Walking through those open doors

       Yesterday’s sermon was about walking through open doors - taking the opportunities God has given to serve Him. At the start of the sermon my thoughts of application had to do with this season of waiting Tim and I are in and my thinking was “ok… when the door is open of course we will walk through it! That’s what we are waiting for – an open door!”

       But the more I listened to the teaching of God’s Word I realized this wasn’t an abstract concept for some time in the future. It was for now. What door of opportunity was God opening for me to walk through - today?

       I spent some more time on that thought this morning, sharing some of my dreams and hopes with my Heavenly Father. I have no idea if any of those will ever come to be – some of my thoughts seem rather large and, to be honest, unattainable. But my Abba wants me to share my heart with Him, so I did.

       Then I just sat.

       And listened.

       And as only God, through the Holy Spirit, can do, He opened my eyes to see some open doors of opportunity I have right in front of me. At first they seemed pretty trivial, not at all the grand ideas I had presented Him in my prayer.

       There was a choice in front of me. I could ignore the open door or I could accept that God had placed an opportunity in front of me – no matter what size I thought it looked like.

       It’s like the parable Jesus told about the master who entrusted some talents (money) to 3 of his workers. The first was given 5 talents, the second was given 2 and the third servant was given 1. The first two servants took what was given to them and used it to double the money to give back to their master. The last servant hid it in the ground because he was afraid of failure.

       When the master returned, he was very pleased with what the first two servants had done with the talents they were given. In fact, the master’s response to both servants, regardless of how much was made, was the same! “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

       But to the fearful servant who hid his talent in the ground the master gave a hard rebuke. He was called wicked and lazy and the one talent he had was taken from him.

       I certainly don’t want to be like that fearful servant! I want to hear God say “well done!”

       What it comes down to is that it really isn’t about how many talents I might have or the size of an opportunity. It is that I was obedient and walked through the open door God put in front of me. And when presented with the next open door, I do the same.

        One day at a time…

              One open door at a time…

The "Don't worry - TRUST" list

        For several days now there seems to be a theme God has wanted me to pay attention to. The books I’m using in my quiet time, the Scripture passages I turn to, comments people have been saying in passing – they all say the same thing! And whenever that happens, I sit up and pay attention!

        First thing this morning was Joshua 1:9 – be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid. By the end of my quiet time I had spent quite a bit of time in Psalm 37:1-8 and came up with a to-do list having to do with worry and trust. Here’s what I found:

1)       Don’t worry

2)  Trust in the Lord

3)    Do good

4)   Dwell and enjoy – God has it covered

5)    Delight in God

6)   Commit my way to Him

7)   Trust Him

8)    Be still

9)    Wait patiently

10) Don’t worry

11)      Don’t get angry

12) Don’t worry

       Typically I tend to like to-do lists – because I can cross off the chore once the item is completed. I don’t think this list, however, is the type you cross off... not when in 8 verses you are told don't worry... trust...be patient... seven times!! I have the feeling this “don’t worry - trust” list is going to take a life time to work on. Glad I have God's promise of help to accomplish it.

Mind your own business

          I woke up early this morning, wrestling with thoughts and attitudes toward a situation in my life. I must confess I am perplexed at how God is working on this and if I were to be completely honest, there are times when I want to ask Him to move over and let me deal with it. How arrogant – but that is the black and white of it.

          As is often the case, God allowed me to stew on my thoughts for a bit as I took my shower, saw Kimberly off to school, made my cup of cappuccino and came into my room for my quiet time.

          Bam! The first thing out of the shoot in the book I am using is the thought of total surrender to Christ. And I’m sure you, my dear reader, have already figured out what verse I was directed to…  Mark 8:34

“If anyone would come after me

he must deny himself

and take up his cross

and follow me"

          Squirm… sigh… All of those commands are hard and require devoted time and attention.

          Next I went to Psalm 139, that beautiful psalm that talks about how intricately I was made by God and that there is no where I could ever be without Him. But it begins by acknowledging God knows me – my thoughts, when I stand up, what I am about to say. It ends with a request to search my heart and know my thoughts.

          I sat back and sighed again. Because I was (am) still struggling and I’m not sure I want to deny myself and pick up my cross and follow or have my heart and thoughts searched.

