Leave Her Alone!

I had some tests run last summer and one of them randomly uncovered a cyst in my sinus passage which meant that I needed to see an ENT. So, after the ordeal of finding one that my insurance would cover I drove an hour to South Bend, with my invalid father, was misdirected by my gps, got lost, finally found it, drove around the parking lot for 5 minutes waiting for someone to leave so I could park the car, took Dad’s wheel chair out of the trunk, got him unloaded and ran (if you can call my quickest movement running) through the pouring rain, found the directory, got to his office, muddled my way through the kiosk that wasn't responding to my wet fingers as I tried to check in, finally someone called me up to the desk and tells me that I am now 10 minutes late so I would have to reschedule.

I took a few deep breaths and I rescheduled. I then went through the same ordeal a few weeks later (only I didn’t get lost this time), and waited an hour to see the doctor that couldn’t wait 10 minutes for me. When he came into the office, he immediately said, “Doctors often find these cysts in an MRI and send patients to see me, but they are nothing to be concerned about. I just have to see you as a professional courtesy because you were referred to me. I’ll see you again in 6 months.”

I tell you this story to illustrate what a colossal waste of time looks like. It is frustrating. It is always frustrating going from Doctor to Doctor looking for answers that nobody can find, but this experience was nothing more than a ginormous frustrating waste of time… except for the fact that I was with my Dad. When you get to be with someone you love, having quality conversations, laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, finding something new to see, finding the plumbing store that he set up for the Chizm’s, just being with one you love is never a waste of time.

There is a story in John 12 about Mary, a dear friend of Jesus “wasting” expensive perfume on him. This was the same Mary who “wasted time” sitting at his feet when her sister was doing all the cooking. Jesus knew he was coming to the end of mission on Earth. He was spending time with his friends, eating a meal when Mary comes in a pours the equivalent of a year’s wages on the feet of the Master that she loved with everything in her. It was the custom to have your servants wash the feet of the guests reclining at your table… with water. Mary was not a servant and she did not use water. And, to take this action to an even more intimate level, she dried his dusty, dirty feet with her hair. The best thing she owned and an intimate part of her being in their custom, was given to Him without reservation. It was meal time and she should have been in the kitchen. Being at the feet of Jesus appeared to be a big waste of time AND a big waste of money.

Mary’s actions were shocking and risky and unrestrained. She put it all out there to show her love for the One she knew would lay down His life for her. There was no way to honor Him at a higher level than that. And for her actions, she was shamed. The “wasted” perfume could have been sold to feed the poor. That was Judas’ argument against her. Certainly the compassionate Jesus who cared for the poor would call her out for that huge act of wastefulness.

I have had some struggles with Jesus response. “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” Why would a loving Savior who cared about people so much that He came to die for them, place His sweet feet above the needs empty tummies of others? It doesn’t match the character of Christ that I have come to know over the years. So what am I not seeing?

Could it be that it really doesn’t matter what we do for others, if we aren’t doing it as a sweet offering to Him?  There will always be people to serve. There will always be needs. There will always be jobs to do and money to earn and children to teach and sick to attend to and houses to clean and on and on and on… but if we refuse to put ourselves out there and offer our very best… the best of what we have and the best of who we are… to Jesus, then all our good works are worthless.

Is your marriage struggling even though you are reading books and trying to do and say all the right things for your spouse? Maybe what is missing is that you are doing in for your spouse or for yourself and not even considering Jesus as part of the equation. Without honoring and worshiping Him, you are just wasting your time.

Are your children difficult to understand, control, cope with… even though you are doing the best you know to do for them?  Maybe it’s time to take the focus on all you can give to them and do for them and turn your eyes to the One who gave them to you to raise for Him. Maybe exhausting yourself with their activities is a true waste of your time. What Jesus asks is that you pour your best out for Him so that your kids discover Who is really the center of it all that matters in life. 

Are you pouring yourself out for your career, your team, your friends your education, your family and neglecting the Master who designed the abundant life that is a custom fit for you? If so, you are wasting your time.

As Easter approaches I would like to suggest that you take some time to give the very best hour of your day; the very best energy of your day; the very best cognitive thoughts of the day… not to the things that the world sees as valuable, but give it instead to Jesus.

