Praying puts us at risk of getting involved in God’s conditions. Be slow to pray. Praying most often doesn’t get us what we want but what God wants, something quite at variance with what we conceive to be in our best interests.
-Eugene Peterson
Category: Mountains
Walking Home on a Winter Evening
The sun sets early in the winter in this country. I fondly recall summer evenings when we can safely go out for a hike after the supper dishes are done. Now we trudge home before the table is set.
Too soon! Too soon! There is still work to be done, and fun to be had!
But the sky says it’s time to go home. I hear my Lord’s voice calling, “Come to me , all you who have been working hard and carrying loads too heavy for you. Come to me and I will give you rest. Walk in partnership with me and I will carry the bulk of it. I will make the task easy and your burden light.”
This is a season of rest. I may not choose the timing, but there is much to be learned in rest.
Heading home now.
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
(Isaiah 30:15)
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Extol Him Who Rides on the Clouds
May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;
may his foes flee before him.
May you blow them away like smoke—
as wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
But may the righteous be glad
and rejoice before God;
may they be happy and joyful.
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
is God in his holy dwelling.
God sets the lonely in families
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
When you, God, went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
You gave abundant showers, O God;
you refreshed your weary inheritance.
Your people settled in it,
and from your bounty, God, you provided for the poor.
The Lord announces the word,
and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng
(Psalm 68:1 -11)
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Go With the Flow
Sometimes you just need to trust and go with the flow.
Through God we shall do valiantly,
And it is He who will tread down our adversaries.
(Psalm 60:12)
“Live in the excellency of (His) expectancy.
Don’t just wait on the Lord,
wait in expectancy… Selah”
-Apostle Gabriel Cross (Pure Glory)
http://pureglory.net/2013/01/15/wait-in-expectancy/
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Clouds
It’s one thing to sing about joy and peace when all is sunny and warm; it’s another when clouds hang over the horizon like dismal forebodings.
It’s one thing to praise God when healing comes and everything works according to design specifications; it’s another when undeniable pain interrupts sleep and a doctor says we need to schedule a biopsy.
I have often heard the expression “struggling with…” as in, “He is struggling with an alcohol/porn/Oxycontin addiction,” or, “She is struggling with a victim mentality/sympathy addiction/negative attitude problem.” I’ve used the phrase myself.
It is easier for him to say, “I am struggling with an addiction,” than it is to say, “I confess that I am giving in to an addiction,” or for her to say, “I am struggling with discouragement,” than “I am choosing to obsess about how much harder my life has been than other peoples’.”
It’s a euphemism, a prettier way to lie to ourselves and others. The truth is he has stopped fighting his addiction and she is deliberately wallowing in self-pity. The devil can custom-make the temptations he waves in front of our eyes, but we are the ones who choose to bite into them.
Here’s another crazy thing: it is so easy to divert attention by criticizing others for taking bites from forbidden fruit that are unattractive to us, while our own mouths are busy chomping temptation tidbits. I am not tempted by a case of beer (I can’t get it past my nose) but if a loved one driving on winter roads is an hour past estimated arrival time I can go from re-checking my watch to worrying about funeral plans in a ridiculously short period of time. I have habitually docked my boat in Worry Bay for far too many years. This is a change that doesn’t come easy.
My confession: I have been giving in to fear. For about three weeks I have allowed the “what-ifs” to drown out God’s promises to never leave me or forsake me. Fear has not been there the whole time, but often enough to distract me from enjoying precious moments with my new grandchild.
At first I kept the secret of ominous symptoms to myself, but then I had a dream about putting make-up on with a spatula and someone telling me that putting on a good face doesn’t make the problem go away, nor is it honest. That’s not faith; that’s denial. There is a greater truth that is seen from God’s perspective, but it doesn’t make the mere facts seen from human perspective untrue — merely limited.
This morning I read Psalm 57:
Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
It’s a choice, the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) or the fruit of temptation (“Did God really say…?”).
This is a storm on the horizon. Maybe it will blow over, maybe it won’t. The Lord has safely seen me through many storms and He will safely see me through this one as well. Today I choose to listen to Holy Spirit.
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Related post
At a Standstill: https://charispsallo.wordpress.com/2012/05/20/at-a-standstill/
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Fire on the Mountain
I will enter His gates with Thanksgiving in my heart
I will enter His courts with praise
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made
I will rejoice for he has made me glad
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No Bounds
In my heart, in my heart, there’s a fire burning
A passion deep within my soul
Not slowing down, not growing cold
An unquenchable flame that keeps burning brighter
A love that’s blazing like the sun
For who You are and what You’ve done
And as the fire is raging on
So Your praise becomes my song
The whole earth
Is filled with Your glory, Lord
Angels and men adore
Creation longs for what’s in store
(Mountains bow and oceans roar)
May You be
Honored and glorified
Exalted and lifted high
Here at Your feet I lay my life
From the ends of the earth
To the heights of Heaven
Your glory, Lord, is far and wide
Through history You reign on high
From the depths of the sea
To the mountain’s summit
Your power, Lord, it knows no bounds
A higher love cannot be found
So let the universe proclaim
Your great power and Your great name
-Starfield
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I Wonder as I Wander
I wonder as I wander out under the sky, how Jesus the Saviour did come for to die for poor ordinary people like you, and like I. I wonder as I wander out under the sky.
Charis: Subject to Change 