A New Refrain for Your Days

Since it is the beginning of the year, my Bible reading program includes a chapter from one of the gospels each morning.  Recently I finished Matthew and started in on Mark.  As usual, I was struck by the story of Jesus calling Levi, who held the despised position of tax collector.  He says to him, as to the other eleven He called, "Follow me."  Levi, (later to be called Matthew), got up and followed him.  Then Jesus goes and has dinner at Levi-the-sinner's house, dining with him and other undesirables and drawing the disdain of the Pharisees for such unclean behavior.  Doesn't He know with whom He is dining?!

Well, in fact, He does.  His reply to the Pharisees about why He eats with tax collectors and 'sinners'? It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Surely hundreds, if not thousands, of sermons have been preached on this passage, highlighting various things we can learn about God and ourselves.  Here is what stuck out to me: in every instance that Jesus calls someone to Himself, He is recorded as saying, "Follow me."  He doesn't give any prerequisites and His authority doesn't demand that he give any explanation.  He looks people in the eye, says Follow me, and they do!

I want to respond in the same way, with this new refrain for my days, LEAD THE WAY, LORD!

What does that look like?  Some examples:

When my children are ignoring or blatantly disobeying, making my blood boil, and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When I start to feel overwhelmed by how behind I am on all things "life" and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When I am caught in sin (anger, pride, self-love, etc.) and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When unexpected financial, relational, emotional, or spiritual challenges arise and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When someone comes to me for counsel, I feel ill-equipped, and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When I feel paralyzed by insecurity, rational or not, and I hear Jesus say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

When the Lord calls me to something I'm sure is out of my league, and I hear Him say, Follow me,

to respond, Lead the way, Lord!

The way of the Lord is simply to follow Him!  He does not expect us to be Him.  Yes, He desires for us to grow in likeness to Him, but that is done in the daily following of our Savior.  It is in the following (listening for His voice and guidance through our days) that we are transformed into people described by the love in 1 Corinthians 13: patient, kind, not envying, not boasting, not self-seeking, not keeping records of wrong, rejoicers in the truth, people who protect, trust, hope, and persevere.  We grow in loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind by following Christ.  We grow in loving our neighbor as our self by following Christ.  We need never run ahead, we need only to let Him take the lead.  Since He is love, He will never fail us.

So, whaddaya say?  Will you join me in the refrain?

Let's pray: Lead the way, Lord!

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2016 Word of the Year: Surrender

Making resolutions is fun to me; it's a personality hazard!  But like many, I love a new year full of possibility for positive change.  When I was young we had a tradition of making resolutions together as a family.  My dad kept a folder of our yearly goals and we'd reread them each year.  My siblings and I would make "resolution booths" out of couch cushions and pillows and set our sights high: quit wetting the bed, stop biting nails, learn to read, etc.  As we aged, our resolutions continued to be age-appropriate: read more or specific books, organize something, get better grades, etc.  I love these memories!

Last year, the Lord guided me in a new direction, planting the idea of a 'theme word' for the year, one I could focus on and watch Him use to transform me.  For much of last year, I wrote about being OPEN regularly, to keep myself accountable to that God-given word.  As 2015 was drawing to a close, another word kept coming up enough that it occurred to me that I should maybe pay attention: SURRENDER.

Truth be told, I find this word terrifying.  When I think of surrendering I think of having to let go and give up on things I hold dear, whether or not they are good for me or honor God.  I visualize myself clinging tightly to idols that might as well be golden calves, for as they are just as deaf, mute, and useless as idols made of stone and metal.  I picture SURRENDER looking like un-clinging to those idols and clinging instead to our Savior.

Well, I wrote the previous three paragraphs a couple of weeks ago.  Looks like I didn't make a very strong blogging resolution for the year!  The last week has been quite interesting, though.  Here I am fearing having to SURRENDER because I love myself and my golden calves so much, and God has been driving home to me that He is merciful, loving, and kind.  I cannot get through a day without being overwhelmed by His never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love, to borrow a phrase from The Jesus Storybook Bible.

God is killing me with kindness!

And I'm finding His kindness is unlike any other.  From stories of His chosen people and their deceitful, dishonest, and impure ways I have been reading in my study times, to the quiet whispers of the Spirit to my soul that say, Heather, you really are forgiven.  God truly loves you as His child, I have been floored daily by this incredible God who owes me nothing but gives me everything, even Himself.

Of course, as a Christian I know that God is love and all that jazz, but it has been humbling and heart-freeing to be the object of His direct and consistent instruction from His word and Spirit that HE LOVES ME.

The Truth makes me want to live differently,

with my family, my friends, at the grocery store -
a joyful surrender in response to His love.

I'm convicted, but hopeful, because if God loves and forgives me, surely He can transform me.  I won't be forever bound by my chains of addition to praise, fear of failure, the prideful need to be the best, the constant need to compare, quick anger and frustration.  My Father loves me.  It is well with my soul.  Every day I can repent and believe the good news!

I have several stories to share about how Scripture reading has been piercing my heart and uplifting it.  I will do my best to share them over the next few weeks, because friends, God's word is the best fuel for our faith.  Watching the Lord "in action" with His people throughout history, reading about Him walking the streets of Earth, and meditating on the praise of the Psalms and wisdom of the Proverbs changes the way we think and sparks our spirit to life.  New life!

Dear reader, are you exposing yourself to and availing yourself of the Word of God more than on Sunday mornings?  You don't need an over-the-top plan or resolution, simply a commitment to crack the book or the app open and take in something.  If you need ideas, I'd be happy to help you come up with something.  I am confident, because of God's never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love, that regular meditation on the Word will make 2016 a different year for all us!

Finally, if you have a theme word for the year, I'd love to hear about it!

