Our family is in the middle of what could be a turbulent transition. I had a friend ask how it was that we came to our decision to suddenly move our family across the country without confidence in jobs or a real plan. The best answer I could offer was that we were doing our best to be good parents to the three sons God has brought into our lives. Though, when I think about it, taking such risks with our sons' welfare on the line doesn't seem like such "good parenting."
We are becoming practiced in faith-leaps these days. Neither my husband nor I are major risk-takers; we are actually more the follow-the-rules type. But we have been invited to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, in all our ways to acknowledge Christ so that the Lord can make our paths straight (Prov 3:5-6, my paraphrase).
I don't really know what to do with this whole concept, though. In the past we have "heard the voice of God" directing us here or there and have followed. Though we have always been cared for, the pathway has sometimes been bumpy. And now, in this decision that seems more like a knee-jerk reaction than following some kind of "master plan," we are watching as "everything falls into place." The problem for me is that I cannot imagine that God is not working out all things for our good: jobs seemingly falling from the sky; a place to live that will help us and some friends while the housing market is slow; the eager, positive support of our family and friends. During hard times I am not one to say resignedly, "Well, God does everything for a purpose; there must be a reason for this." But during this time of relief and good news upon good news, I am constantly inclined to give thanks and praise to God for offering us straight paths.
Is it possible that the Lord is the God of the Gospel? The Good News? And that while God walks with us through the darkness of bad news and bumpy roads, God's actions are designed to bring about joy and peace and hope? I have more questions than answers about God's activity among us, but I confess with hope that "this is Our Father's world" and that "God is the ruler yet."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Contentment
Contentment. Not my middle name. In fact, I find myself constantly looking around the corner for change and newness. I am an unsettled person, yet I long to find joy and peace in the present. I often fool myself into believing that those blessings are just around the corner, and that I will experience them when I am finally situatied in the right circumstances.
I have a feeling contentment was not part of Apostle Paul's identity either. He was a mover and a shaker. He was a get-it-done guy. Passion and drive make contentment difficult to experience. "I have learned to be content" (Phil 4:11b) is Paul's confession of faith. "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" (Phil 4:12b). And the secret is this: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).
The "all things" to be done through the strength of Jesus is not my list of desired accomplishments or my agenda for success (even successful ministry). Instead, the gift of strength is for contentment. At least for those like Paul and like me who have to strong-arm our restlessness into contentment.
I am glad to know I am in good company. I am even happier to know that there is hope for my restless condition. I look forward to contentment. Ah! Alas! The moment is NOW!
I have a feeling contentment was not part of Apostle Paul's identity either. He was a mover and a shaker. He was a get-it-done guy. Passion and drive make contentment difficult to experience. "I have learned to be content" (Phil 4:11b) is Paul's confession of faith. "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation" (Phil 4:12b). And the secret is this: "I can do all this through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13).
The "all things" to be done through the strength of Jesus is not my list of desired accomplishments or my agenda for success (even successful ministry). Instead, the gift of strength is for contentment. At least for those like Paul and like me who have to strong-arm our restlessness into contentment.
I am glad to know I am in good company. I am even happier to know that there is hope for my restless condition. I look forward to contentment. Ah! Alas! The moment is NOW!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Power of God
There is no mistaking the omnipotent power of God described in Isaiah 40:12-31. God is the one who holds the waters of the earth in the hollow of God's hand and the dust of the earth in a basket. God is the One who rules on high and rules supreme over all.
The first reading for reflection in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, week 34, is a quote from Prayer by Simon Tugwell. He writes, "It is assumed that if God is omnipotent he can do anything; but this is not strictly true . . . he has chosen to work in such a way that we can interfere, and interfere very drastically, with his creation." This is evidenced in the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar from Genesis 16, 21. Sarah and Abraham "interfered very drastically" with God's purposes. Instead of allowing God room to make them the parents of the many nations who would be blessed to be a blessing for all nations, they took matters into their own hands. In their impatience and lack of faith (or perhaps ignorance and lack of understanding), they attempted to help God out by using Hagar as a means to accomplishing their own desire to be blessed by God.
And while God did not stop them from interfering, neither did God step aside and allow their interference to thwart God's ultimate purposes of redemption. God's omnipotent power is revealed as the power to create, in this case, the power to create an alternative, imaginative resolution to the mess our kind had made. God does not force or coerce or fight. In fact, "God makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth; God breaks the bow and shatters the spear, God burns the shields with fire" (Ps. 46:9 NIV). Instead, God creates. God imagines an alternative reality.
This is the sort of power of God that I need to help bring about alternative realities to the world in which I live. I need the creative imagination of God to discover redemptive pathways of guidance and discipline for my young boys as they are growing. I find that fighting and yelling and using force is what comes most naturally to me. I can get away with bullying them into my design for their living because I am yet bigger and smarter than they. And yet I find that weilding this kind of power leaves me empty and wanting. And it does not lead to redemptive relationships. In fact, I see my faltering tactics on display before me as my children reenact my powerplays on each other. And I am grieved.
It is the more resistant soil of creation and imagination that needs to be cultivated in me. This is the power of God for reconciliation, redemption, hope. This is the imago dei I long to be reflected in my life as God's child.
The first reading for reflection in A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, week 34, is a quote from Prayer by Simon Tugwell. He writes, "It is assumed that if God is omnipotent he can do anything; but this is not strictly true . . . he has chosen to work in such a way that we can interfere, and interfere very drastically, with his creation." This is evidenced in the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar from Genesis 16, 21. Sarah and Abraham "interfered very drastically" with God's purposes. Instead of allowing God room to make them the parents of the many nations who would be blessed to be a blessing for all nations, they took matters into their own hands. In their impatience and lack of faith (or perhaps ignorance and lack of understanding), they attempted to help God out by using Hagar as a means to accomplishing their own desire to be blessed by God.
And while God did not stop them from interfering, neither did God step aside and allow their interference to thwart God's ultimate purposes of redemption. God's omnipotent power is revealed as the power to create, in this case, the power to create an alternative, imaginative resolution to the mess our kind had made. God does not force or coerce or fight. In fact, "God makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth; God breaks the bow and shatters the spear, God burns the shields with fire" (Ps. 46:9 NIV). Instead, God creates. God imagines an alternative reality.
This is the sort of power of God that I need to help bring about alternative realities to the world in which I live. I need the creative imagination of God to discover redemptive pathways of guidance and discipline for my young boys as they are growing. I find that fighting and yelling and using force is what comes most naturally to me. I can get away with bullying them into my design for their living because I am yet bigger and smarter than they. And yet I find that weilding this kind of power leaves me empty and wanting. And it does not lead to redemptive relationships. In fact, I see my faltering tactics on display before me as my children reenact my powerplays on each other. And I am grieved.
It is the more resistant soil of creation and imagination that needs to be cultivated in me. This is the power of God for reconciliation, redemption, hope. This is the imago dei I long to be reflected in my life as God's child.
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