, hello: Even the verse I have at the top of this blog mentions the hope God is going to give me. The Bible is full of hope!

Why then do we actually feel hopeless? Well, it seems that sometimes we lose track of the Truth. Knowing the Word will help and understanding God's ways are not our ways. The Bible clearly tell us that we will have trouble in this world (John 16:33). When we're prepared for that eventuality and understand God's sovereignty (He is in control), then we can let faith take over. A very wise teacher recently said that confusion about circumstances are okay. Keep trusting and have confidence in God!

Emotion also has a huge part in this thing we call hope. When things are going well, we feel hopeful. (FYI: Hopeful is Full of Hope). Here's a practical example: Let's say you purchase a beautiful bush to plant in the yard. The weather is perfect--not too hot, not too cold, just enough rain and sun. The bush is starting to look beautiful. After a few weeks the rain stops and the temperatures soar. The lack of rain and heat begins to take its toll on the plant. There's no rain in the forecast and you have to go on vacation. If you're not there to water it every day, it's hopeless to think the bush will survive. The bush hasn't been in the ground long enough to put deep roots in the ground. So, when things stop going your way, you lose hope.

The things of this Earth will disappoint us. We can count on that. But, we don't have to believe everything our mind tell us. There are times we need to simply keep our eyes fixed on God and trust Him.

Wordy Wednesday

I’ve loved you 
the way my Father 
has loved me. 

Make yourselves at home
in my love. 
If you keep my commands, 
you’ll remain intimately 
at home in my love. 

That’s what I’ve done—
kept my Father’s commands
and made myself at home
in his love.

John 15:9-10

These are the words of Jesus. There's no mistaking it. He loves me and you. Abide in Him and His love today.

More Than We Can Handle?

Today I want to share some really interesting quotes from the sample chapters of a book entitled Emtpy by Cherie Hill. These sample chapters were included in the eBook I've been reading called Hope Being Gone by this same author.

~~~

"God has never said that He won't give us more than we can handle. 

What He has shown is, throughout history, 

He always gives people more than they can handle." - Cherie Hill

This is the very thing I've been grappling with for months. I wrote about the topic of "burdens: how much is too much" before. You see, there's a phrase that's used a lot in Christian circles: "God will never give us more than we can handle." It's bandied about as a source of comfort when we're "under the pile" of life. It's said by well-meaning individuals and meant to encourage. Although the source of this saying is based in truth, it's been twisted a bit. 

The temptations in your life are no different 

from what others experience. 

And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation

 to be more than you can stand. 

When you are tempted, he will show you 

a way out so that you can endure. -1 Cor 10:13 

This scripture is about temptation, not trouble in life. The Bible is full of real people who experienced difficulties that were more than they could bear. Remember our man Job? He definitely endured a series of hardships that caused him to finally say it would have been better if he had never been born (Job 3). Then there's our friend Paul who was overwhelmed and crushed beyond his ability to endure (2 Cor 1:8-9). If you and I stop and think about it, we can probably cite a personal example of someone we know--even ourselves--who may be/or have been under the weight of severe illness or other extreme hardships. It seems more than they/we can bear on our own. How can this be? That takes me to my 2nd point to share...

~~~

"God always gives us more than we can handle, 

in order to reveal what He is able to do through our faith in Him.

...Without situations in life that we can't handle, 

we'd never need God to show up. 

