Interruptions

I've normally got all my days planned out pretty well. I wake up, get dressed, work 9 hours, play with my children, talk with my wife, read, and then go to bed. I guess you could say this daily schedule is my sovereign will. It's what I intend to do for the day.

But often times there a lot of interruptions. Some interruptions I am able to ignore. Some are much more, well, interrupting. These kind of interruptions are able to alter the course of my day because they come from those who are relying on me the most - my loved ones. 

For example one time I got a call from my son's school, telling me he had a fever of 103. Without even thinking I got up and completely disregarded the remainder of my daily routine. I had to go pick my son up and be with him. He needed my help.

Another time my wife called me at work saying she was going into labor - my two sons were ready to be born. By the time I got home I think my car was still in Drive as I jumped out. My family needed me. These kind of interruptions are unavoidable. Some are even welcomed.

God is like that too. After all, He made us in His image. He may have some things lined up for the days, years, decades and centuries; but He stops in His tracks when His loved ones call. "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" - 2 Chron. 16:9. Much like a GPS, God turns off the intended path and then "recalculates" based on our hearts - our needs - our prayers.

See, God is first relational, then sovereign. Responsive, then organized. Emotional, then assertive. We have the amazing ability to tug on His heart strings.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

Freedom

I heard a story about how elephants are tamed so that they can be used to help with harvesting teke trees in Thailand. What the people do is they take a wild elephant and tie a chain around one of their back legs, and then tie the other end of the chain to a small tree.

The elephant tries to pull and pull but the tree just flexes and the elephant cannot get free. After a while the elephant continues to pull, but the chain around it's leg starts to dig into its skin and cause pain, so it doesn't pull as hard after that. After a while the elephant stops pulling completely. 

At this point the people untie the chain from the tree, but they leave the chain on the elephant's leg. The elephant sees that the chain is still around his leg, so it doesn't try to get free. It thinks it is still captured and is scared about the potential pain of trying to break free. So, it doesn't run. Even though the elephant is far more powerful than the people, it doesn't fight them because it still sees the chain.

This is a very sad story, and unfortunately it is also the state of many Christians. Often times the enemy - and even other people in our lives such as our friends or family - will remind us of our past. What this does is remind us of the chains of our past life. In discouragement and shame we hang our heads, drop our weapons and slip back into the very bondage we have been set free from, except this time it's all in our heads.

We must let God's voice be louder than the voice of the world - louder than the enemy - louder than our friends - louder than our family and LOUDER than even ourselves. What God says about you is true. Free. Forgiven. Loved. Powerful. This is who you are. Everything else is just noise.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1

Forgiven

The other day my son Owen spilled his big glass of milk on the kitchen table. It flowed across the table, through the cracks, off the table onto the chairs, and finally started pooling on the floor.

Now, before I go any further let me tell you that I used to get much more, well, angry, when this kind of thing happened. I used to bark out things like, "You need to be more careful!" or "Why weren't you paying attention?!?" I used to deal out big doses of shame when these kinds of things happened. But since then I've gotten a lot better - a lot more even-keeled - because I've realized that I'm also a milk-spiller. See, Owen was born into a family of milk-spillers.

After surveying the flood, Owen looked up at me and our eyes met. His eyes were big, his mouth was open. We looked at each other for a short time, then the initial panic of the moment wore off and I gave him a little smirk and said, "That was a big one Owen." Amused and relieved about my smile, he smiled also and said, "I'm sorry Daddy." My grace led to his repentance.

But the truth was, I didn't need to forgive him in that moment. I'm sure he will make some other mistakes that are, well, more intentional, but my love for him and forgiveness of him isn't dependent on his behavior. Every mistake he makes, throughout his whole life whether it's past, present or future, is forgiven. He is my son. See, I didn't forgive him when he said "I'm sorry", I forgave him when he was born into my family. He is my son. The "sorry" wasn't for me, it was for him. He wanted, he needed, to let me know he recognized the mistake, that there was no need for discipline - no need for a teaching moment. He needed to let me know that he agrees with me about clean tables being better than messy ones. I knew he was sorry even before the milk spilled.

This is how it is with God too. I think often we are so busy riding the roller coaster of performance-based love and forgiveness that we don't realize God isn't even on the roller coaster - He is over by the river floating on an inner tube, motioning for us to join Him. He already rode that roller coaster. Now He is "finished".

See, God loves you. If you are His child there is literally nothing you can do about it. Grab an inner tube and plop yourself down in the river of grace. Your Father is waiting, with a smirk on His face.