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A Stronger Marriage Starts with You

Did any of you make a resolution to strengthen your marriage in 2016?  If so, I have a couple of tips I learned years ago that have helped me to make our marriage more healthy.  The truth is you can do nothing to change your spouse.  The only one you have control of in any relationship is yourself.  Perhaps 2016 can be the year of no more finger pointing in your marriage!  Well, we are human, so how about a lot less finger pointing and significantly more uplifting.

Two practices have helped me immensely and fertilized the soil of our marriage to help good fruit grow.  Grateful to those who let me in on these bits of wisdom - though I don't remember who they are - I pass them on to you.  I write from the perspective of the wife, but husbands may benefit from applying these as well.  Of course, I can't be sure, because I've never been a husband!

#1 Do not speak ill of your husband to others.  You know those Scripture verses about only speaking that which will build up others?  Those apply to relationships with all people, including your husband.  Take this to heart.  It is a gift to your husband to know he never has to worry about you mocking or speaking ill of him in public or even in a private conversation with a close friend. 

Give yourself a check-up: Are you quick to jump into bemoaning with other wives at the way your husband is such a failure?  Or do you readily and regularly find ways to praise him, at home and when you are out?

#2 Be the kind of person you would like to come home to.  You probably have a laundry list of things you'd like your husband to do and ways that he is not meeting your expectations.  But when you greet your husband at the end of a work day or first thing in the morning, throw in a little of Jesus instruction, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  This word applies not only outside our home, but in them, too, with our closest neighbors, family.

Give yourself a check-up: Are you the kind of person you would want to come home to?  Do you regularly nag, belittle, and criticize?  Or do you habitually embrace, encourage, and build up?

We cannot control or change our spouse behavior, but the Lord calls us to live righteously regardless of how others treat us (or our perception of how poorly we're being treated).  Looking to our Savior reminds us that He calls us to nothing more that what He gave, did, and does for us.  He will also help and strengthen us to choose our spouse above our self.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!  Philippians 2:5-8

Now, you won't need to die on a cross, but sometimes not getting our way can sure feel like dying!  And let me add one more thing: God sees.  He sees you striving toward righteousness and the Bible says He will greet you at the gates of heaven with, Well done good and faithful servant!  If you keep reading there in Philippians 2, you'll learn about God's reward to Christ for taking sin upon His shoulders and obeying to the end.  God sees and He is near.  Don't you forget it!

Give these two simple marriage-strengthening practices a go.  May 2016 be a year of less finger pointing and more "love one another".  I am confident it will make a difference in your marriage, in your heart, and in your relationship with the Lord in this new year!

Before You Make That List of Resolutions ...

Happy new year, friends!  As we welcome 2016 I want to share Psalm 1 with you.

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers. 

Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

I open the year here on Life in the Valley this way, because the start to a new year can make us a little nuts.  Giddily we set goals and make plans for the coming year, resolving that this will be the year of grand transformation and productivity!  Of course, that year has never happened according to our plans.  And though we have grown and changed and developed new habits over the years as a result of a little planning, resolutions never result in the complete transformation we desire.

One of my biggest troubles is getting obsessed with making precisely the right choice in every situation. The problem with this is that there are many options in most situations that could be equally as fine.  Some examples: Spend time with people or spend time alone?  Hang out with the family or get a chore done?  Commit to plans at the weekend or leave it open?  Spend money on this thing or save for another?  And so on and so forth.  I can make myself crazy worrying about making the "right" choice, rather than relaxing, making a decision, and letting the time (or money or whatever) be spent as it is spent and letting life unfold however it does.  Even in the middle of certain activities, I can find myself fretting that I'm not able to simultaneously do the other thing that seems pressing.  Can you relate?

I am certain this is NOT how God wants me, or you, to live!  He has not called his children to live in a state of constant internal frenzy, panic, and fear!  Jesus talked, after all, about righteousness in conjunction with peace and soul-rest.

Which brings me back to Psalm 1, Blessed is the one.  The "one" described is the person who forsakes the way of the world for the way of God, delighting in and meditating on His law.  His heart is oriented toward the Lord, and consequently, he is deeply rooted, fruitful, healthy, and prosperous.  In contrast, the "wicked", those not oriented toward their Creator, are not connected, rooted, fed, and growing.  As easily as wind blows away chaff, they will be blown away and unable to stand before the Lord with the righteous.

Now, at this point you might be thinking, "That's not very nice."  But we are dealing here with the Word of the Lord and He has laid out these two options for us: His way or our own.  He is also quite clear, from Genesis to Revelation, about the results of each path.  To know life, we must choose His way.  "Wickedness", i.e. our own way, leads only to death and separation from Him.  Check out the final verse; it's a good summary of this:

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

In those words I find great comfort and instruction for my frenzied heart and mind, that fear failure by not getting everything "right."  I pray you will find balm for your soul in these words, too.  Here's it is.  Those who walk in God's way are being watched over by their Lord.  God's people are called to know and obey His law, of course, but they are also cared for, sustained,  and preserved by the law-giver!  We may be fickle and inconsistent, but the Lord is not.  Blessed be His holy name!

Starting 2016 here fills me with hope.  The Lord is not calling us to get life "right".  He is calling us to live life with our faces, hearts, and minds turned toward Him.  As His children, we can begin this new year confident that He is watching over our way!  We can also take heart, knowing that in choosing Him He will make us as trees planted by streams of water, deeply rooted, fruitful, healthy, and prosperous, to His glory and praise.

Make those resolutions, they help us grow.  (I've got my "word of the year" all ready to go!)  But first, bow the knee, so you're in the right position before the Lord and can give HIM the honor and praise for the growth that comes over the next twelve months.

Happy new year!

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