Solid Ground

 

Genesis 1:9-13

 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning, the third day.

               Have you ever felt like you were treading water, like you are in an ocean of despair, of hopelessness, of financial trouble, or relationship issues? Just like God raised dry land out of the water during creation, he will raise a dry, strong foundation for you to land on as well. Psalm 40:2 says, “He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

               In Matthew 7:24-27, we read a tale of two houses. The first house is built on a solid foundation, the wind blows, and the rain pours, but this house stands strong. The second house is built on sand, a weak foundation, the wind blows, and the rain pours, and this house is washed away. From this story, we can see that our lives need to be built on a solid foundation, something consistent; if it is not, we will fall.

               How do we build this foundation? Where can we find this rock on which to build our lives? Simply, look to Jesus; “…the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus is the founder of our faith, the rock on which we stand (Matthew 7:24-27). We build on this foundation through our faith; we build our faith by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). As we connect more to the Word of God and His promises, our faith foundation will be made stronger, and our house (our lives) will be able to weather the storms that come our way.

               There is something that makes our foundation even stronger, even more reliable, and even more trustworthy; “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11) Jesus IS our foundation! Through him all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). If we lock into Jesus, we will stand, we will not be moved, and we will come out victorious every time.

 

In what way can you strengthen your faith today?

 

The Sky is the Limit

Genesis 1:6-8 (ESV)

“And God said, 'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’  And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.  And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning, the second day.”

               Firmament, expanse, vault, the blue; whatever you call it, on the second day God created the sky. He didn’t just say, “Poof!” and there was a sky, though. No, God did a little more separating.

               The Bible says, paraphrased, of course, that God separated the waters; there were waters above the sky and below the sky. The water below the expanse would encompass all the water we can see today, including the oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, and other bodies of water. The waters above the sky could refer to clouds and atmospheric moisture or a now non-existent vapor canopy that surrounded Earth. For our purposes, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that God separated the water above from the water below. In separating the waters, He began to create order from the chaos. How does this apply to our lives today?

               God is not the author of confusion, or as the amplified Bible puts it in 1 Corinthians 14:33, He is not the author of “confusion and disorder” but of “peace and order”. Since the beginning, through the seven days of creation and every moment since then, God has been leading this world to peace and order. Now we haven’t obeyed or listened to Him very well, but God has been leading.

               Maybe you have some things that need to be separated in order to calm the chaos. Your job and your faith aren’t mixing very well, your friend makes too many jokes that don’t sit well with you, or that book you are reading is weakening your marriage. Whatever the case, God can separate what isn’t bringing or going to bring you peace and order, but you must surrender first. God isn’t going to snatch the thing out of your hand; He wants you to trust Him enough that you will willingly hand it over. After you surrender the thing that is creating chaos and disorder in your life, don’t try to take it back. God will let you have it if you want it. He isn’t going to force you to do anything; he wants you to choose for yourself.

               Letting go of those chaos makers is scary at first, but in the end, it will bring you such relief and freedom. You can wake up in the morning and breathe freely.

 

               Let’s say this prayer together.

               Father, I know I have things in my life that create the disorder that I tend to complain about every day. Shine the light of the Holy Spirit on these areas and give me strength to separate from them. Lord, when you have parted the chaos and confusion from the peace and order, help me to leave it in your hands. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

What are the areas in which God has revealed a need for separation?

Light and Darkness are Separated

Genesis 1:3-5 (ESV)

“And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day.”

               “Let there be light,” the four words that started it all! These are the first words we know of God saying. He could have said anything: “Wake up, World.” Or “Boo!” and whatever His intentions, they would have come to fruition.

               I don’t think God does anything unintentionally. Therefore, He chose those specific words for a reason. Sure, the reason was that He wanted some light, though we could glean a deeper meaning.  Remember, the sun and moon have not been created yet; we are a few days away from that. So, what God did in verses 3-5 was separate the light and the darkness. He gave a distinction between the two. Notice that when God saw that the light was good, He immediately separated them. Light and darkness cannot coexist.

(2 Corinthians 6:14)” Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" As God separated light from darkness in the beginning, we, too, need to separate ourselves from all things related to darkness. Isaiah 5:20 says, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” In this verse, “woe” means great sorrow or distress. Great sorrow and distress for those who put darkness for light and vice versa. I don’t know about you, but I want to avoid woe at all costs!

               Paul said, ^“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.^” We are the light of the world! (Matthew 5:14) We cannot partner with darkness, we cannot flirt with evil, and we cannot hide our light. What would have happened if God had not divided the light and the darkness? We wouldn’t have day and night. What happens if we do not keep ourselves separated from the darkness of this world? There will be no distinction between us and the world; we will have no light to shine the way to Jesus.

