Tag: inspiration

Wait For It…

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Winter2 Comments

picnic tables winter 2 IMG_6530

 

Sometimes it feels like our dreams and visions are buried under the snows of winter when spring should have shown up by now.

Sometimes it’s very tempting to take things into our own hands and help God out a little.  We know what happened when Abraham tried to figure out how to fulfill the promise of fathering a son by his own ingenuity. It resulted in a son who carried and passed on the wounds of rejection his whole life. When the prophet Samuel didn’t show up in time to quell the murmurs of lack of confidence in the leadership of the newly crowned King Saul, the insecure leader panicked and offered the sacrifice himself. The dream became a nightmare right there.

I’m too embarrassed to tell you the things I’ve done in the past to manipulate the fulfillment of a God-given vision. At the root of all of them was an over-developed sense of responsibility and a lack of trust in the goodness of God. I know I’m not the only one. All around me is the evidence of people with good long-term goals employing short-sighted methods. The pragmatism of belief/unbelief can really screw up our lives. How many people have signed up for a mate or a mortgage or a move – or even a cell phone plan –  because the “close enough” solution seemed like the way to force a promise to bloom in our timing?

One of the best parts of the story told in the book While He Lay Dying (link here) is this: Picture a young pastor with a vision trying to employ creative methods to get church people, including children, to overcome apathy and unite in love to take the importance of prayer for the Body of Christ seriously. See him making posters, scheduling classes and pinning sign-up sheets in the foyer. Listen for the response. It sounds a bit like a picnic area under snow.

Then picture people reconciling their differences to come together and pray 24 hours a day. See the call to prayer spread to tens of thousands around the world. See little children nagging their parents to pray for Mr. Bruce while he lay in a coma on the verge of death. See the church arising, throwing off the coldness of resignation and melting apathy with love. See God bring about the vision His way. See the message of the power of a God who is still the God of miracles continue to inspire burned-out pastors, disappointed grievers and so many others who have lost sight of hope around the world. Realize all this happened while Bruce did nothing, absolutely nothing. He simply lay on that bed, his life supported by machines and the prayers of thousands, and in that state God fulfilled his dreams.

Waiting is not about being passive. When it’s time we need to run, to fight, to build, to stay awake all night. Waiting is about trusting for God to bring about His promises, His way, in His timing. It’s about standing in the dark like Gideon’s tiny army, feeling somewhat foolish, with a clay pitcher over our torch waiting to smash it. It’s about waiting for the “Now!”

It’s about trust. It’s about faith. God’s long term plans are not about our hard work, ingenuity or gift of the gab. He partners with faith.

Wait for it…

 

Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this.

(Psalm 37:4,5)

Under Construction

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography3 Comments

Calgary airport crane vertical IMG_7167

“God always keeps the revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations. You and I can never get revelation other than in connection with some necessity. We cannot get it simply as a matter of information. That is information, that is not revelation. We cannot get it by studying. When the Lord gave the manna in the wilderness (type of Christ as the bread from heaven) He stipulated very strongly that not one fragment more than the day’s need was to be gathered, and that if they went beyond the measure of immediate need, disease and death would break out and overtake them. The principle, the law, of the manna, is that God keeps revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations of necessity, and we are not going to have revelation as mere teaching, doctrine, interpretation, theory, or anything as a thing, which means that God is going to put you and me into situations where only the revelation of Christ can help us and save us.”
– T. Austin Sparks

 

clagary airport crane IMG_7166

 

 

Pray That I Won’t Get Drunk

On By Charis PsalloIn Black and white, Photography6 Comments
Down the same old road
Down the same old road

Aaargh. I just did it too.

No, I didn’t get drunk. I chose to pursue my own drug of choice, but it’s the same thing really.

A person I had befriended sent me a prayer request: “Pray that I won’t get drunk tonight.”

“Do you have alcohol in the house?” I asked.

“No.”

“What would you have to do to get drunk?”

“Well, I’d have to go get some beer.”

“So you have to choose to get dressed, get your car keys, drive down to the liquor store, buy a case…”

“Well, actually I’d have to go cash a cheque first…”

“Okay. Then you have to bring it home, open the can…”

“I prefer bottled….”

“Open the bottle, guzzle it down, open another bottle…”

“Yeah. Pretty much.”

“Do you realize how many decisions that involves and how many times you are offered the option of choosing differently this time? You could choose to stay home, choose to not pick up your car keys, choose to turn right toward the movie theatre instead of left to the liquor store…”

“Yeah. I know, but I need you to pray that I choose not to get drunk. My boss is such a jerk.”

