In need of a Shelter

If you're like me the pressure of life presses in more often than you would like to admit. The frantic pace of trying to make ends meet, keeping up with kid's schedules, pursuing an illusive dream. The aching weariness of a constant stream of bad news. I can't even watch the evening news anymore; killings, hunger, disappointment, disaster, corruption, immorality, a steady dose I just can't ingest. The sorrow of a family member's illness, the fatigue of training up children in this world, the disappointment of personal shortcomings.

It all settles tight between the shoulder blades and threatens to overwhelm. Those moments, which are oddly interspersed with delight and wonder, crop up weed-like so often. When they do my heart is refreshed by remembering the words of Psalm 18:

As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great. You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way. 

I don't know what weariness you are laboring under, what dreams you are investing in, what hurt is burning in your chest. But I do know the God who is your Rock and mine. He calls, he trains, he protects, and is patient. You've heard it before, but maybe you need to hear it again, God is for you.

Today if your heart is heavy, or maybe you are feeling worn around the edges, take courage, God has offered himself as your shelter. He never wearies of caring for his own and teaching us how to battle in his strength. 

Can I pray for us?
God as the world whirs on, noisy and fitful, quiet our hearts in your presence. Remind us to turn our eyes to you, knowing you always care for your people. Be our Rock, our shield, our safe place of peace. Your good news of grace and truth outshines the ugly of this world any day. Thank you God. Amen.

Prayer God Loves to Answer

For years I have been mystified by passages like James 5:17-18; "Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

What is the key to praying bold prayers that God answers with a yes? What kind of prayer "moves mountains"? I'm coming to learn context is everything and so is our heart's desire.

I acknowledge that God is capable of making the sun stand still, parting the Red Sea, causing a three and a half year drought, even of raising the dead. But does an awareness of God's ability translate into faith? Faith is an intimate understanding that God is who he says he is and will do what he has said he will do, our faith is a response to his faithfulness.

What enabled a man, just like us, to pray an audacious prayer that God answered? I believe context is key. Elijah was intimate with the heart of God, he understood God's purposes in his generation, and acted in accordance with God's plan. Elijah's faith in God's faithfulness, belief in his power, and awareness of God's purpose in that time and place led him to pray with confidence.

Israel needed to be reminded of God's authority and he chose Elijah to be his messenger. Elijah had confidence in his God given purpose. It was out of an understanding that Israel needed to be reminded of God's authority that Elijah prayed.

Does that mean we can pray and God will dry up the clouds for three plus years. Yes and no. Elijah had no super powers. When God calls his people he prepares them to pray boldly according to his faithfulness and power.

I've seen people name, claim, and carry on over things they are sure God will do or give. And yet the answers still seem to allude or be manufactured. God is not bound to please us he is bound to glorify himself. Of course God can do anything, but we would be wise to pray for things far beyond our control or ability only after we have taken the time to know God's heartbeat and learned how he has purposed to use us in this place and time for his glory.

Could God use you or me to pray and dry up rain for years? Yes. Will he? I doubt it. I am not in Elijah's generation, facing the problems of his time, I am not purposed for what Elijah was purposed for. And neither are you. People like Elijah are examples of how God uses those who are willing to serve his purposes, not patterns to follow exactly.

Are you frustrated in your prayer life? Are you afraid to pray boldly? Or does God not seem to answer?

Ask God to reveal his heart, to align your heart to his, to inform your prayers with scripture, and to make you aware of his purpose for you in this generation. His purpose is always to glorify himself and to include you in that goal.

Calling all Mothers

On this Mother's Day as I sat in church with my two precious children, surrounded by my amazing church family, a whisper of sorrow wound it's way around my heart. The blue eyed boy my heart loves wasn't with me.

Being a mother has been my greatest challenge and an amazing gift. The love that comes from caring for someone small and vulnerable has expanded my ability to love. I'm finding the capacity to care for someone that needs protecting doesn't stop with my own children. My mother's heart rises up in indignation when I hear of a child taken advantage of or neglected.

Perhaps that's what God intended, for mother's to extend that nurture and influence as a spiritual reality to others. The little boy who lies in a crib in Serbia isn't my responsibility. I didn't give birth to him. I didn't abandon him when his body succumbed to disease. But I've seen him, and perhaps a heart that can see and love is responsible to be a mother, even to a child that's not hers. 

Perhaps I've beat this drum a lot lately, a call of love for the broken and needy. But I think I've just gotten started and the beat will only grow louder. The world needs mothers (and father's too for that matter but today is Mother's Day so I'll stay on topic).

The world needs mothers to ease a hurting heart, to be an advocate in weakness, to notice when something's wrong and take the time to make it right. The world needs mothers to stretch out their hands in a soothing touch, smile in pride at faltering steps, forgive, cheer, clean, mend, and do it again tomorrow. 

So even from a distance I'll learn to be a mother to a world I didn't birth but am learning to see. Will you join me moms? Strap on your super cape and reach into your mother's tool box and embrace the world. The world is our responsibility not because we gave birth to it but because we've been given our motherhood by the One who taught us to love in the first place and he's inviting us to turn our superpowers of love on those who aren't our own.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:9-12