I can’t even imagine what it must have felt like for Mary, in that time in history, in the part of the world where she acted completely inappropriately and took a huge risk for the One she loved with all her heart, to hear the Master say, “Leave her alone.” Such validation. Such vindication. Such complete understanding of the gift she was freely offering Him.

Are you willing to put yourself out there for Him, even when the world says that you're wasting your time? I would like to be there when you do and hear Him say to those who are critical… “Leave her alone!”

That's Why You're Here

Think back over the last 48 hours. Two days of your life. They are forever gone and there are no do-overs. Make a mental list of the things you accomplished. No doubt your lists will all differ. Some will be long lists. Training children, reading them stories, bathing them, dropping them off and picking them up from practice, tidying the house, doing a few loads of laundry, packing lunches,  helping with homework or being the constant reminder that it needs to be done (along with picking up their things and getting their backpack ready for school), fixing dinner, making a shopping list, preparing dinner, running errands… and all of this after an 8 hour day of work! One day runs into another and before you know it a week has disappeared in another flurry of activity.

For others the list is shorter. After a busy day at work, you come home, pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, flip on the TV and relax a bit while scrolling through social media to “connect” with friends, while your kids are in their rooms doing the same thing.

Some do less than the first list and some do more than the second list. Often the people in the first list are in go-mode from early to late every single day of every single season. If they took anything off their To Do list, they would feel guilty or responsible for the doom that surely would cause the Earth to spin backward if they ever slow down. There is an underlying feeling that there will be a reward at the end of life for the person who stayed the busiest and they dare not allow someone else to out-busy them and walk away with the title, World’s Busiest Mom. After all, they make sacrifices every single day to insure that their children get to participate continually in a sport or club or activity that will keep them well rounded, develop their skills, and stay out of the mayhem that will most assuredly suck them in if the perpetual motion stops. Living in this constant chaos feels good because it makes you a martyr for your family.

Both of these scenarios are grave exaggerations (I hope) of what your last 48 hours actually looked like. If you are that busy, you won’t even see this blog because, after all…who has time to read and meditate and listen to anything that might inspire you to slow down and look at the habits you are instilling in your children with all the hustle and bustle. If you are that “chill,” you won’t open the blog because you are more interested in the drama and intrigue in the lives of others than creating and improving your own life.

So for you middle of the road people who are taking the time to read this and have considered the last 48 hours of your life, I have one more request. Take that list and lay it before the One who made you for a purpose and ask Him what needs to be added or taken away in order to accomplish the mission that is waiting for your obedience. Now, slow down and listen.

Do you love children? There are so many that need to be loved, tutored, taught, trained, helped, fostered…

Are you drawn to the elderly? You could change their week so much by going to visit them for a couple of hours.

Do you have skills to assist young adults with budgeting their time and money and teach them the things that nobody else has taught them?

Are you mechanically inclined? There are likely people in your area about to lose their job because their car isn’t dependable.

Do you love being outside? There is probably a yard nearby with leaves to rake or branches to pick up or grass to mow or shrubs to trim and you could provide that blessing.

Maybe you are amazing at finding coupons and rebates and sales and save so much when you shop that you could take some quality food to someone living on ramen noodles.

Is baking your “therapy” but you don’t dare eat as much as you make? Bake a loaf of bread or cookies and take it to whomever the spirit points out to you.

Do you love to organize? There are dozens of people who would love to have you wade through a mess that is overwhelming them.

You don’t have to look very far to see needs, but you do have to slow down and listen to determine where God wants you to use the gifts he has given you. Jesus told His followers that whatever you do for those in the deepest need, is a priceless gift to Him. He has asked us to be generous with the gifts we have. After all, He is the One who gave them to us.

There is someone who needs you today. God will point them out to you. If you rush in without consulting Him, you may find that your resources of time and energy and money are spent in the wrong place. Make sure you take the time to be directed by His Spirit.

You have taken the time to read this. Now, what will you do with it?

Will you slow down enough to listen and discover who that person is that God is calling you to bless?

Will you use the talent and time and resources He has given you to be a blessing?

I pray that you will allow enough margin of time and resources to listen and obey, because, after all….

That’s why you’re here!

The Heart/Brain Connection

“Penny for your thoughts.” 

“What’s going on in your head right now?”

“What were you thinking?!?”

We have probably all had those questions asked of us. Maybe when we are staring off into space, obviously not connecting with our current surroundings. Perhaps our body language is telling a story when our lips are not saying a word. Or, we have just been caught doing something ridiculously unwise. It makes people curious when our actions or expressions indicate our head is somewhere else, so they ask about it.