“Is there a gun to your head? Is anyone forcing booze down your throat? Because otherwise I can’t pray that. I can’t pray that God will veto your free will, because he already gave it to you – for free –  and I can’t take it back on his behalf. I don’t have that kind of power. I will pray that you will be aware of every point where you are faced with a decision and you will realize you are not a helpless victim, but someone who is learning he is no longer a slave to sin. You do not have to make the choice to go down the same old road again. Grace is more than a get out of jail free card. Grace is also the power to be set free from the law of sin and death. Grace is realizing you are free and when you trust in Christ the thing that feels like a gun to your head doesn’t have any bullets anymore. It’s a lie.”

 

I know there are many dynamics to addiction and cravings make it feel like there is a loaded gun to our heads. Sometimes the ruts to our habitual choices are so deep we’ve got to really hit the gas hard to turn and go down a different road. I get it. But we do have choices.

Here’s the thing. It’s easy for me to talk about not getting drunk because it is not a temptation for me. I hate the taste of alcohol. Don’t bother giving me a fine bottle of wine. I actually prefer grape juice – and I can’t get beer past my nose. I like to be in control of all my faculties, thank you very much. But I realize I did the same thing as my friend yesterday. I sent a message to some friends – intercessors – asking them to pray that I would respond with grace and love to people I feel acted…well, let’s just say they acted without grace and love.

My habitual response would be to seek sympathy, justification for my hurt feelings, and maybe even hope the people I asked to pray would take up my cause and fight for me. Then I would go eat a chocolate bar or something to stifle the feeling of anger, because I really hate feeling angry. Nice Christian girls don’t feel angry, right?

I was asking them to pray that God would veto my own will, and he tends not to do that. Instead he offers us two fruit trees so that we have the opportunity to choose the righteous one. Given that grace gives us the freedom to choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, choosing resentment and lack of self-control is pretty stupid.

I wish I could just pray that I would make the right choice and it would happen, like magic. But this life of freedom is all about choosing relationship with Christ over being a slave to rules. So today I choose to turn right toward him this time, to forgive and offer grace to those who have seemed to be a little short of it. It may require a little donation as well, because we overcome evil with good. Freely we have received, freely we give, because God is not on a budget and there is more love and grace where that came from.

Nevertheless I Will Bring Health

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography8 Comments

Feb Steeples from Eager Hill alpineglow IMG_1377

 

Yesterday my friend and I were driving home through a valley. The hills surrounding us had already descended into dusk and the trees began to accept the blackness of night but the sky still had a warm glow on the edges. Impulsively I turned onto a rough dirt road that led up to Eager Hill. From there we could see beyond the darkness to the height of the Steeples Range which caught the light.

Looking at the photos this morning I was reminded of a passage from Jeremiah 3.

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”

Jeremiah was still a prisoner in chains in the kings’ courtyard, surrounded by the barricades of possessions the people were piling up in a desperate attempt to stop the inevitable. They turned to the prophet. The immediate news was not good. His heart broke as he told them. Then that word that changes our viewpoint: Nevertheless.

“Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security…”

In our dark moments, when things are just getting darker, the Lord invites us to call to him and come up higher. He says, “Yes. This difficult place is where you are. I know. This is tough. Nevertheless I tell you to have hope. I will show you. This beautiful place is where you are going. I have plans for you and they are bigger and better and more glorious than you have ever imagined, because now we do it My way.”

Hope: Vision-led endurance.

 

Hearts and Minds

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Sky, WaterLeave a comment

klamath lake ch IMG_1207

Don’t worry over anything whatever;

tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer,

and the peace of God which transcends human understanding,

will keep constant guard over your hearts

and minds

as they rest in Christ Jesus.

(Philippians 4:6,7 Phillips)

A Foretaste

On By Charis PsalloIn Flowers, PhotographyLeave a comment

blossoms skyward IMG_0763

“Watching and waiting,
looking above,
echoes of mercy,
whispers of love.”
(from Blessed Assurance by Fanny Crosby)

My husband said, “Let’s go!” So we went.

I wasn’t expecting it at all, but he said he could take a few days off and unseasonably warm weather on the left half of the continent made a road trip in February feasible. We looked at a map and determined the closest place with sandal-worthy temperatures was Northern California.

The first thing I saw when we got out of the car after two and a half days of driving was a tree in bloom.

A few days before we left I kept hearing and seeing the word “adapt” in a dream. Frankly, I started bracing myself for another challenge. What now, I thought. I realized instead, as I was looking for sandals and summer clothes to quickly toss in a suitcase, that “adapt” this time meant adapting to a pleasant surprise.

We’re home now, after a wonderful ten days in a different world with sun and palm trees and spring flowers. There is ice on the sidewalk here and work piles up again. It will be another three months before my plum tree is in bloom, but I feel like I had a foretaste of what is to come.