Experience

When I go on business trips I tend to miss my family quite a bit. Unlike others in my office, I don't enjoy being away from them. Sometimes while I'm gone I get opportunities to see different attractions such as beaches or museums, but I don't really enjoy these things like I do when Susie is with me. Experiencing new things just isn't the same without her.

To help with the loneliness I suppose I could go to the bookstore and read about marriages or how to best raise a family - I could read stories about good marriages and that kind of thing. I could even memorize passages of the books so I could recall them later. It would actually be really helpful and useful. I would grow a lot in my understanding of marriage, I would learn what makes marriages work well, what good marriages look like, who I am as a husband, how to be a good husband & father and that kind of thing. I would be sowing into my marriage.

But, calling Susie on the phone is way better. The bookstore would be great and it's filled with great truths, but Susie is my wife - not a subject. I would much rather spend time with her than read about her. Better yet, have her come with me to the bookstore. Susie is my focus, not her biography. I need to stay attentive because sometimes she says things and does things that are not written in the marriage book. She never contradicts the marriage book, she just gives me fresh content to work with.

See, marriage is a dynamic relationship, not a doctrine or a statement of faith. The Bible says this is how we should relate to God - "in Spirit and in truth." Relationships can be messy - even unpredictable at times - but they have no substitute. If faith becomes predictable, it's a good indication we are falling out of relationship. Without spending time with one another, relationships become dysfunctional. Dry. Dead. It’s not only what God said yesterday, it’s what God is saying today. God is a relational being – He didn’t speak out the words of the Bible and then zip His mouth shut – He allows us to experience Himself. It’s an ongoing, experiential relationship. That’s what the Holy Spirit is all about.

Yet, especially in our western post-enlightenment culture where scientific rationalism is emphasized and experience is downplayed as too "subjective", we throw the baby out with the bathwater. We throw out the relationship as being too messy - too unpredictable. We prefer to read about our Spouse instead of interact with His Spirit because it's more comfortable and familiar to us. We haven't learned how to use all the features of our spiritual phones so we stay in the bookstore. After all, “those Holy Spirit folks are too weird and unpredictable. They believe in all that weird relational stuff – the stuff the marriage book talks about. Just give me the book keep it to an hour." Yet ironically, it's only through experience that we truly come to know someone.

One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Matthew 9:17 where Jesus talks about how we need to put new wine into new wineskins. Basically what He is saying is that new batches of wine will expand as it ferments in its container and burst the old wineskin (container). So, we need to put new wine into new wineskins which are still flexible enough to handle the expansion – kind of like filling a water balloon. Essentially what this means for us is that God is going to stretch us, and if we are not flexible we will burst. That’s why Jesus chewed out the Pharisees so much – they were rigid Bible thumpers who closed themselves off to fresh moves of God. They claimed to be all about God’s Word while ignoring the heart of what He said. Jesus didn’t fit into their small boxes of understanding – He broke their wineskins.

May we always leave room for new wine. May we always remain flexible and respect what God is saying and doing through others. God has billions of intimate relationships going on right now and He has lots to say to each one of us. May we pick up our spiritual phone and ask the Holy Spirit how to use it – all the features – even if it seems a little weird at first.

The Wrench

There's a scene in the movie "Good Will Hunting" where Will (Matt Damon) is talking with Sean (Robin Williams) about how his father used to beat him. He was telling Sean how his father would put a belt, a stick and a wrench on the table and then make Will choose which one he wanted to be beat with. The story is heartbreaking.

Sean said "You chose the belt, right?"

Will said, "No, I used to go with the wrench"

Sean said, "The wrench? Why"

Will said, "Because 'F' him, that's why"

I don't know why, but that scene has always stuck with me. Why chose to endure more pain than necessary? Why chose a weapon that can inflict so much damage?

In the Old Testament when people would sacrifice animals for the forgiveness of their sins, they would bring a lamb to the altar and then it's throat would be slit. The lamb wouldn't suffer, it would just bleed out and die. Using the imagery from the movie, the lamb would get "the belt" - the easier of the three choices. No unnecessary pain, no unnecessary suffering.

So, once we get to the New Testament when Jesus died to take away the sins of the world, why on earth would Jesus choose the wrench? Why on earth would He choose to endure all that suffering instead of just getting His throat slit? All He had to do is die for us to be forgiven. All the Jews had to do is walk up to Him and slit His throat and we would still be forgiven. He was the perfect sacrifice. So, why the wrench? Why all the whipping, the spitting, the scourging, the thorns, the mocking, the suffocation, the nails, the torture?

