Oh for freedom, for freedom in worshipping God,
For the mountain-top feeling of generous souls,
For the health, for the air, of the hearts deep and broad,
Where grace, not in rills, but in cataracts rolls!
(from Desire of God by Frederick William Faber 1814-1863)
“In perplexities — when we cannot tell what to do, when we cannot understand what is going on around us, let us be calmed and steadied and made patient by the thought that what is hidden from us is not hidden from Him.”
~Frances Ridley Havergal
All consolation that does not come from God is but desolation; when the soul has learned to receive no comfort but in God only, it has passed beyond the reach of desolation.
– Madame Jeanne Guyon
I love this view of the Steeples Range. I often stop here. I took this about a month ago when the grass was still rich and green.
But there’s a reason it’s so green -and why there is a place to pull off the highway. There’s a pump house near this spot. It pumps effluent from the nearby town onto the field as a way of dealing with sewage.
In others words it makes something beautiful out of something, well, considerably less than beautiful.
My parents used to love the Gaither show on TV. At least I think that’s what it’s called. The Gaithers created a bit of a revolution in the style of music we were used to in church back in the 70’s. There was a level of honesty and joy in the reality of grace and the goodness of God we hadn’t seen for a while. The music gave Mom and Dad a lot of comfort. Dad still plays it. I remember the words of one song:
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life
If there ever were dreams
That were lofty and noble
They were my dreams at the start
And hope for life’s best were the hopes
That I harbor down deep in my heart
But my dreams turned to ashes
And my castles all crumbled, my fortune turned to loss
So I wrapped it all in the rags of life
And laid it at the cross.
Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion He understood
All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife
But he made something beautiful of my life.
Many of us have been stopped in our tracks by disappointment in ourselves. The stuff that comes out of me sometimes is truly embarrassing.
Lord if you can use my mistakes somehow, you can have them. You said to give you everything, because you paid for it, and I don’t want to even admit some of this to myself, let alone have it flung out where everybody can see it, but here you go. I’ve done and said some pretty unpleasant things in my life, and I feel ugly sometimes, OK a lot of the time. But you can use anything, even my shame. So here. I lay it all down. The accomplishments, the failures. They’re yours. I know you can make something beautiful out of them.
Sometimes an old truth gains new life when we see it through a fresh lens.
The brilliant colour of seasonal change on the mountains can distract from the fact that this mountain has stood without change for many many many centuries. The season, the time of day, the weather conditions all change the appearance and either hide or highlight different planes of the mountain’s story. Sometimes shadows can deceive us into seeing something that is not actually there and those willing to take the risk of changing their vantage point will often be surprised when their assumptions vanish in the light of a new day.
Sometimes seeing an old truth from a different perspective allows us to let go of ideas we held fast that turned out to be merely misleading shadows. Sometimes changing our vantage point allows us to see another aspect of truth we never noticed before -but it is still an ancient truth.
The good news of the gospel of Christ is expressed in many ways by many streams. It may appear to be different from different perspectives, but it is the same truth established from the foundation of the earth. God’s character and His plans are evident from Genesis to Revelation and all of it is the gospel truth.
All truth is God’s truth.
I want to be a person who is always at peace inside.
I’m getting better, but I’m not there yet. Until then, I would rather be a person who handles stress by cleaning and organizing. At least there would be slightly less chaos at the end of the day. When I am in the throes of useless obsession about a problem, I can step over mounds of rubble and not even notice. When the problem is resolved I am knee-deep in another one of my own making. It’s probably symbolic of the uselessness of worry.
People who clean obsessively are trying to find a measure of control in an atmosphere where things appear to be out of control. People who mull a problem over and over and over in their minds (aka worry) are doing the same thing, of course. We want to understand the eternal repercussions of every decision, every move toward the heights. We want a sense of certainty in the fog of unknowns.
Here’s the thing about change: It’s messy, and disorienting.
I finally got around to cleaning out some closets – but first I had to pull everything out and dump it on the floor and the bed. There was stuff in the back corners I don’t even remember putting there. (And since I haven’t missed it in five years it seemed like a good opportunity to bless the thrift shop.) But for a while the room looked like an episode of a hoarders TV show – piles of essentials and distractions and embarrassment and potential and memories all heaped together.
