The weight of your shadow (revisited)

This is a post from 2008.  These words continue to challenge me even today.  I thought I would share them with you once more. I hope you enjoy these musings from eight years ago.

This evening I've been thinking about the lives that have been changed or influenced by the shadow of my life as our lives pass each other. I have been thinking about it as I reflect on my son's life. As I mentioned in the last post he turned 33 today. In my thoughts over the last 33 years I have thought about his life and the lives of others who have found themselves in the shadow of my passing. I will be honest that there are some I have hurt and others I have helped. I have cared for many, but I'm sure I simply didn't see some who were looking to me for help, friendship or encouragement. In this life we will never really know the impact of our lives on the lives of others. Some we have helped, some we have disappointed. The weight of our shadows is much more than we realize. That's why Jesus told his disciples that the most important thing we can do in our lives is to love God first, and then love one another. What he was communicating was that the most important things in our lives are our relationships with God and each other. My impact on eternity is closely connected to how I treat others as my shadow and I pass by. As I have thought about this I have been reading notes from people whose lives have been touched by the shadow of my life. Some have been changed, some were hurt or disappointed by me, some were helped and others found direction as I shared what God had done in my life. All of these thoughts and lives make me keenly aware of the weight of my shadow. Our shadows are much heavier than we will ever know. When you have a moment read Philippians 2:1-11 and pray about the weight of your shadow as the sun rises on the new day ahead.

Molding me

We each become the person we really want to be  

Daily we are cultivating the person 

that will be remembered by others  

Moment by moment we make decisions

that etch that person more clearly 

into who we will forever be

We become the person we really want to be

Like clay in the hands of a potter

I create the vessel that is me

A cruel word here

a hidden sin there

an angry response in a moment

all make an impression

on the clay that is me

And in time that clay hardens

and others see the work of my life

Some choose a different style 

of pottery

They are more intentional,

less careless

They gently seek another outcome

With a softer touch they return

a harsh word with love

They respond to a hurt with a prayer

When they lose something precious

they release it to God and choose

forgiveness

The clay forms differently for them

It's a softer vessel, gentle lines

Its very look speaks of grace

as the potter responds to the grace

 received from God

As his vessel hardens it looks so different

It's attractive, appealing, refreshing

It's a vessel that gives a smile, a kind word

a gentle touch no matter what is done to it

As the years pass I'm daily molding me,

the vessel I will be

The clay hardens and I reveal to the world

the work of the craftsman

A work of love and grace or

a work of selfishness and resentment

When I see an older person I know

what they did with the clay that is them

The vessel is set, the work is done

and in their face, in their words

they tell me of their hearts

Moment by moment I'm molding me

Lord, guide my hands that what comes

out when the vessel is done

is

a vessel that looks like you

Content in Christ

The most prolific weed in the Christian life is pride,

the rarest flower is contentment.

This morning over coffee a friend said, in just a few words, something that pierced my soul.  He's a good friend of many years and has earned the right to say the hard things to me.  If you had been listening in it would have seemed to be nothing at all, but the words sunk deep into me with this realization....

I am not content!

I'm quite aware that pride is my most prolific weed and contentment my most rare flower, but without realizing it I had let the weeds of pride choke out that rare flower of contentment.

It happens so subtly, just as weeds slowly take over a garden, but it happened.  

I so want to be content in Christ.  To be content with being nobody, resting in him to be all I need.  And yet, the weeds grow, pride sneaks in.  

Paul wrote of this, that this rare flower of contentment is something to be learned when he said,

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am." 

It's so elusive.  The reality we often find ourselves in pricks our ego, offends our pride and tempts us to be offended.  It's so subtle!

Once more this morning I had to come back to this- I will only find joy and peace as I find it in my contentment in Christ alone.  To rest in Christ as the place of ultimate contentment is the best weed killer on the market.

So what does it mean to be content in Christ?  It means my identity, my worth, my place in this world, my reputation and everything else about me is tossed in the trash bin that I might be in him alone.