Take heart, all is not lost. God will always be there to help us stay in His light. We can find an exciting bit of encouragement for this light from dark journey, in John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Yes, the darkness exists, and it cannot coexist with light. When the light of God shines through us, the darkness does not have a chance!

 

What is some darkness you may be letting into your life? Will you let God’s light shine on these things

 

When I Wake…

When I wake, the world is new—

Endless choices shining through.

I can be an artist, bold and free,

Or a bird, soaring far above the sea.

I may become a whispered breeze,

Dancing softly through the trees.

Or a dreamer with eyes wide open,

Building hopes that can't be broken.

Each morning brings a chance to see

The endless things that I can be.

So when I rise, I promise me:

I'll always choose what sets me free.

THE YEAR I DIED (sort of)

The past year plus of my life has been fraught with pain and confusion the likes of which no one should ever have to endure. The bringer of this painful season is not one that can be seen. He had this planned years in advance. He had been putting the pieces in place since my childhood. His plan for my life, as it is with all human life, is destruction; the destruction of love and faith for generations to come.  But his plan has failed. To onlookers it may seem like our enemy succeeded but this victory can only be seen by close inspection of the hearts involved. 

This pain, confusion, frustration and despair has only caused Love to grow in my heart. Through this horrible time I have learned to trust more and depend more on The One my heart desires.

I see anger and fear erupting in other's souls as they continue to struggle with and try to fix this situation, but peace has begun to rule in my soul and spirit.

I was finally able to receive this unexplainable peace when I stopped seeing the "human element" as the problem and started seeing the spiritual element. This is not a flesh and blood issue, this is an issue with the enemy of our souls. (Ephesians 6:12)

Many say "Yeah, but human decision was involved." Yes it was. Human decision is a wonderful gift from God; free will to choose to follow God and love Him willingly or not. Take that away and we are no longer what He created us to be.

So yes, it has been the absolute worst year of my life. But in true God fashion it has also been the year that He was more real and closer to me than ever before. While I wish things could have been different, I wouldn't trade the lessons I've learned nor the closeness I have felt with my Abba for anything.

For the first time I feel a kinship with so many of my Bible heroes who, until now, have been like stories of people I could never really be like.  

Joseph and I went through some bad stuff that was meant to destroy us, but God used it for our good and His glory! The recipients of James' letter and I were going through trials that produced patience and we will be complete lacking nothing. Paul and I thought we were going to die, but through our near death experience we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely on God who raises the dead. We were rescued from mortal danger.*

Through all of this Joseph, the Jewish Christians, Paul and I want you to know something. If we can make it so can you!

We were rescued and given this amazing peace because we trusted God; we learned to rely on Him. Since we placed our confidence in God, He will continue to rescue us!

Life gets downright vicious sometimes but when it does, fix your focus on God. God has always been in love with you and will relentlessly pursue you with a mercy, grace, peace and love the likes of which EVERYONE should get to endure.  

*Read Joseph's story starting in Genesis 37.

*Read the book of James to see the struggle of the Jewish Christians he was writing to.

*Read 2 Corinthians 1 (especially 8-11) for encouragement from one of Paul's near death encounters. 

Broken Glass/Broken Life

In June of 2013 my husband landed "the dream job". We would finally have financial security! We were so excited that God had provided such a great opportunity for our family. Nothing could get us down! Fast forward to April 2014... The company had a huge layoff and thousands of employees lost their jobs, my husband included. He received unemployment benefits, which were just enough to cover the bills, but he remained unemployed until June 2nd. At that time we were OK but if something major came up we would be sunk.

On June 3rd, something major came up. My children and I were going to visit out of town family. When we walked outside we  discovered the sliding door window of our van had been shattered. Four days later, my husband was mowing the lawn and accidentally slung a rock into the drivers door window of his car. Have you ever had one of those weeks?

Our broken van window

Our broken car window

But this is not a story of how God met our needs, although He did. Both windows were replaced much cheaper than we had expected. The story I want to tell is what God taught me from the broken glass.

The first thing we thought when we saw the broken window was "How did that happen?". Many possible sources came to mind. A passing car, the neighbor's lawnmower, some really mean person could have taken a baseball bat to it, someone even thought the heat could have caused it to break. No one really knew. And it's the same with our lives. Sometimes we get broken. The brokenness could have come from anywhere. Someone intentionally or accidentally caused us pain, our own bad decisions put us in a state of stress, etc. The source of our broken hearts doesn't really matter. What matters is that we are broken and it hurts.

