GOD IS NOT SILENT

SILENCE

400 years of silence.

No word – not a sound.

God is absent.

Is He?

ISRAEL

A people abandoned – forsaken.
A foreign nation occupying- ruling with in iron arm.
When will God intervene?
When will He save His people?
When will He make Himself and His people glorious?

When will He free us from this bondage?

This Roman rule has no right here!
This is our land!
Oh, God - will You be forever silent?

SUDDENLY

A star appears.

An infant gasps for breath.

And the silence is broken.

Does anybody hear?

This is not what we expected!

We want a king!

We want freedom!

We want our land!

PATIENCE

Watch Him live.

Watch Him grow.

Watch Him give.

Watch Him grieve.
Watch Him love.

God is not silent

LISTEN

God is not silent

He is calling

And not for Israel alone

Jesus invites

Can you hear?

Will you come?

God is not silent.

IS WEAKNESS REIGNING OR IS CHRIST REIGNING IN WEAKNESS?

Of course, perfectly timed, today, from the Daily Devotional Each Day a New Beginning I read the following:

"We create problems for ourselves because we think we need to be more than we are...Fear hinders us; it prevents full involvement from the experiences we are given to grow on.  When we withdraw from a situation in order to save ourselves from failure, we have chosen instead another kind of failure:  failure to take all we can from life, failure to be all that we can be.  Every experience can move us forward in the understanding of ourselves (and our God).  When we withdraw, we stay stuck in a world we need to leave behind."

I have come to realize I've sat in fear for quite some time.  Consequently, I struggled to move forward.  Eventually the struggle became too great.  At that point, I found myself walking headlong into all that I disapprove of and fear in my own life.  While I must admit the hardships encountered as I've walked this path have been many and painful, surprisingly, the benefits seem to have the upper hand. 

I want to acknowledge and embrace my weaknesses for in so doing I am free.  Free to know where I am weak and free to let Christ reign in my weakness.  I think sometimes we accept the lie that Christ reigning in our weaknesses means we deny our weaknesses and work to control them on our own.  Of course nothing could be further from the truth.  But, it is indeed part of the divine mystery that complete acceptance and embracing (and by that I mean a FULL ON FRONTAL HUG - no Christian side hugs here) of those things we hate most about ourselves is the very thing that will begin the process of us being set free from them by the power of Christ. 

JOY'S JOURNEY

I think I shall never cease to be amazed that we have the ability to view the mysteries of creation and remain unaffected by the reality that God exists.  Romans 1:20 says:  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

This past Saturday, Kailena and I were given the opportunity to experience exactly what it means to be “without excuse.”

We began our morning in the Anacortes Forest Lands with a group of Mountaineers.  It soon became evident that Kailena and I would be spending the day hiking alone.  Our ultimate goal was the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.  After the path on which we began took us 360 feet of elevation in 1.5 miles, I stopped to look at the map.  The rain had begun and I questioned the wisdom of continuing on the same path.  I knew we could return to the car, drive up the road and have access to a trail that would allow us to summit the mountain in a much more expedient fashion.  I chose this approach.

Once back at the car, we enjoyed lunch as we admired wild lilies and took in the sounds of running water and chirping birds.  As lunch came to an end, Kailena began to wonder if she wanted to continue on the hike.  I assured her that we’d summit the mountain in 1 mile and that there was only 200 feet of elevation between us and the top.

Without too much encouragement, the 215 trailhead greeted our hiking boots; the trek to Sugarloaf Summit had commenced.  Shortly after we began our ascent, we found ourselves in the company of three eagles.  Many times we stopped and watched in amazement.  There was a moment when one of these magnificent creatures literally flew into the forest above our heads.  In the silence, Kailena and I stood speechless as we watched it effortlessly angle its enormous body (wing-span and all) so as to avoid colliding with the sprawling branches.  A few moments later, the silence was broken by the distinct call of the eagles themselves.

By the time we reached the top, one of the eagles had made his way elsewhere.  Two of them, however decided to maintain a relatively close circling pattern.  At one point, as I was heading to retrieve our trekking poles, I heard Kailena squealing with excitement.