          But how can I deny my thoughts? He already knows them. So as I had a chat with my Abba I guess you could say I got a little whiny about the person in this situation I’m wrestling with. And you could also say, as any loving parent would do with a whiny child, I got dealt with rather quickly.

          He reminded me of something that stood out to me in a couple of the books from the Chronicle of Narnia series I just recently read. When Lucy was upset and struggling to understand what was to happen with so-and-so, Aslan gently told her she didn’t need to know another person’s ending to their story.

          Immediately I thought of when Jesus was with His disciples after the resurrection and He was having a heart to heart with Peter. Jesus was trying to get to Peter’s heart by asking if Peter loved Him. I’m sure Peter was squirming by the third time Jesus asked the question, because when he saw John he quickly asked what was going to happen to him (John).

          This is when I wish I had a dvd of the actual exchange because I would love to see and hear how Jesus spoke the next sentence; “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

          Was it said quietly in sorrow? Was there a tear in His eye at Peter’s seeming lack of understanding? Or perhaps Jesus reached out His hand and tapped Peter’s arm while His voice showed His exasperation at the lame attempt of diversion. But regardless of how it was said, the message was still the same – it is none of your business.

          That is the same message Abba has for me. “Val, what I am planning to do with someone else is none of your business.” And if I listen closely I hear the rest of the admonition… “Isn’t it enough to tend to yourself and obey what I ask of you?”

          Ouch. Ok… yes, it is a big enough task for me to take care of myself. While it doesn’t feel very good at the moment (what discipline does??) I know God’s love for me is shown in His parental rebuke to take care of myself and mind my own business.

Victory over the impossible list?

            This morning I was reading in Ephesians and came across a list of sinful actions God wants to purge from our lives and what needs to replace them.

                        Stop lying

                        Instead speak the truth

                        When angry – don’t sin

                        Don’t hang on to your anger

                        Don’t give the devil any room

                        Stop stealing

                                    Instead work

                        Stop talking trash

                                    Instead speak encouragement

                        Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by your actions

                        Get rid of: bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, malice

                                    Instead – be kind – compassionate – forgiving

                        Imitate God

            This seems so impossible! I think I am doing better with some on this list and then the Holy Spirit reminds me of ones I am not doing or a response that was not Christ-like. And I realize how very frail and human I am and that is discouraging.

            Really discouraging… to the point where I wonder if there can be victory for a Christian. I mean long lasting victory, not just the 2 minute kind. (Although, those are important victories!)

            I looked up “victory” in my concordance and was first struck by the definition: a state of triumph (to defeat or win). Hmmm - some questions on that but I proceeded to look up the verses and two really stood out to me. The first was I Corinthians 15:57

“Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

            Ok, I thought… this is an encouraging verse. But I know enough that I cannot just take a verse out of context so I read the proceeding verses and slowed down a little on my enthusiasm. The context is about the rapture of the church – the final victory over death. 

            The next verse really turned up the hope! Stand firm, always give yourself to the work of the Lord, your labor isn’t in vain.

            The end of the passage in Ephesians says I’m to be an imitator of Jesus and I know that is work! So maybe this isn’t so far off what I was thinking… because I want to stand firm and keep trying because I love God.

            Which brings up the next verse; I John 5:3:

“This is love for God – to obey His commands.

 And His commands are not burdensome.”

            So love is shown by my obedience and following the not burdensome commands? So I’m right back to the beginning of my thoughts on Ephesians… that this list seems impossible to do – especially the last one, to imitate God.

            And as a sense of hopelessness starts to come over me an image pops into my mind of when my children were little. They loved to put on my high heels and walk in them while carrying my purse. They would go a few steps and wobble – maybe even fall. But up they would go and try again. They were trying to be like Mom and it wasn’t a burdensome thing. Their love for me and wanting to see me smile kept them trying.

            And then it hits me: that is exactly why Jesus said we must come to the Kingdom of God as a little child. The trying is out of love and the focus is on pleasing the Father.

            And just like when my kids were little and had the help of their mom, I have the help of my Heavenly Father to tackle those impossible lists and gain a victory!

Thanks be to God!