Why would we even need to pray at all?" - Cherie Hill

Interesting. Paul says that his own weakness demonstrates God's great power (2 Cor. 12:8-10.) It's at this point that I have to bow to God's soveriegnty to know how much is too much for any one person to handle. He knows just how much pressure it will take to accomplish what needs to be done. He created me and you and knows us even better than we know ourselves. I won't pretend that this is an easy subject to explain away and I'm not trying to do that here. Suffering is a bitter pill to swallow. I feel as if the Lord is challenging my thinking about this faith walk I call life. Keeping the Word in context of scripture is vital to understanding.

~~~

My final thought to share is not a quote from the book, instead it's an explanation of the difference between a cistern and a well. I've read the following verse about cisterns and even studied it briefly in the past. For whatever reason (maybe being a city girl), I never really understood this verse.

For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns that can hold no water. - Jer. 2:13 

A well

A cistern is an artificial reservoir--sort of a modern-day rain barrel. It's usually above ground, but it can be placed underground. A cistern is designed simply to store water. But, it has to be filled by an outside source. As we all know, a well is dug in the ground, with supporting walls, and usually has a natural source--a continuous flow--of fresh ground water. The cistern water doesn't have that continuous natrual source of water. It can will dry. If it's cracked, the water will leak out. We can never be completely satisfied with water from a cistern. Water in that cistern can get stagnant. Yuck. In life we often fill our "cisterns" with things that may satisfy for the moment (money, relationships, drugs, food), but eventually all of those will leak out through that broken cistern. It's only when we go to the source of this Living Water that we will be truly satisfied and refreshed. That source is Jesus (John 4:11). I think really understanding the difference between these two vessels and the sources of the water helped me. I hope it helps you.

Perspective

"Perspective is never just what you see.

Perspective is how you view

what you see." ~ Tony Evans

From my perspective, things can look distorted or overwhelming or never-ending.

I recently read an interesting example of this: Two mountain climbers looked at the mountain they were about to climb. They spent all day climbing up the mountain. Finally at the top, the exhausted younger climber said to the experienced climber, "We finally made it to the top!" The experienced climber pointed over the other climber's shoulder and said, "No. This is just the top of the first hill. The real mountain is over there."

Life challenges are often like that climbing experience. We're anxious to get to the "end of the road" or the "top of that hill" so that we can see what's on the other side, move on, and enjoy the view from the top. The climb can be exhilarating at times and other times it's simply exhausting. We finally get to what appears to be the top of the mountain only to discover there's still more climbing to be done.

From the climber's perspective, life (problems or the future) can seem impossibly far, unbelievably high, or much too big. God has a different perspective than we do. I've touched on that subject before on this blog. From His sovereign position, God is able to see things from a much different perspective. He can see from the beginning of time to the end; the past and eternity at a glance.

It's hard to imagine that perspective with this human mind. Centuries are like the blink of an eye to God. Gigantic mountains are little more than an ant hill from God's perspective. Evenso, God understands our limitations for understanding this perspective. After all, He came to earth in the human form of Jesus Christ to live among people. Gratefully, He extends mercy to us when we whine and complain about those mountains and long journeys. 

Once again, it seems to boil down to a matter of trust. We have to trust that God knows what He's doing, that He's equipped us for the journey, and that He's right there climbing with us just like that experienced climber in the story. We have to see things from God's perspective and if we cannot see the path before us, we have to trust the Lord to guide us step by step.

"Trusting the Lord means looking 

beyond what we can see to what God sees. 

David won the victory against Goliath—an

experienced, intimidating warrior—because

the young shepherd saw the conflict from the God's perspective." ~ Dr. Charles Stanley

Mount Goliath is intimidating. It's often more than a day's journey. It can stretch into weeks, months, or even years. The climb becomes so tiresome that I'd rather just camp out at the top of the hill I'm already on (or even turn around and go back). After all, the view on this hill isn't so bad. But...

I know God has a better view in mind for me. I have also learned that if I stick close to my Guide, He is more than willing to encourage me the whole way. I couldn't make it up that mountain without Him.

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides

in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, 

for apart from Me you can do nothing. - John 15:5

Blessed Assurance

Listen to the song

This song was on my mind this morning. I grew up hearing it regularly in church. There's just something comforting and familiar about the song. It's a reminder of my rich heritage of believing family members. It's also a fond reminder of all the years sitting on a pew and hearing these great hymns of faith being sung by people I have called my church family. I know my parents thought I wasn't listening half the time, but I was. Kids hear more than adults think they hear.