He does that, my Abba God. It’s a kind of now and not yet gift. He allows us to experience a taste of what He has planned, a remembrance of the future. And it gives us hope.

Hope is vision-led endurance.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you.

almond blossom vertical ch IMG_1131

 

Acknowledging Our Own Littleness

On By Charis PsalloIn Black and white, Photography, Trees and forestsLeave a comment

kennewick trees vertical bw IMG_1309

Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s holiness and sovereignty, acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.

-J.I. Packer

As a singing teacher I sometimes noticed that students who found change most difficult were those who had received notoriety too soon. They clung to style or technique that had earned them trophies in the past. It’s one of the reasons why child prodigies often have difficulty finding their way in the adult world. It’s hard to let go of success.

Spiritual growth requires a teachable attitude – also known as meekness. There is a line from an old hymn playing in my head this morning:

“I will cling to the old rugged cross ’til my trophies at last I lay down,

I will cling to the old rugged cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.”

Sometimes trophies can become heavy burdens as we journey on this path. Sometimes we need to lay them down so we can move on.

Faithful

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Trees and forests11 Comments

IMG_0371 cedar

Even in winter when we wrap our hearts to defend them against the coldness all around, God is faithful and waiting for us to walk with Him.

For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness. Psalm 26:3

Enjoy

On By Charis PsalloIn Flowers, Photography1 Comment

lions bane joy ch DSC_0040

 

Just these two words He spoke
changed my life,
“Enjoy Me.”

What a burden I thought I was to carry –
a crucifix, as did He.

Love once said to me, “I know a song,
would you like to hear it?”

And laughter came from every brick in the street
and from every pore
in the sky.

After a night of prayer, He
changed my life when
He sang,
“Enjoy Me.”

Saint Teresa of Avila (Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada ) (1515 to 1582)

Loneliness: You know what I mean?

On By Charis PsalloIn Animals, Photography20 Comments

IMG_0486 ducks 3

 

 

Was it something I said?
Was it something I said?

 

There is a strain of loneliness infecting many Christians which only the presence of God can cure. –A.W. Tozer

I don’t remember where I heard this said about people in the arts who venture into the public eye, but it stuck with me: Artists want to be noticed, musicians want to be heard, actors want to be loved, and writers want desperately to be understood.

It takes a certain amount of courage to venture into a field that exposes one’s inner thoughts and then depends upon the approval of strangers to make a living. I suppose the same could be said for other fields requiring vulnerability, from stripping to politics to scientific research. Even accountants and morticians need approval to keep their jobs. But some people have a greater drive to make connections. Some people are more acutely aware of loneliness.

Writers strive to find a dozen ways to phrase a thought hoping to find the one that brings a response to the question, “Do you know what I mean?” Ya know?

Yet even the most successful artistic people in the world can have a profound sense of loneliness. Sometimes a success backfires and arouses jealousy. Have you noticed how the critics are drawn like moths to the flame of a book or article that gains popular approval?

I absolutely love how Lara Merz responded to an interview question about how to handle negative reviews: “I would say try not to take things too personally, especially if the reviewer is someone you are not in relationship with. There is something about honesty from a loved one or deep friend who cares about who you are, and who you are becoming that is often worth taking heed to, but strangers are trickier because we know nothing of who they are, how healthy they are and the why the book was pushing buttons. Buttons get pushed for many reasons and most of them have very little to do with what pushed the buttons, but rather why there are buttons there in the first place.”

For approval junkies like me criticism can be devastating, because I have buttons. The truth is we all have buttons. Until we are perfectly healed and know we are deeply loved by God we are all offendable and will take off  (or bite back) when we feel threatened. Maybe that’s the definition of maturity – having fewer and fewer buttons.

The healing strength of approval and connection that comes from friends and spouses is beautiful but in a way tasting that love can create an even greater awareness of loneliness. Sometimes we find ourselves tempted to compromise on values to maintain those connections. A lot of people use service to the needy as a means to overcome loneliness, hoping dependency on the care-giver will create a strong bond. And I hate to break this to those of you who are in search of the perfect mate. It is possible to be profoundly lonely in even the very best marriage.

There comes a time when we have to admit that our most loyal fans, our closest friends and even our faithful lover do not understand us. When we accidentally touch one of their buttons they will also fly away emotionally. My point is that there is only one reliable source of approval, and that is from the One who created us to be who we are and notices, hears, loves and understands perfectly.

There are some who are called to walk closely with the Lord. Part of their training necessarily involves rejection, and it will occur again and again until they understand that God is jealous for their attention, their love. They cannot give unselfish love until they have received unselfish love from the only One capable of giving it and who heals their hearts.

If you find yourself in a lonely place, pay attention to the quiet. It’s Jesus calling.