Trust God and Stay out of the Way...

This afternoon Doug and I began re-arranging our school room, and computers to make way for the new laptop I will be getting, and the other computer (s) the kids will be inheriting, and I got a glimpse of what God must feel like. As Nikki & J.D. were watching us, they kept asking why we were putting things where we put them, kept assuming a certain outcome and were convinced they wouldn't like it, and got upset and frustrated because there were temporary changes that meant they had to wait. The whole time I felt frustrated because Doug and I knew exactly where everything was going to go, why we were doing things, and knew that in the end everyone would be happier. I was frustrated to be constantly questioned, and inevitably Doug and I kept chanting, "You've got to just trust us, and stay out of the way please". Sighhh... nothing like a good object lesson from everyday life! In any event, God knows exactly what He's doing, any shifting and changing He's bringing about is for everyone's benefit, and we'll all be happier in the end :)... that is if we stay out His way and just trust Him :)... I felt an incredible sense of peace, and started to laugh inside... pressure's off. God's in control. It's all good :).

Ruby Bridges: An Inspiring Story

The Problem We All Live With, Norman Rockwell, 1964

Ruby Bridges: An Inspiring Story

I watched Disney's "Ruby Bridges" yesterday based on the historical event that surrounded Ruby Bridges’ as the first African American child to attend an all-white school in the South after the Federal Government made desegregation law. She attended William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans. It's an older movie (1998) but it never fails to move me. It's a powerful story that clearly shows how a 6 year old girl is able to overcome her persecutors with grace and dignity by putting into practice the principles of her and her family’s faith in Jesus.

Each day Ruby was escorted to school by 4 U.S. Marshalls to make sure she arrived safely. After getting out of the car, they had to pass through a gauntlet of angry parents who screamed vicious threats, and cruel words at her as they walked up the steps to school. The U.S. Marshalls always encouraged Ruby to keep moving forward and to not look back. At one point in the movie she is seen turning around to face the crowd. We can see her lips moving, but can't hear her over the noise. When asked about it later this is the conversation she had with Dr. Robert Coles, a compassionate psychologist who worked with her:

Psych: "But, honey, I saw you talking with them. Did you finally get angry with them? Did you tell them to just leave you alone?"
Ruby: "No. I wasn't talking to them."
Psych: "But, Ruby, I was there. I saw your lips moving."
Ruby:" I wasn’t talking to them. I was praying for them.”
Psych: (pause) “Praying for them?!”
Ruby: “Yes. I pray for them every day in the car, but I forgot that day.”
Psych: “Oh. (pause) What did you pray?”
Ruby: “Please God, forgive these people because even if they say those mean things, they don’t know what they’re doing. So, You can forgive them, just like you did those folks a long time ago when they said terrible things about You.”


Later in reviewing his experience with her, the psychologist, Dr. Robert Coles, said,

And so, I learned that a family under great stress and fear could show exquisite dignity and courage because of their moral and religious values and because they had a definite purpose in what they were trying to accomplish. This purpose made them resilient. I couldn’t figure out the source of this resilience because I only worked with well-to-do children who had nothing to work hard for, no reason driving them to accomplish anything. So, now I see that the issue is not stress, but stress for what purpose? Having something to believe in protected Ruby from psychiatric symptoms and gave her a dignity and a strength that is utterly remarkable.



This idea of living with purpose coincides with a word of exhortation that was shared by Nathaneal Buus a godly man who teaches a small house church called Tucson Fellowship, in a message entitled: Thinking in Terms of Concepts Rather Than Events. He articulates things so well that I’ll just cut some excerpts here and share them with you. If you’d like to read it in its entirety, click on this link: http://www.tucsonfellowship.com/6-6-11.html

Most people look at the events of their lives, at best, with concepts as a back drop. The event is in the forefront and maybe after they have looked across the event, they might see some concept in the background. Paul flipped it around, he viewed events through the lens of concepts… and they look different.

The event of being beaten and mocked by the guards is a cause for hate and anger. The concept that those same guards are made in God’s image but they are lost and they are sinners who now have a chance to hear the good news of Jesus Christ is a cause for love and rejoicing.

The event of facing a possible execution is a cause of great fear.
The concept that to die is gain is a cause of great strength and peace.

