Red Bird Devotions #30

One Ear Open

When my kids were just babies, and even when they got older, I could sleep soundly yet somehow wake to their slightest sigh.  I think mamas have this special ability--probably because they are so sleep deprived--to drift off, yet still listen for their very precious ones.  Oftentimes, my kids would just be crying in their sleep or reacting to a confusing dream, but I would hear them; then I would rise from my comfy bed and go to check on them.  I wanted to make sure all was well. Only when I knew they were safe could I go back to sleeping--with one ear open. 

Shouldn’t we do that with God too?  This world is very noisy. We can get lost in distraction. But, if we tune our ears to listen for even his slightest movement, his still small voice, we will be able to discern his “movement” even when our minds are elsewhere.  If we learn to listen with one ear open while we are going about our daily lives, we will be amazed at all he will show us.  Sometimes he may say, “Look at my sunrise.  I did it for you!” Or, “See that angry young woman? She needs you to notice her.”  Or “Even though you have been offended, offer grace.” Or sometimes, he will just say, “Slow down, Tori.  I need you to quit working and sit at my feet and listen.”  That’s when I need to stop, be silent, and open both ears wide.

When I tune my mama ears to listen to my Father, I learn the patterns, the cadences, the intonation of his voice. I see my small part in his big plan and I’m willing to move when he calls. 

Then, when I hear him stirring, I can rise from my grogginess, my forgetfulness, and my selfishness; I can rush into his presence saying, “Abba, Father, I am here!”

Abba, Father, I am here!

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" 

Isaiah 6:8

“Be still and know that I am God.”  Psalm 46:10

Red Bird Devotions #29

Uneven Exchange

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Do you understand what this is saying?  Do you hear the irony?

On the cross, at his very death, Perfect Jesus BECAME all of our petty, foolish, selfish, idolatrous, broken, wayward, ugly SIN so that we—unaware, unappreciative, unacceptable—could be reconciled to God.

…so that we—rejecting, regressing, reprehensible—someday might turn our hearts toward Him and call Him Father.

God had planned this intersection in human history before the creation of the world because He knew; he knew the hearts of His children.  He knew they would go their own way—a way of destruction, death, and disappointment. He knew His fellowship with them would suffer…and they would die…away from Him…UNLESS He intervened.

So intervene He did.  As only He could. 

A Holy God required a Holy Sacrifice—a Perfect Sacrifice—to pay the penalty for our rotten sins.  And so, that Holy God allowed Himself to become rotten, to become SIN, to descend to fiery Hell, so that the wrath of that same Holy God would be satisfied. 

We couldn’t do this—this perfect offering.  He knew this. He showed us this.  He became our Substitute…so we could become His Heart.

….and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

On that very day we mocked Him, Christ died for us.  We owe Him our very lives.  The uneven exchange is all in our favor.

In accepting Him, we receive life everlasting. 

In giving Himself, God receives us.

I think we got the better deal.

He was despised and rejected by men,
   a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
   he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities
   and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
   smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:3-5

Red Bird Devotions #28

Cart Correction

When it comes to carts, I think I am cursed.  It seems to never fail, that when I make my choice from that tangled mess of metal and madness in the entrance of Hy-Vee or Target, I end up with a defective one.  Really.

So, the other day as I was pushing my shopping cart, I noticed that I had to work especially hard at keeping it on the straight and narrow.  As I perused the endless aisles, I realized that I must apply heavy pressure on the right side of the handle so the left wheel wouldn’t push me into an oncoming customer.  I was exhausted by the time I got to the check out aisle and had to go home and take a nap after unloading my groceries.

This whole experience of fighting with my cart, the wheel wanting to go one way, and me pulling it back, made me think of how I am with God.  I constantly try to go my own way, think my own thoughts, bring myself the glory.  God, in His loving strength continues to pull me back on the right path through His Word, His people, His Glory.

Sometimes, though, I don’t respond to any of these, and He in His infinite wisdom, has to apply some pressure to my life so I won’t keep pulling away.  This pressure may come in the form of conviction or confusion or discontentment, and though it feels uncomfortable, it always turns me back to God…at least for a time.

And God, in His boundless mercy, continues to guide me patiently, knowing full well that I will stray from His path again and again and again.  Just like the wheel on the cart.

But still, He keeps holding on.

And He keeps guiding me so I won’t collide with disaster.

And I need to keep trusting Him and letting Him lead the way. 

