The Truth of The Matter...

God has been teaching me so much, lately, about listening to HIS voice, and not falling into the tempting voice of sin. It is easier, much easier, in fact, to ponder this than it is to live it out. As I am sure you have found, obeying the voice of temptation gives us that instant, temporary satisfaction--yet like a candy bar loaded with sugar, fat, and artificial who-knows-what, it quickly leaves behind a scum which is anything but pleasant. Yet when we obey the voice of our God, whether it be His Aslan-like roar or His gentle whisper, we gain a victory that brings us to our knees and we simply must say, "Yes, Lord!"

This afternoon I was watching a 7-year-old boy, Felix (that's not his real name, but why not go with something a little unusual? =) We had played Connect Four several (several) times, and he had finally opted to go play in his room by himself. I knew this wouldn't be a long break, but I thought I might try to get in a page or two of my book. It fell open to a random page, and I glanced at the sentence, which fit quite well with my thoughts of late:

"Can we ever be immune to temptation?"

I had hardly finished reading this phrase, nor hardly let it register in my mind, when Felix appeared under my nose, blowing a party favor in my face. You know, one of those things you blow at birthday parties, and out rolls a paper tube? Yeah.

I lifted my eyes from the page and did my best to look at Felix in the eyes, despite the fact that a party favor kept hitting me in the nose. In the most authoritative, grown-up voice I could muster, I said, "Felix, please stop."

He laughed.

And continued.

So I tried to ignore him. How do I ever ignore this?, I thought, as he kept on blowing and blowing. Over and over he blew, and over and over I read the phrase, "Can we ever be immune to temptation?"

Then and there in the middle of it, I inwardly grinned, annoyed as I was. It was too funny not too.Weren't my recent temptations a little similar to this scenario?  He eventually said, "Oh, okay, I'll stop," and went on to his next bright idea.

I don't know what tempts you. But I think we could all admit our temptations are just plain silly. We are tempted to be successful, accomplished, popular, pretty, strong, throw a pitty party, or just eat a big bowl of ice cream before bed. Yet that blow in our face occurs over and over, until we either give in or say no. We may not be immune to the deadly temptation disease, but we have a King on our side who will gladly knock it down if we simply ask, listen, and obey.

This evening I read a powerful passage in Jeremiah 2:13:

 "My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

I don't know why I choose the sin over the Truth, when I know sin will only satisfy for instant. The truth of the matter is, I am foolish. I drink from the empty when Christ offers the full. Friends, if we do not dip into the well of our Awesome God's strength and obey, who will?

Setting the Table

Well, after all the talk of turkey and stuffing, Thanksgiving is over. While I can't say that it's my favorite holiday of all time, it's always pleasant to gather together with those we love (but hardly ever see) and give thanks for everything we're blessed with...and eat lots of delicious food, of course.

Setting the table on Thanksgiving is always different from setting it for a regular meal- it requires napkin folding, properly placed silverware, fragile goblets, and plenty of Martha Stewart-inspired decor. Though it's not a tedious process, it certainly doesn't compare with the joy that comes with devouring (politely, of course) a fantastic meal.

The evening of Thanksgiving, I was about to go to bed when I felt a pressing to pray for someone I know who is currently going through a difficult season. As I prayed and began to press deeper into God's presence, He began surrounding me with Himself in a very real, beautiful way. But it wasn't instantaneous- it took nearly an hour before I began to feel at peace and could finally go to sleep.

Most of the time my prayer life isn't this vivid- I usually lose interest before I reach the true feast of God's presence. It's almost like I set the table and then say, "Wow, that was a great table-setting time!" and put all of the dishes in the sink. But it's those first few minutes of prayer that prepare our hearts and focus our minds for the feast of His presence that we're about to receive. If we give up early on, we're missing out on the most beautiful part of having a relationship with Jesus- partaking in passionate, intimate communion with Him.        

Excuses, Excuses

I'm pretty sure that I'm the world's slowest runner. Though I find some consolation in the fact that I can run several miles, (if I'm in the right mood and the weather's great and I have my special purple socks with cats on them- and this is no exaggeration,) some days it just feels like I couldn't be any slower if I tried.

This very thought was on my mind today while I was on my way home. I had already run over three miles and didn't have far to go, but it really didn't feel like much of an accomplishment at my puttering pace. 