It isn’t just our head, or thoughts that drift off to a far away place. Sometimes it is because of an issue in our heart.  Where is your heart when it fixed on the things that trouble you? The things you cannot control? The loved ones who are in need? The starving children of the world? The lost souls around you? The desires that overwhelm you? Is it fixed on that person that has taken your heart and wrapped it up so tightly that they have taken control of your world? Is your heart focused on pleasure? Is it focused on climbing to the top of your game? Is your heart controlled by the things of this world or the One who created you for the next world?

Physiologically speaking, the heart is necessary for life. When it stops beating, blood stops circulating. When there is no blood carrying the nutrients and the oxygen to the brain and other organs, life ends. Interestingly, the brain is the organ that experiences injury faster than any other organ once the heart stops.  The brain keeps all of our systems functioning, so it is essential for life to continue. It is possible for the heart to begin to beat again through the administering of CPR or the use of a defibrillator, but it must be done quickly, because the brain function, once it has stopped, will not return without a miracle.

I am not a science person, but, knowing that little bit from sixth grade science class, helps me to grasp the connection of our thoughts and our hearts on a spiritual level.  When our spiritual heart (the place God’s Spirit desires to inhabit) and our mind (the center of our thoughts) has a “blockage,” spiritual death is a certainty. Not only does this cause spiritual death for the person whose “heart” has stopped communicating with the “mind,” but it causes a huge bit of confusion for the world who is watching. Those who claim to follow Jesus are living with the same moral standards as those who do not.

It stands to reason, then, that there is some force at work to derail the signals from God’s Spirit in the heart of those who believe. Thoughts that are contrary to the Truth of His Word begin to take on a life of their own, separate from the guidance of the Spirit. There is something confusing the signals from the Spirit of God to alter the thoughts that grow in our minds. It’s not the guy in the red suit with horns and a pitchfork. We are far too smart to fall for the lies that he might use to steer us in the wrong direction. Oh, to be sure, it is the Evil one, but when we begin to believe that Satan is easy to identify and his lies are simple to see, we have fallen for the oldest trick in the book. The slick deception that began in Eden and caused the fall of humanity is still at work today. He appears to be our friend… to want to assist us and make our life richer, more exciting, more like the people around us. He doesn’t wear a DANGER sign or begin his conversations with a warning. That’s why we see people who claim to be followers of Jesus; who claim to have the Spirit of God living in them; who claim to be “Christians” living according to the standards of the world rather than according to the standard set for us in scripture. The standard that God gives us in order that we might discover the true abundance He has for us.

If you have not invited Jesus Christ to be LORD of your life, then this isn’t for you. But, if you have decided to be a follower of Jesus, then you have invited the Spirit of the Living God to guide and direct you; to live within you; to draw you into a relationship with Him that is eternal. If you have decided to follow Jesus then you are on your way to discovering the DESTINY that God has for you…the PURPOSE for which you were created…the ABUNDANCE that overwhelms…the HOPE that restores…the LIGHT that directs and the LOVE that transforms.

SO….

Shove the intruder out! He doesn’t care about your heart. He just uses it to short-circuit your thoughts. Give the place of honor back to the Spirit of God so that your mind can be focused on what is true and right and noble and good. Let your thoughts wrap securely around the love that will hold you tightly in the darkest of times and give you peace and hope and confidence. Allow the Spirit to direct you to the people and the places where you can grow to be what you were created to be.

IF…

You have lost hope or lost your focus… if you continually struggle in your finances, in your marriage, in your job, with your children, among your friends, in your relationships… take a good look and you just may discover that you are not making decisions according to the Spirit of God, but according to the Deceiver. You can’t follow both. Totally and completely give God your heart so that He alone can direct your thoughts… then the actions will follow that will reflect a healthy heart and mind.

Can Contentment Cry?

Have you ever noticed that some people are born with natural agility and physical strength to be graceful and strong and athletic. On a good day I can walk without stumbling on a pebble. Some people were born with a natural beauty and can be stunning in jeans and a sweatshirt, ponytail and no make-up. I missed that gene. Some people have a great mind and can learn and remember with ease. Nope. Not me! I think a good day is remembering to take my grocery list or knowing where I parked my car. And when both happen on the same day, I know that God must truly be directing me! Other folks are born into affluence and  have the resources to shop top quality stores and replace broken things rather than repairing them… again and again. Where’s the fun and challenge in that, I ask you? Thrift shopping is like going on a treasure hunt! And the thrill of making the car last to 300,000 miles just doesn’t compare to the smell of a new car. (I might be fibbing a little on that last one).

