Suspended

The flood waters are beginning to recede and for many, lives are returning to normal.  My heart broke yesterday, however, when I read the Facebook post of a college friend from a flood town.  While others are cleaning up and surveying the damage, this family (and many others) are still waiting.  It's although life has been put on pause while the rest of the world carries on.  While I can't imagine the frustration of not being at home, losing everything familiar and everything familiar in life being suddenly stripped away, I can relate to the not knowing.

My heart is taking me in two directions as I write today, so please bear with me.  As we witnessed and dealt with the sudden flooding, I was amazed at how quickly life can take on a whole new direction.  In just a few short hours, you can go from trying to wrap up your school year, write exams and welcome summer to being evacuated quickly to avoid rushing flood waters.  Jobs, businesses and day to day life changes dramatically without a chance to physically or mentally prepare.  We can make our plans, but God knows what the future holds.

At the same time, I am reading of northern India, where over 1000 lost their lives in flash flooding.  Many more are now homeless with limited infrastructure to help them rebuild.  What started as a holiday or pilgrimage ended with a tragic, life-altering event. How does one even begin to pick up the pieces and move forward?

On perhaps a different scale altogether, I can relate.  In a way, I feel as though our life has been suspended between two worlds.  A year ago, we knew we were to be focusing on missions.  Our upcoming trip to Mexico had been anticipated for nearly 3 years.  Both the preparation ahead of time and the trip itself proved to be life-shifting.  We didn't really go through the let-down after the trip . . .instead, we found ourselves thrown into the intensity of an ill child over the holidays.  After that, our family focus was reaching out to a mom in need, then dealing with her tragic suicide.  Squeezed in the middle of that was a question that set a whole new adventure in motion, "Would we be willing to GO?".

By no means is this complaining. If anything, placing the last year's events in a timeline helps me to understand where I am today--suspended between here and Africa.  Would we go? Yes!  Did we expect this? No, but God doesn't usually give us plenty of warning before our lives are turned upside down.  While our hearts are drawn to Africa, there's still the waiting, praying, visiting and deciding.  We know God will show us if we are to move, but life needs to carry on here.  Downsizing needs to take place, but not necessarily getting rid of everything. Planning and saving for Rwanda needs to happen, but working and carrying on with business and life day to day must remain stable .  In every way, we are caught between two worlds.  Normal for our family is undefined as we seek out where our fit is.

Immediately after finding out about Africa, God gave me a verse:

Yet I am confident I will see the Lord ’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living. Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. (Psalms 27:13, 14 NLT)

Even though we wonder what tomorrow will bring, we can wait upon the Lord.

For my friends who are displaced, suspended between two worlds, my prayers are with you.  May God surround you with peace in this time of uncertainty, grant you rest wherever you are and provide for your every need.  You are not forgotten!

The measure of me

It was a simple question, really, but as I dug deeper, there was more to it . . . how "spiritual" are we??

Wow, oh, ah, hmm, so . . .how do you measure spirituality?  There really is no easy answer.  Most often we have a preconceived picture in our head about how a spiritual person looks.  We at quick to berate ourselves if we don't meet these expectations and too often we look down on others who don't meet these expectations.  How do we break these discouraging cycle?

Years ago, at a women's conference, the speaker was touching on this very topic.  We too often strive to find a model or measuring stick that we can model ourselves after.  As the speaker was going through her examples of lofty expectations and feelings of failure, she was holding up a meter stick.  It was a startling visual of how inadequate most of us can feel.  All of a sudden, she cracked the measuring stick over her knee, breaking it in two.  She then held up the pieces in the shape of the cross.  This was about 10 years ago and I still can remember the gasp of understanding that went through the crowd as it dawned on us how often we fall into the trap of using the wrong measuring stick.  

Where does the measure of our "spirituality" come from?  We can aspire to be like Jesus, but honestly, we will never measure up to the perfect Son of God, instead, we need to look to the cross and what Jesus did on that cross.  He took all our guilt, shame and condemnation on the cross.  It is only by the grace of God that we can ever imagine being used by Him.  

I've said it before, I love seeing in the Bible how God used what we would consider the most unlikely or "unspiritual" person.  Consider Moses--a murder, Samson--a ladies man, David--an adulterer, Jonah--a runner . . .and the list goes on.  What did the men and women of the bible have in common? They were in the right time and place to be used by God--they were willing!  These men and women were willing to be used by God and the results (fruit) were tangible.  

So, how do you measure spirituality?  I really don't think we can, only God sees the heart.  I believe our lives are to be an example of what it means to walk surrendered to God and strive to do what He wants.

**this was written over 2 weeks ago and was not a copy of any sermon . . .