So we are broken, now what do we do? We try to fix it of course! With my window I did the only thing I could do; I taped plastic bags over it. I was pretty proud of the job I did with such inferior equipment too. It started raining as I was finishing up but my plastic held. The next day a bigger storm came and blew my little band-aid away. And don't we do the same things in our lives? Some turn to alcohol, drugs, food, work or some other form of busyness. We also use anger and avoidance to patch up the injury. But while they may hold for a little while, like the plastic on my busted window, eventually a bigger storm will blow through our lives and the jagged edges of our pain will be exposed again.

While I surveyed the damage of my window God showed me something about the glass. There was apparently meaning in where it fell. Some of the glass fell inside the van, some onto the ground, and some just hung onto the window frame. The glass on the inside represented those hurts that no one sees. The pain that we hide, the shame that affects who we are. The glass that stayed attached was just hanging in ugly shards and it represented the physical affect of our brokenness. The swollen eyes from crying, the pale face and dark circles under the eyes from sleepless nights. In the glass on the ground I saw how our pain can affect others. When we hurt we may pull away from others, neglect relationship or we may lash out in anger and frustration.

Glass on the ground

Glass still clinging to the frame

So what happens next? With my window the first thing I did was clear the glass that was still hanging on. In our lives this would be washing our face, putting on makeup, making ourselves look less broken.

Next, I picked up what I could from the ground. We try to make amends to those we may have hurt through our bitterness. We attempt to rejoin the world and do the best we can.

The third thing that happened with the van was cleaning out the glass that had spilled on the inside. This was the last thing I did with my van but in our lives, the inside is the first thing we should tend to. If we don't get what is going on in our hearts cleaned up first, then all the makeup and apologizes in the world will mean nothing.

My husband had to help me with this part of the clean up. With his help the work was much easier and more efficient. The two things that God reminded me of during this process was;

1) Only He (God) can clean up the brokenness in our hearts. He is the only one who can find all the pieces and take them away. But we must release it all to Him. Psalm 34:18 says "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Reach out, take His hand and let Him rescue you. He will guide you through the pain and into His healing love.

2) We can't do it alone. In the case of my van, there was just too much glass; I had to have help. In
our lives, sometimes there is just too much pain. God can and will rescue us but He never meant for us to go through life alone. He places people in our lives to walk with us. This is our family, friends and especially our Church family. Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend." We smooth the rough edges from each other's lives. We help bear each other's burdens. James 5:16 "...confess to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed"  Amazing things happen when we pray for each other. Don't keep it to yourself, talk to a Christian friend and allow them to pray for your healing.

With my husband's help, the window got patched up much better than I could have done on my own. And it held until we were able to replace it.

Once we let God start cleaning us up and we partner with a strong believer who is committed to helping us, we will begin to experience more protection and healing. Then one day we realize the buzzing of the wind against the plastic is gone and a brand new window is in it's place!

We still remember the brokenness and all the pain and frustration it caused, but it's healed. We are whole! Now we are the ones who are stronger and have experience with broken windows. We can be the one someone leans on, the one showing God's love and being a conduit of grace and healing, to be used by God to lead others to freedom in Christ!

This is what God wants us to do. He blesses us so we can bless others. He frees us so He can use us to free others. We are His plan to reach the world. Isn't it wonderful that through our healing others can be healed?

God loves to redeem our brokenness for His ultimate glory but also for what we find in Genesis 50:20. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position to save the lives of many people."

God will bring you though your pain to a place where He can save the lives of many through you.

God, Here I am...Waiting.

This is a poem of sorts that I wrote during an especially trying time in my life. It seems another trying time is upon me at the moment and the Lord led me back to this. No matter what has happened in my life God has always been there. He understands me better than I understand myself. Reading back over this has given me a peace about where I am right now. My right now situation needs some adjusting but I know there is a plan in it. I just need to wait on the Lord and trust in Him to make the right adjustments. I hope this helps and blesses you as much as it did me.

God, Here I am...Waiting.

Ok God, here I am, I’m waiting on you.

I’ve done all I can and I’m just waiting.

Things are falling apart,

This storm is getting rough.

My mind is cloudy.

My heart is broken.

I’m fighting defeating thoughts.

God, are you there?

God, do you hear?

I’m not sure I can make it this time, Lord.

All really does seem lost.

I hear them doubting you, but I can’t agree.

You’ve come through for me so many times before.

I know you’ll come this time too God,

But what’s the waiting for?

I love you

I praise you

And I pray to love you more.

I pray for you to use me Lord,

But right now I feel abused.

I cannot understand this trial that you have put on me.

Could there really be a purpose for all this pain?

All the prayers for your will I’ve prayed;

This is what comes my way?

Oh God, I’m waiting.

I’m unsure.

I’m frightened.

But I will not pray that you take me out of this;

Only that you take me through this.

If this be your will for me;

I’ll walk until I can’t.

Then, dear Lord, I’ll just trust;

Trust you to carry me on.

Image from: http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2012/03/waiting-on-god.html