Month: July 2014

A Perfect Storm…

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During the Inspiration Cruise to Alaska that Sharon and I were on last week, Dr. David Jeremiah was the headline speaker. Phillips, Craig, and Dean each had morning devotions, and Michael W. Smith and Nicole Nordemann also spoke. The theme or main topic seemed (for me) to be dealing with fear.

Dr. Jeremiah preached three times and each time spoke on fear: “What Are You Afraid Of?”, “Fear of Failure”, etc. Although I’m not the fearful type (at least I thought so), my ears were perked up the entire trip because I was anticipating hearing from God during the trip.

In one of the sessions, Dr. Jeremiah taught from Mark 4:35-41 where Jesus calms the storm. We’ve all heard the story plenty of times and we think we know it well. I know I did.

Then Dr. Jeremiah said something profound: “A perfect storm can follow perfect obedience. Just look at the disciples of Jesus. He said, ‘Let’s go to the other side.’ They followed. They were obedient. And a storm ensued.”

I had never thought of that.

Many times folks think that the perfect will of God is a safe place. While it’s true that God is with you while you walk in the perfect will of God and therefore, and you can trust Him fully, the perfect will of God may be a dangerous place. It may be a risky place. It may make the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

In all likelihood, it will require sacrifice and huge steps of faith. And as Dr. Jeremiah points out, although a “perfect storm” may result, the words of Jesus and God Almighty ring true:

“Do not fear” (Exodus 20:20, Isaiah 35:4, 41:10)
“I am with you” “I will be with you” (Genesis 28:15, Exodus 3:12, Isaiah 41:10)
“Why are you still afraid?” (Mark 4:40)
“Be strong and courageous” (Deuteronomy 31:6-7, Joshua 1:6-7,9,18, 1 Corinthians 16:13)
“I will go before you and be your rear guard” (Isaiah 52:12)
“I will never leave you or forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6,8, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5)

Although a perfect storm may follow perfect obedience, the answer is perfect love.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.” (1 John 4:18)

What am I becoming?

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Today is Kaitlynn’s birthday. She turns 18 today. Our granddaughter Kennedy reached that milestone several weeks ago. It’s definitely a landmark age. It signals the beginning of adulthood, at least in the legal eyes of most states in the union. It’s a crossroads of sorts for most young people. Just graduating high school, they begin to shape their futures.

The question is posed to them from childhood: What do you want to be when you grow up? When you turn 18, the rubber meets the road. Do you take a year off from school, get a job, and try to “find yourself”? Or do you continue on with your education at college?

Kaitlynn and Kennedy, it certainly matters what decision you make, but it’s not the most important decision you will make. Since God can redeem any situation and use it for His glory, He is more concerned about molding and shaping me and you into someone who resembles His Son. As you and I have heard before, He is more concerned about our character than our comfort.

God is not as concerned with what you decide to do with the rest of your life as He is with what you become. That is the most important issue. The rest will take care of itself.

Working in construction or in fashion… digging ditches or serving on city council… teaching children or conducting an orchestra… through trials and storms… through times of overwhelming blessing… He wants us more Christ-like. That is His goal, plain and simple.

If and when He accomplishes that in our lives (and He will), He will be glorified in the process.

So the question is: What am I becoming?

It’s a good question to ponder, whether we’re turning 18 or 78.

It is what it is…

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“It is what it is.”

That has to be one of the most (over)used phrases or sentences in recent memory.

Think about what it means:

Basically, it means that this is life, and you need to accept it. Right?

“That’s life.”
“Take it or leave it.”
“C’est la vie.”
“It is what it is.”

But as I heard it the other day, I thought of what God said to Moses.

You know the story. God calls Moses to be the instrument through which God brings freedom to His people in bondage. But Moses has excuses. Numerous excuses. He asks God:

“Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” (Exodus 3:13)

Moses isn’t thinking about going to Pharoah here. He’s talking about going to his own people and rallying support, afraid that they’ll laugh him put of town. And God responds:

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” (v.14)

“I am who I am.” I think often about the meaning of that phrase or sentence. To be honest, it puzzles me. It’s not something that rolls off our tongues. Moses had probably never heard that before, nor would he again. But it would be a sentence that would resonate through his life forever as he walked by faith.

It’s similar to “It is what it is.” But “It is what it is” is almost said in resignation. “I am who I am” is not the same thing. At all.

I just came off an Alaskan cruise with Michael W. Smith and Friends by Inspiration Cruises. It was fabulous, to make an understatement. One of the “friends” was Nicole Nordeman, who has to be one of the most anointed artists I’ve heard recently. She was introduced by Michael as one “with a quiet and gentle spirit.” She was that… and more. You could’ve heard a pin drop and she talked and sang.image

Her most memorable song, for me, was “I Am”. It is the story of growing up and God being with her every step of the way. The choruses of each verse speak of who God was (is) for her along the way.