That’s what my life feels like this week.
Some people who choose to pursue God with all their hearts get the holy cuddles and effervescent joy special. Some of us get thrown into the lake.
What? But, Lord, I thought I would get what she was getting. I wanted kindergarten happy-happy free-play time. I got “let’s get serious.” I can’t touch the bottom! I’m drowning!
No you’re not!
I am!
I won’t let you drown, but you’re going to be miserable if you don’t get out of that stroller and kick the feet I gave you. I want to take you out swimming in the deep end with me, but I can’t if you don’t start using what you already have. Now kick your feet – and use your arms. That’s what they’re there for.
The fruit of the Spirit, like the Holy Spirit is already in you because I am in you. It’s my fruit, my character. But the peace I bring you won’t do any good unless you pick it up and use it.
These circumstances are not just an attack of the devil to show you how much he hates you and wants to hinder you (although he does). They are meant to cause you to dig deeper, to lean harder on Me to discover the resources already placed within you – stuff you have never even taken out for a spin yet.
How does this peace thing work? Ask Me – I’ll show you.
And here’s some chaos to practise on.
“I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” -Jesus
Jesus’ peace is not dependent on circumstances. When Holy Spirit lives in us, His peace is in our hearts, no matter what. So don’t let your heart -or your mind- be troubled. The voice that troubles, and makes you think you are not good enough for God to love, is not His.
He loves you with an everlasting love.
Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy. It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.
– Henri Nouwen
I was praying for people I care about as I drove through Kootenay Park yesterday. Some of these dear folks are chronically ill, or depressed, or broke, or facing heart-breaking circumstances that seem to drain hope from their lives. The dark clouds and rain fit my mood. Sometimes I feel the weight of their burdens myself and I forget the Lord’s instructions to come up higher and trust Him. I had another health scare myself earlier in the week and the resulting loss of sleep was making me feel quite weak physically and emotionally.
Sometimes it seems like the same problems and the same type of people and the same situations keep showing up in our lives. Sometimes it feels like God is not taking us seriously enough.
Sometimes we miss the point of the exercise because we do not take God seriously enough.
We tend to ask for relief from suffering and, when the stress is over, forget the one who has given us so many benefits. God longs for relationship with us, and frankly we sometimes only pay attention to him when we want something instead of someone.
When I reached the summit of the pass near Radium, B.C. the rain was lighter, but there was still enough to keep my windshield wipers labouring. I decided to stop at the pull-out and walk for a bit, hiding my camera under my rain jacket – just in case the sun broke through and lit up the peaks on the other side of the valley. I thought the contrast of the snow-tipped mountains with dark ominous clouds might make a good black and white photo.
I was alone up there and I told the Lord I sure could use some encouragement. I know we walk by faith and not by sight and that it is all about relationship with Him, but I could use a hug about now.
Suddenly a rainbow began to form right in front of me. I happily snapped some photos, but it kept growing until a double rainbow I couldn’t entirely fit on my screen filled the valley. I think it was the brightest I have ever seen.
After a while passing cars stopped and folks jumped out with their cameras – but for a while I felt like the rainbow was all mine.
Then, of course I felt silly. “Ideas of reference” some people call it, when a person thinks a general event was meant specifically for her. Crazy people think like that.
So I decided that if I was going to be crazy I would do something even crazier. I asked the Lord that if this was a reminder of His promises if he would do it again.
He did.
About two hours further down the road another rainbow glowed in the sky ahead. I raced ahead to a place overlooking the valley where trees and electric lines wouldn’t block the view. It remained in the sky for quite a while and again, the colours shone in glory.
A promise.
When I finally got home (11 hours after I set out in the morning) I turned the corner to see a third rainbow arching over my town. In dream symbolism the number three can represent confirmation – as “in the presence of three witnesses.”
How can I help but praise him?
I didn’t ask for three rainbows on my journey last evening, but they showed up as gifts that reminded me of the glory of the One who makes and keeps his promise to respond to us when we call out to him.
God is Good. He is relentlessly kind and loving. He is not on a budget.
And he gives great hugs.
Charis: Subject to Change 