As I was wondering how to get my speed up, it occurred to me that no one is in control of how fast I'm going but me. I could read articles about running and buy better shoes and drink protein shakes and come up with some kind of training routine, but unless I make the decision to push myself beyond what's comfortable, I'll run like a turtle forever.

Sadly, this has been very similar to my relationship with Jesus lately. Whenever I start to get distracted or "too busy" or confused, I complain to Him about it and wonder why things aren't magically fixing themselves. But then I remember that the times when our relationship has been the strongest have also been the times when I've made the choice to block out everything else for specifically set apart amounts of time and get on my knees before Him with complete honesty. And, for the most part, that hasn't been happening for awhile. 

Sure, I have a whole lot of excuses. But excuses will never get me anywhere any more than they will make me run faster. All they'll do is pass time- valuable time that I won't be spending walking in the victorious peace and joy that Jesus so desperately wants to bring.  

Who Are You Calling Mama?

The other day, the little one and a half year old boy I was watching called me "Mama."

I think my heart skipped a beat. Or maybe three beats.

Throughout the rest of the day,whenever he needed or wanted something, or when I just happened to be nearby, he called me "Mommy" or "Mama", with a sweet, slightly mischievous grin of his on his face.

I've always imagined what it must be like for your baby to call you "Mom" for the very first time. Somehow, when it's not your baby, it simply isn't the same. You just give him a funny look and feel a little funny as you fill his bottle, put on his shoes, or help him down the slide. I mean, I'm not his mom!

We give God a lot of different titles, don't we? We call Him faithful, our Abba, our redeemer...the list goes on. But I wonder, if we don't really, truly believe in our hearts that He is faithful, our Abba, our redeemer, then it is a little like a baby calling me his mother, even though I'm not. The name is meaningless.

If you are going to proclaim that Jesus is your King, realize that He then IS your King. I often forget this.

I guess it took a baby to remind me!

Run to Him

A few days ago I was driving along, on my way to pick up my sister. The sky was bright and blue, (isn't marvelous that God made the sky blue?) and the gold sun glittered through the autumn trees as I drove.

I stopped for a school bus. The red, twinkling stop sign appeared and out emerged a little boy, perhaps coming home from kindergarten. Next to the big yellow bus he looked tiny and so very cute. Across the street was his mom, beaming.

When it was safe to cross, his mother opened her arms wide as she could, and the tiny boy came running to her with full speed. They both had huge grins on their faces, and she scooped him in her arms, picking him up with joy on her face.  

Meanwhile, I was crying. Tears were streaming down my face as I watched this little scene. My God gently whispered the truth in my mind: Are we not that little child, running into the arms of our Savior?

Real Trust (with Real Doubts)

I used to think that someday I would finally arrive at the point where I really, truly trusted God. Eventually every single doubt would have dissolved and I would reach a moment where I could say, "God, I trust you!" and absolutely nothing would be hindering me from glad surrender.

Looking back, I realize that I've already unknowingly trusted God over and over and over. Here's what amazes me: there have been constant, seemingly faithless doubts on my part in every single instance, but that never changed His faithfulness in bringing to completion exactly what He promised.

What I used to picture trust looking like was me standing on a mountaintop with my arms spread wide, saying, "I'm all yours, Jesus!" and meaning it with my whole heart. No wonder people become frustrated with themselves when they fail to reach that point in their walk with Christ, because that's not what it looks like at all.

Now when I think of trust, I imagine a blind version of myself at the very edge of a rushing river. I know that I need to cross the river to get where I'm headed. Jesus calls to me from the other side and says, "There's a bridge! Take another step and you'll see what I mean."

Do I know for a fact that there's going to be a bridge? No. All I know is what He's told me. Do I have doubts? Of course I do. My ears tell me that if I take one more step I'll be swept away.

This is the moment where I have two choices: I can either trust myself and the voices of the world that tell me to be safe and take the easy way out- the route with no risk- or I can ignore the way I feel about the situation and believe that God is as faithful as He promised to be.

When I make my choice and take my step out, my doubts begin to melt as I feel the evidence of His promises coming to fruition.

Trust is not the absence of doubt, but the willingness to take a blind step beyond that doubt and watch God's perfect faithfulness unfold.