“Mommy! Mommy!” she yelled, “I just saw two of the eagles flying as they FACED each other!  It looked like they were dancing!”

I missed the moment, but Kailena shall NEVER forget it.

Before our feet hit the 215 trailhead, Kailena had questioned whether or not she wanted to make the hike.  As I’m sure you know by now, she didn’t regret choosing to go:  Mossy climbing rocks, awe-inspiring views and, of course THE EAGLES made the climb well worth the effort.

You know:  I said I “missed the moment,” but I really didn’t.  Had I witnessed the eagles waltzing, in all likelihood, I would have been so caught up in the dance than I would have missed my daughter’s response.  In retrospect, I wouldn’t trade the joy of reveling in my daughter’s response for the joy of witnessing the dance.

Isn’t that like our God?  One of His greatest joys is observing the joy of his children (us).  I didn’t know we’d end up separating from the Mountaineers group, but He did.  I didn’t know we’d be re-tracing our steps back to the car, but He did.  I didn’t know we’d be the only two on that hike with three eagles, but He did.  And…I didn’t know that I would reap MORE joy from NOT seeing the eagles dance than I would have from seeing them…but…HE DID!

 

Deuteronomy 32:10-11

He found him in a desert land,

And in the howling waste of a wilderness;

He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,

He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.

TENACIOUS TIMING

Definition:  Timing – a judgment of when to act.  The ability to choose or the choice of the best moment to do or say something.

I can regularly be caught saying the words, “God’s timing is perfect,” or, “Once again, God’s timing was perfect.”  I must admit however, we need to have eyes of anticipation if we indeed are going to see how God is perfectly timing the encounters of our life.

For example, take Sunday afternoon, March 27^th, 5:15pm:  It really was quite simple.  As my daughter and I drove to church for the evening service, she handed me a Scripture Rock CD that I had not heard in years.  You see, because this daughter is the youngest of 4, the closest sibling to her being 6 years her senior, she has been deprived many hours of listening to truly child oriented CD’s. 

I popped in the CD and found myself listening to the words of THE GREAT COMMISSION:  “Matthew 28:19 & 20 that’s the great commission, Matthew 28:19 & 20 says to go soul fishin.’”  As I said, God’s timing is perfect and I couldn’t believe it because I’d just finished reading a book by David Platt entitled Radical in which he spends much time going over exactly what the great commission means and how it applies to EVERYBODY not just missionaries.  He also spends much time focusing on the implications of what it means to really live “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”  Of course, I took this moment to discuss with my youngest what it meant to really live a life like that.

The next moment we found ourselves listening to yet more words from another song THE GREAT COMMANDMENT:  “You’ve got to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your strength with all your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  Hold on; STOP the CD, more time to discuss what this really means.

After pulling into the church parking lot, we entered the building at which point my daughter pleaded for the opportunity to “help” in the nursery.  Seems she thinks being with the wee ones is more “fun” that attending service.  I must admit, it was a little disappointing to have enjoyed such rich conversation on the way to church only to have her abandoning ship once we walked in the building.

With as much parenting skills as possible, I advised here that she would be attending service.  She was not pleased.

That evening we had the privilege of listening to a message from Chuck Orr.  While there were many excellent points made throughout his sermon, I was startled by two of his closing comments.  They centered on:  THE GREAT COMMANDMENT & THE GREAT COMMISSION.  As he spoke those words, my daughter and I made eye contact.  Each knew what the other was thinking.

1.    A Book

2.    A Song

3.    A Conversation and finally,

4.    A Sermon

What are the odds?  I’m no statistician, but it seems to me as though God’s timing is indeed perfect.  All we need to do is pay attention.  If we anticipate His involvement in our lives, we will not be disappointed.  The amazing thing is:  I am only one person and God is intimately involved with my life.  You are yet another individual with whom God is also intimately involved.  All you need to do is pay attention.

AND GOD SHOWED UP

Many of us have heard stories in which it was obvious that God showed up.  This blog exists for the purpose of demonstrating that God is showing up in every moment of our lives.  Join me as we learn to look up and watch God show up!