Jesus chose the wrench - the nails - because He wanted to give us much more than forgiveness. He wanted to give us a hope and a future - "abundant life". He wanted to buy us the entire benefits package which included internal peace, freedom from sorrow & depression, freedom from pain, freedom from addiction, freedom from sickness & disease - all of which He described as the work of the enemy - the devil. "FOR THIS PURPOSE the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

See, Jesus came for more than our forgiveness - He came for us. We are not only forgiven, we are made whole. Not later, now. The devil had a field day with all the "killing, stealing and destroying" he had done. There was a LOT for Jesus to clean up - a lot for Him to make right - a lot more than forgiveness was needed.

That is what the Christian life is all about - understanding the finished work of Jesus and appropriating that work on earth as it is in heaven. Enforcing His victory. We may not understand it all right away - we may not understand why some people are miraculously healed and why some are not. But it is our calling & duty to lean into the finished work of the cross and make it happen as Christ's ambassadors. Jesus said that "believers will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." When people do not appear to be healed, we do not doubt God's Word - we do not doubt the wounds of Jesus - we keep pressing in until we get our breakthrough. There is a lot more going on in the spiritual realm than meets the eye. Jesus told many stories about how we need to keep knocking, seeking, finding. We need to be like the persistent widow who kept pressing and pressing until she got what she wanted (Luke 18). It's always God's will for us to be whole - for us to be healed. Jesus died for it.

He chose the wrench. He chose level 10 pain for level 10 blessings. He chose healing. He chose wholeness. He chose the full benefits package. He chose you.

"Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains -- he hath carried them, And we -- we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted. And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace [is] on him, And by his bruise there is healing to us." - Isaiah 53:4-5

Repent?

The church is kind of funny sometimes. We tell people salvation is a free gift they can't earn, but we then tell them repentance is the prerequisite to salvation. But if my salvation is hinging on my repentance, I'm in big trouble because I've often had to repent of the same sin over and over and over again. Does this mean my repentance was never genuine and that I'm no longer saved?

Do you see the problem with this? Thousands of people who really love God have been pulling their hair out for years because they have been riding a roller coaster of grace mixed with works. New wine inside of old wineskins. Grace mixed with law. If there's poop in my salad I'm sorry but I'll pass. This is not the Gospel (good news). This is really bad news actually. 

Salvation (being made whole) is God's grace plus nothing (Eph. 2:9). Grace is a free gift. Zero payment is required. The notion of you doing anything for it is completely obsolete (Heb. 8:13). The notion of you striving for God's approval has passed away. As Jesus died on the cross, He exclaimed "It is finished!" We shout the same thing, and in thankfulness fall to our knees as we realize the immense debt which was wiped away from us. As we lift our heads and wipe away the tears of joy, our eyes slowly come to focus in on the King who saved us - this King who saw EVERYTHING in us and yet washed it away like it was nothing. As far as the east is from the west. How can this be? What kind of love does this? Welcome to repentance.

To repent means to change our minds. All those street-corner preachers have given the word 'repent' a lot of negative baggage throughout the years, but all it means is "to turn" or "to change your mind" - that's all. It's the natural response to God's kindness.

I think as the church we often focus in on telling people they need to "repent" but that's like telling people to be thankful for something they don't know they have received. What we need to do is tell people about God's love and kindness - about all that He has done for them - and the repentance will take care of itself. It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, not ours. He is much better at it anyway.

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Cor. 5:18-21

Recalculating

I've normally got all my days planned out pretty well. I wake up, get dressed, work 9 hours, play with my children, talk with my wife, read, and then go to bed. I guess you could say this daily schedule is my sovereign will. It's what I intend to do for the day.

But often times there a lot of interruptions. Some interruptions I am able to ignore. Some are much more, well, interrupting. These kind of interruptions are able to alter the course of my day because they come from those who are relying on me the most - my loved ones. 

For example one time I got a call from my son's school, telling me he had a fever of 103. Without even thinking I got up and completely disregarded the remainder of my daily routine. I had to go pick my son up and be with him. He needed my help.

Another time my wife called me at work saying she was going into labor - my two sons were ready to be born. By the time I got home I think my car was still in Drive as I jumped out. My family needed me. These kind of interruptions are unavoidable. Some are even welcomed.

God is like that too. After all, He made us in His image. He may have some things lined up for the days, years, decades and centuries; but He stops in His tracks when His loved ones call. "The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" - 2 Chron. 16:9. Much like a GPS, God turns off the intended path and then "recalculates" based on our hearts - our needs - our prayers.

See, God is first relational, then sovereign. Responsive, then organized. Emotional, then assertive. We have the amazing ability to tug on His heart strings.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.