Though I fall short in many areas, they don’t compare to what I have. I have a heritage of contentment and that sure does help to balance out what I lack. To be completely raw and honest, I have experienced tremendous sorrow in the past year and a half. I lost my mom and dad. Health struggles have plagued me, keeping me from doing what I want to do. My adult children have seen loss and pain and health issues that I cannot fix. My grandson is in the USAF and somewhere in “the field” learning to survive on nothing but his learned skills and God’s provision.  Some days life is just hard… and I am learning that sorrow is an uninvited guest that shows up at the most inconvenient of times. Unchecked tears flow without warning. My heart aches deeply at the sadness that I feel. Some days I think about my parents, my kids, my loved ones who I cannot help, and I can’t get my thoughts to budge from pictures of them rolling across the screen of my mind, making it hard to do the things that must be done.

YET … in spite of the struggles and the pain, contentment remains by my side. Maybe it’s in my DNA. Maybe I learned if from my Dad who learned it from his Dad. I can’t really explain why one person can live in contentment while yet another struggles a lifetime to find it. But Paul does a pretty good  job. As this first century follower of Jesus came to know the truth that Jesus was, in fact, the Son of God… the Messiah… the Redeemer for all humanity, he learned much about contentment and saw exactly what deprived people of it.  And, by the way, Paul is writing this letter to the people in Philippi while in prison, not a cozy cabana on the beach, (which seems to me to be a more logical place to discuss contentment). Take a look at a few of the truths he shared that give us a glimpse into the source of his contentment…

3:1  Be joyful in all things because it will safeguard your faith.

3:8  The only thing that is of real value is to know Jesus intimately

3:13  Stop looking at the mess of the past, but look to the One who will make something beautiful of the rubble you or someone else created. Look forward, not backward

3:19 With His strength fight the craving of this of earth and focus on setting up the feast in your future true home in heaven.

4:2 You will have disagreements with good people, even when you love them. Settle disagreements so that you can keep your focus on your mission of promoting the Truth and Love that are the foundation of your faith.

4:4  Rejoice some more. Let your heart be filled until it overflows with all the joy He gives.

4:5 Be considerate of others

4:6 Trade worry for prayer and trust God to supply what you truly need.

4:8 Direct your thoughts to focus on truth.

4:13 Remember, God supplies the strength you need to build a life of contentment.

4:15 Be generous and give to those in need.

Whether you are seeking contentment with what you have or who you are with or what you are doing in life, all of these truths will help you to find it. On the flip side, here’s what life looks like without following Paul’s advice …

Complaining

Pushing Jesus, as your Guide, to the back burner

Wallowing in the guilt or injustice of the past

Running to what the world says will bring joy

Fighting to win at any cost

Having a chip on your shoulder

Maintaining a “me first” mentality

Working longer and harder to get what you want, ignoring those who need your time

Believing the lies Satan tells you to keep you miserable

Living totally in your own strength

Holding tightly and selfishly to everything

I don’t know about you, but I think I will continue to follow Paul’s advice and go for the win in the contentment column. After all, being grateful is better than complaining; knowing Jesus intimately is better than seeing Him only as an icon. Looking forward is better than living in the past. Feeding my spirit is healthier than indulging in what my human  nature craves. Resolving disputes is better than allowing bitterness to grow. Gratitude makes what you have, enough. Being kind matters.  Fear is crippling, but trusting God brings freedom. God’s truth sets me free, when Satan’s lies  have me tied up in knots. God can provide much more than I can on my best day, and giving is truly better than receiving.

Contentment can come along with sorrow, but cannot co-exist with self-pity and selfishness. It comes when we realize we are not enough, but we have open access to the ONE who is.

Stop hanging on to what you can’t keep and grab hold of the truth that Jesus is what you need and you can trust Him with all you have. Never  let the message of the world cause you to lose your grip on the TRUTH that you are loved by the ONE who made you for a purpose and longs to bring you to the place where that purpose if fulfilled. There is where you begin to find contentment.