And, if he does anything with that....all the better because he will get the glory.

This rare flower of contentment is beautiful and the fragrance is wonderful, but if I'm not careful the weeds of pride will choke it out.  Once more today I'm rediscovering the beautiful and rare flower of contentment in Christ.

Detours

The dreaded sign of any trip- 

"Detour ahead"

 The path was chosen, the course clear, our destination intentional and then, to make the trip even more difficult....a detour.

It's unavoidable in driving.  There may be an accident ahead, traffic construction or weather issues.  Detours promise I will still get to my destination, but not as I had planned and not when I had planned.

My own life has been full of detours, routes I never planned or anticipated.  I'm sure you have seen them as well.  The problem with a detour in our faith is we easily lose our way, lose sight of the goal and wander off course.

A detour will present itself for any believer who decides to pursue God.  It always happens.  It might take moments or days to get back on course, but we dare not forget where we were going.

All through the bible our relationship with God is described as a walk.  A walk has certain elements to its success- a start, a destination and the path to get there.  Often, as we walk with God a detour can come.  It might be as simple as a distraction, a health issue, a family crisis, a job change.  Detours happen in every life.

It's not the detour that is ever the problem.  

The problem comes when we forget where we were going and wander off to other passions and desires.

One of my favorite crusty old prophets is Amos.  In his book he travels north to speak to Israel about the detours they had taken.

In chapter 5 he speaks to Israel on behalf of God,

"Seek me and live;

do not seek Bethel,
do not go to Gilgal,
    do not journey to Beersheba.
For Gilgal will surely go into exile,
    and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”

Seek the Lord and live,"

The nation of Israel had taken a detour.  

They were religious, there's no doubt about that, but in the beginning the goal was to seek God.  Now, with many detours behind them, religion had become the goal and they missed the original destination- knowing and seeking God himself.

God, through Amos, is telling them, don't forget where you were going.  Your many detours have caused you to miss the destination completely!  Remember where you were trying to go!  

As my GPS does, it was time for them to recalibrate...to remind themselves of the original goal.  Don't forget, in spite of detours along your path, the goal is to know and seek God.  

Make sure your spiritual GPS is set on the goal of seeking and knowing God so the detours won't cause you to lose your way.

Simple life

Hard hearts and fallow ground

"Sow with a view to righteousness, 

Reap in accordance with kindness; 

Break up your fallow ground, 

For it is time to seek the Lord 

Until He comes to rain righteousness on you."

Hosea 10:12

Great photo, isn't it?  Very appealing, eye catching.

No, not really.  It's just hard, dry, unused ground....

producing nothing, 

making nothing,

helping no one.  

In the early hours of this morning, as I wandered between sleep and wake, I thought about this verse...."break up the fallow ground."  

In the night hours, out of nowhere came this verse I hadn't thought about in a while.  I'm sure God was speaking to me about me and so I take some time this morning and meditate on that verse.

Fallow is not a word we use these days, but it's familiar to any farmer.  It's land that isn't doing what land was designed to do...it's just sitting there.  It might have potential, but until the farmer does something with it.....it's simply fallow. 

And, if it sits too long it becomes hard and unproductive, not producing anything, not doing what land was meant to do.

My heart is like that too.  When I'm not breaking up the fallow parts of my heart with the word of God, with prayer, with time with God, it becomes hard, sterile and cold.  

"Break up the fallow ground" demands I am aware of my dry places and I do something about it!  If I don't....If I let those fallow parts of my life alone they become hard.  Hard to God, hard to his word and hard to others.  

And, to be honest, when my heart hardens prayer is the last thing I want to do!

It would be easier if God said, "Let me break up the fallow ground of your life" but he didn't.  He told me to do it.  So if I care at all about growth, being of value to God, making a difference in the world and eternity it means I have to get dirty!  

I have to get out the plow (God's word), find those hard, dry places in my life and break up that soil with God's word and time with God in prayer.  