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety, and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Proverbs 1:32-33

Red Bird Devotions #27

Life Saver

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 28:19-20

When I was just a wee little girl with no bangs (because my friend, Robin and I decided to cut them off with safety scissors during Kindergarten class), sometimes my mom would buy me Life Savers.  And I got to eat the whole roll myself.  And I loved this.  But what I really loved the most was that I was able to open them myself.  My mother had shown me how to pull the little blue paper string at the top of the roll and pull off the little silver top.  The fact that I knew how to do this formerly mysterious task thrilled my bang-less self and made me feel very grown up. Sometimes, my mom would even ask me to open her pack of gum using the same method, and when I did this, I felt so very helpful.

You know what?  God doesn’t need us.  He is fully capable of achieving His purposes and showing His glory without our help.  But, He loves us, and sometimes, because He is our Father, He lets us help with some of His tasks.  Sometimes, these tasks are small, like writing a note of encouragement, and sometimes, they are huge, like telling the nations about Jesus, but either way, we can feel good about being included in His plan.

He allows us to help Him “pull the string” because He wants us to know that we are part of the Kingdom, and He knows that we care much more about things in which we are invested.  By walking with God and watching for where He is working, we can get involved in His work and grow up in His grace.

‘Cause He is the real Life Saver, you know.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Colossians 3:4

Red Bird Devotions #26

Lingerer

lin·ger·ing

/ˈliNGɡ(ə)riNG/

Learn to pronounce

adjective

lasting for a long time or slow to end.

I've been thinking a lot about lingering lately.  Lingering around the dinner table.  Lingering in the forest when I take a walk. Lingering in the Word when I take the time to read it well.  

And I have been realizing that I haven't been lingering enough.

When I linger after a meal and forget about the clean up and about the dirty pans on the stove, I learn about Brent's excitement for a new project or his hopes for the future.  And as I look at his face and listen to his voice, I remember that I need to pray for him regularly and believe the best in him.  I remember what sweet gift God gave me when he gave me my husband.  I remember to linger, right now, in this beautiful relationship that is mine.

When I linger in the forest and feel the wind blowing the autumn leaves softly; when see them fall like rain upon my path, and when I hear them crunch beneath my feet, I remember that God didn't have to make the seasons change and provide such beauty each fall for us; but he chose to give us melodious birdsong and clean air and warm sunshine because he longs to care for us.  I remember to linger, right now, and recall that I serve the lavish God of creation.

When I linger in the Word of God written by him through divinely-inspired human hands, I remember that I can know him better by reading it, by meditating on it, by studying it.  When I read Scripture not to finish but to change, I tune my ear to listen for his voice. When I linger in these pages--his pages--I see the constant forgiveness he offers, the abundant grace he provides, and the unending devotion he displays to his children...like me.  I remember to linger, right now, at the feet of my Savior, reveling in the reality of his presence in my life.  

I want to remember to linger more.

I want to be present in every moment of this very precious life.  

I want a life well-lived, a mind well-used, a peace well-embodied.  I want to be well-known by Jesus. 

May I linger in his blessings, linger in his beauty, linger in his book.   

May my mind be captivated by loving, and lingering upon, our great and glorious God.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  

Luke 10:38-42

Red Bird Devotions #25

         Soul-full

        (Repost from May 17, 2011)

Jesus summed up commonsense carefulness in the life of a disciple as unbelief. If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.

--Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest

Whenever we put other things before God, there is confusion.

Sometimes I forget this.

And then I wonder why my life seems so rushed and chaotic and…confusing.

Ann Voskamp in One Thousand Gifts says, “Hurry always empties a soul.” When I am hurrying, I am not living in that moment, I am rushing to get to the next..and the next…and the next. This incessant urgency within me to be in control, to show my productivity, to get to the next task, is not about God. It does not glorify God. It does not give thanks to God. Because in my rush to make my life look just like I want it to look, I entertain not gratitude, but discontentment--discontentment about not completing my list; discontentment about having too much to do; discontentment about being stressed out; discontentment with my blessed life. This discontentment is not like God.

This lack of gratitude empties my soul.

I don’t want an empty soul.

As Voskamp says, “ I just want time to do my one life well.”

I want to focus on God and have perfect peace—He promises that peace if I steadfastly look upon Him.  He is right here. Right now. In this moment. And in the next.

Rushing ahead won’t help me see Him more clearly. Rushing ahead won’t give me that peace that I crave.

But putting Him first will.

O Lord, please slow my pace, clear my vision, and fill my soul with You.

Amen

Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
   He bustles about, but only in vain…

Psalm 39:6

You will keep in perfect peace
   him whose mind is steadfast,
   because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 26:3