Besides all of those memories, the words to this song are just so rich in meaning. In this world I have so very little assurance of anything or anyone. Nothing lasts. It's not easy to count on anyone or anything. But I do have a blessed assurance in Jesus Christ is as my Savior. I can praise Him even when things are not going quite right. I can be at rest in the midst of unrest. And one day I will see these wonderful visions of rapture unfolding before my eyes and angels descending from above. One day I will stand before my Savior and hope to hear, "Well done my faithful servant."

For now, I am watching and waiting, looking above. I am filled with His goodness and lost in His love. Yes, this is my story, this is my song!   

Love Notes From God

As I was preparing dinner one evening, I noticed a stain on my kitchen counter. I suppose it was left from my morning coffee and in my rush I didn't notice it until that evening. But what I saw was not a stain, it was a heart. It was a beautiful heart and another reminder of God's love for me.

How did I get all that from a stain on the counter? Because I have learned to wait expectantly for God to show me these little acts of love. Sometimes it comes through just the right song on the radio, or in the words from a friend, and sometimes it comes through a simple stain on the kitchen counter.

I have learned that God loves me so much that He is willing to go to great lengths to let me know. He loves me unfailingly, sacrificially, and unconditionally. He loves me enough to allow me to make mistakes and He will be there to pick me up when I stumble. He loves me enough to dry every single tear that I shed. He's there to cheer me on when I make the right choices.

And here's the really cool thing about this picture: When we are God's adopted children, He doesn't see a stained heart either. He only sees our beautiful, clean heart through the eyes of His son, Jesus.

I will leave you with just a few of the many, many verses about God's love for us.

Psalm 36:7

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! 

All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 52:8

But I am like an olive tree, thriving 

in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.

Psalm 136:2

Give thanks to the God of gods. 

His faithful love endures forever.

Proverbs 15:9

The LORD detests the way of the wicked,

 but he loves those who pursue godliness.

Romans 8:38

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. 

Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, 

neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow

—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

 

Abiding in The Vine

I have a LOT of bushes in my yard. When I bought this home a decade ago, I admired the tiny little bushes in the front and back of the house. In the early days of home ownership, theses bushes required very little maintenance--or so it seemed.

Without regular attention the bushes continued to grow. And grow. And grow. A couple of bushes actually died off for some unknown reason. The remaining bushes tripled in size. I hadn't really noticed how large they had grown until I looked at some photos taken when I first purchased this home. Then one of my favorite bushes in front of the house--a burning bush--got some sort of pestilence. Slowly the leaves began to drop and that bush looked ever so pitiful. Obviously neglect was not an option if I wanted healthy bushes in my yard.

I got out my tools and gave all the bushes a healthy trim. I had to do a major pruning job on my burning bush if I wanted to keep it alive. For an entire season that burning bush was little more than an assortment of sticks coming out of the ground, just a few leaves here and there, and it wasn't pretty or healthy looking. However, as the next season rolled around, that burning bush began to grow and fill out. Two years later it is very healthy again.

Just like bushes and trees, sometimes our lives need pruning. Our lives get overgrown with good activities, work, family, friends, entertainment, things, etc. Neglect blinds us to the overgrowth and blight. We spread ourselves so thin that we barely have time for our quiet time with God. One day we "wake up" and notice how full our lives have gotten. We no longer have regular quiet times with God. Life starts getting out of hand and we wonder what happened.

John 15:1-8 is the passage in which Jesus compares himself as the True Vine, God as the Vinedresser, and believers in Christ are the branches.

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; 

and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides

in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  

I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, 

he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.  

If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch

and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish,

and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, 

that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

Branches (believers) must remain in the Vine (in Christ) in order to sustain life. Abiding in Christ means we need to maintain a constant connection to our Lifesource. This abiding is not a suggestion, it's an imperative and necessary. 

My own life has recently gone through a major pruning process. The Vinedresser has been selectively pruning the vines in my life that were not bearing fruit. This includes some really good stuff like people and hobbies. To be honest, at times the pruning process has been painful. It's not easy to say goodbye to so many people and things at once. But throughout the process, the Vinedresser has been tending to me and nurturing me with His love and care. The benefit to this abiding can be found in verses 7 and 8 of this passage: The Father is glorified, I bear much fruit as His follower, and He will bless me. I can now see the pruning has helped me focus more on Christ while the remaining areas of my life are beginning to bear healthy fruit. In time, my life will once again be full with leafy branches and I can't wait to see what the Vinedresser has in mind for this Branch.

"Apart from Me (the Vine) you (I) can do nothing."