I have to break up that dry ground, seed the word in those places and dig out the weeds that might have grown while I ignored that part of my life.  

It takes time with God, time in prayer, time in his word, time to listen to him.

Hard hearts and fallow ground.  Not exciting stuff....but watch a farmer as he takes a plow to that ground, turns it over, breaks it up and plants his seed.  Then come back a month later, two months later and see what happened.  Even hard hearts and fallow ground can be places of great blessing if we refuse to let our heart stay hard, dry and fallow.

And what a difference a little work makes in fallow ground!

Struggle or Surrender?

There is a word in Islam that has become common language to  all of us.  It's the word Jihad.  


In our day we have associated the word with war, terrorism and death, but the basic meaning for Muslims has in it the idea of struggle.

From their writings come these words, *

• In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), "jihad" has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam.

In many religions the idea of struggle is common.  In the Jewish faith and in Christianity we talk about the struggle against the flesh. All men battle the flesh and the desires that destroy us, but what is the solution, how do we win this internal war?

Paul the apostle was aware of this struggle in his own life (Romans 7) and described the struggle in detail.  His words are probably the most honest words ever written about this war with the flesh.  

At the end of his thoughts he admitted he had to raise the white flag, he gave up, defeated.  His struggle against the flesh was fruitless.  The flesh always wins!  And yet, at the end of chapter 7 in Romans and then the glorious insights of chapter 8 Paul declares that to really win this struggle against the flesh you must not declare Jihad, but surrender!

Raise the white flag, admit defeat, the flesh always wins and surrender to the Spirit of God to do in and through you what you cannot do.  I have to admit that Paul's words in chapter 7 are a great encouragement to me.  Like Paul I realize I cannot beat the flesh.  Its desires are simply too strong!  I need help!

And the help comes as a grand praise from the lips of Paul as he writes, 

What a wretched man I am! 

Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?Thanks be to God, 

who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

What great news!  In every battle with the flesh I've discovered my score card has been flesh- 1,  me- 0.  

But now, in Christ, as I surrender to him, he gives me the strength to win the battles my flesh always lost.

It's not Jihad I need, but surrender....a surrender to the Lord of glory, the only one who can win this battle of sin I fight.


*Jihad: A Misunderstood Concept

The silent world

I live in a world of noise

a world where silence is feared

where a quiet moment is hard to find

In this world of noise

I can't hear God
there are too many
voices calling for
my attention

And so he waits...

He waits for me to listen

to step away from the noise

to listen for his voice

Elijah heard God

but only after all the noise had passed

Only after the storms stilled

And when he heard him he feared

To hear from God

means I have to deal with me

I am suddenly made aware

of the me that needs him

and in that need...

...I realize...

...that he is all I need

And so I pursue the silent world

where I can hear God

It's in that place

he and I work on 

me

It's in that silent world

that I experience

a loving father

meeting with

his silly son

An encouraging word

Early this morning I went to hospital to be with a friend as he prepared for heart surgery.  He's not sure yet what they will do.  Maybe a stent, maybe a bypass. 

I walked into the hospital lobby early morning and was greet by the receptionist, a middle aged woman, with a bubbly and happy good morning.  She helped me find my way and invited me to take one of her "encouraging words" with me.  In the basket she pointed to were hundreds of folded pieces of paper and so I took one and put it in my pocket.

When I had a moment to open it, much to my surprise, it was a scripture verse.  Here's the one I took....without even knowing what it said,

I tried to find which version this is, but couldn't and yet I love the wording of it.  Let me offer this as your devotional for the day from a sweet receptionist with an encouraging word,

"You are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and truth)...Be very careful how you live. Do not live like people who are not wise. But live wisely. I mean that you should use every chance you have for going good, because these are evil times. So don't be foolish with your lives. But learn what the Lord wants you to do." Ephesians 5:8

What great words for the morning.  It sure encouraged me!