As a child:

“And When I was weak unable to speak, 
still I could call You by name, 
and I said ‘Elbow healer, Superhero,
 come if You can,’ and You said ‘I am’ ”

As a teenager:

“When I was weak, unable to speak, 
still I could call You by name, 
and I said ‘Heart-ache Healer, Secret-keeper,
 be my Best Friend’ and You said ‘I am.’ ”

As a young woman, growing in adulthood:

“When I am weak, unable to speak, 
still I will call You by name. 
’Oh Shepherd, Savior, Pasture-maker,
 hold on to my hand’, and You say ‘I am.’ ”

As an adult:

“I will be weak, unable to speak, 
still I will call You by name 
’Creator, Maker, Life-sustainer,
 Comforter, Healer, My Redeemer,
 Lord and King, Beginning and
 the End’, ‘I am, yes, I am.’ ”

The song, the lyrics brought the phrase “I am who I am” into clear focus.

He is who you and I need Him to be at any given moment.

Need a healer? He says, “I am.”
Need a friend? He says, “I am.”
Need someone to hold you… to direct you… to protect you? He says, “I am.”

Need a Savior to rescue you?

He says, “I am.”

No Pasa Nada

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(Written last night, 1:46am EDT)

As I’m flying to Seattle after a day… err… a week of total unpredictability, I just finished reading a chapter of a book I’ve struggled to read since late-2013. It’s entitled The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing, by Jeff Goins. It was recommended by one of my favorite authors, Mark Batterson. I have other books I’m currently reading but somehow I opened this book again for some unknown reason.

The timing of what was written on the pages I just read and what seems to be happening in my life at this very moment is uncanny. As you may have read in an earlier post, my wife Sharon broke her foot a scant 96 hours prior to us departing on an Alaskan cruise vacation. The vacation was (is) well-planned because, after all, I’m a supreme planner. I love to plan! I plan vacations, I plan 3-week-long motorcycle trips, I make business plans, I create marketing plans… I love to plan! I’m good at it and it normally pays off.

But my wife breaks her foot and it disrupts “the plan”. My reaction, as previously posted, was deplorable. Okay… confessed and forgiven. We flew from Charlottesville to Philadelphia and because of an amazing series of storms up the east coast (not to mention an approaching hurricane), all flights were grounded. Our five and a half hour layover in Philly – on the way to Seattle – turned into a 12-hour marathon of watching our flight status and human nature in the laboratory called Philadelphia International Airport.

We are airborne over Ohio, I’m guessing, and I read a quick story about the author’s experience in Spain as a college student one summer. He says:

“They have a phrase — ‘no pasa nada’ — which literally means ‘nothing happens.’ It’s similar to the American phrase ‘no big deal.’ Late for a meeting? No pasa nada. Need to skip class today to take care of a personal issue? No pasa nada. Such a cultural mindset was freeing; and the more of it I experienced, the more I wanted. And although it took months of rebellion before I could succumb to this laid-back way of life, that little expression eventually saved me. There was a power to those words, a potency in embracing the unexpected. That simple, carefree little phrase taught me to let go of my little plans in exchange for a bigger picture. It meant being able to laugh at myself at times and accept when things didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped.”

When I read those words somewhere over who-knows-where, I almost couldn’t believe it! God has created a perfect storm of sorts in order to speak the words “No pasa nada” into my life. Embracing the unexpected.

Sounds like a plan.

Humble pie

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I wonder what the Lord is trying to teach me…

Last October, I made plans and surprised Sharon on our 15th wedding anniversary with an Alaskan cruise this summer with Inspiration Cruises. I planned it with a couple extra days in Seattle before the cruise to sightsee and a couple of days after the cruise as well. Being an Inspiration Cruise, I planned the excursions and even signed up for the “Choir Track” for Sharon. She gets to practice with Michael W. Smith and perform with him with the rest of the choir in an onboard concert and in a concert in Juneau, Alaska. The cruise also features David Jeremiah, Phillips, Craig, and Dean, Nicole Nordeman, Scott Hamilton and others. It is going to be fabulous. I used miles/points and we’re flying free to Seattle and back. We even arranged for Sharon’s son, Adam, to be in town to house-sit and dog-sit for Bella. It was all well-planned, if I do say so myself.

This past Sunday, Sharon stumbled coming down some steps at church and badly sprained her foot. It’s the same foot which she injured two years ago in an anniversary trip to San Francisco. We went to Med-Express Sunday afternoon, they took X-rays and found nothing broken. They prescribed rest, ice, compression, and elevation. That’s what you do with any sprain. And we walked out of there with Sharon on crutches. We iced it for two days and Sharon tried packing for the trip. She did virtually all of her packing and then rested it and iced it some more.

Yesterday morning, she could barely move and her other leg hurt from favoring her injured one so much. I didn’t see how she was… we were… going on this trip.

I was mad. I wasn’t sure who or what I was mad at, but I was mad. Mad at Sharon (it’s not her fault!), mad that I didn’t purchase trip insurance, mad that all the planning for sightseeing was going to be spent driving around in the car… or worse, we weren’t going at all.

She called an sceduled an appointment with Orthepedic Associates at Augusta Health. They did x-rays as well, which were negative, prescribed the same rest, ice, compression, and elevation, and sent her to get an “air-cast” to stabilize the foot. She walked on it and now thinks she can handle the trip.

I am so wretched and so self-centered. All I could think of was how it all was going to affect me and MY plans. Life happens. Accidents happen. Stuff happens. It’s how you react that matters. I didn’t react so well. I didn’t pass this test.

I don’t want another one.

(We leave late morning. Sharon has the air-cast on her foot. I’m bloated from eating humble pie)