Thinking conceptually not only changes our response to the unforeseen events in our lives but it can also adjust our approach to the planned events.

Thinking conceptually reframes your approach to life so that you act deliberately not just reactionary.

You are no longer boxing the air or running without aim. You move with purpose. You do not simply move from one event to the next event, you view each event as an opportunity to hit your target.

For Paul, to die was gain, but to live was Christ. He had a specific concept which governed his response to all the day to day events of his life. Namely, “I do all things for the sake of the gospel.” Paul knew his calling and he lived his life in that context. Every encounter, every event was an opportunity to share the gospel. If he met a man on the road, that wasn’t just an event of meeting a man on a road it was an opportunity. He didn’t look at the events of his life as events, but as platforms to apply conceptual truths.

Learning to view life this way changes your attitude and approach to everything.

When You wake up in the morning, you sit down to breakfast and instead of viewing it as an event where you put food in your body, you view it as your first opportunity of the day to talk to your kids, to encourage them, and to show them you love them.


After watching Ruby Bridges, I might add, “when you wake up in the morning and walk through a gauntlet of people hurling vile epithets and cruel threats, instead of viewing it as an event of persecution, you view it instead as an opportunity to pray for your enemies, and trust your God to walk with you through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, carving a path for other people like you to walk behind”.

Many times as I watched the mother in this story encouraging her child to place her fears at Jesus’ feet, to remember that she’s loved by God and to pray for these people who were being so cruel, I wondered if I could be that brave. It would be so easy to try to step in and try to control and protect and shield, rather than to encourage my child to transfer her dependency to God for strength, comfort from her fears, love for her enemies, and courage to walk “the gauntlet” each morning, knowing that there was a greater purpose for this pain and struggle; a purpose that went beyond the moment to a future they could not see or taste.

I am still ruminating on all these thoughts, but as I watched Ruby Bridges it was a living example of a family who lived their lives conceptually and with purpose. It stirred a longing in me to be able to raise my children, and live our lives in such way that causes others to try and discern as Dr. Coles did to find our “source of resilience”, and after close observation be able to identify that we were living with a definite purpose that was driven by our values… an overflow of a life of faith.

So moms out there, be encouraged. What we do matters. All those mundane moments of our day can be filled with purpose if we look at them through a conceptual lens. Let us pray with the psalmist, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90: 12 ESV). Let us remember as we walk the gauntlet with the enemy hurling vile epithets (“failure, incompetent, unworthy”), that “since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” Hebrews 12:1-2 (NASB)

Lord of the Sabbath

Words & music by Cathy Letkeman


Rushing, restless, time’s relentless
Pushing, pulling, hard until
My soul is hard, and dry, and spent
Though I cease from work I am not still
Oh to hide away and be at rest
Oh to hurry to a place of refuge
I cry out to Yo
Lord of the Sabbath
Quiet me


Hectic, frantic, life’s chaotic
I long to stop this crazy pace
Like a lamb that’s lost, I’ve wandered
And forgot my resting place
Oh to hide away and be at rest
Oh to hurry to a place of refuge
I cry out to You
Lord of the Sabbath
Shelter me

Aching, bruising, soul-deep sorrows
‘Neath a load of pain I drown
My soul is weary, crushed by burdens
I yearn to stop and lay them down
Oh to hide away and be at rest
Oh to hurry to a place of refuge
I cry out to You
Lord of the Sabbath
Rescue Me


(whispered) Remember...

I am the Lord who rescues you
I will shelter you beneath My wings
I will sing over you and quiet you
with My love (whispered) Remember...
Be at rest once more oh my soul
For the Lord has been good to you


I will hide away and be at rest
I will hurry to a place of refuge
I will run to You
Lord of the Sabbath
Hold me

Prayer to God, Our Rock

A Found Poem based on Several Psalms

From the ends of the earth, I call to you…
I call to you as my heart grows faint;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…
For who is God besides the Lord” And who is the Rock except our God?

You led me through the vast and dreadful desert of my life,
In those thirsty and waterless places You brought water out of a hard rock
You opened the rock and water gushed out; like a river ; It flowed in my desert…
With honey from the rock, You satisfy me…
I drank from the miraculous rock that traveled with me, and that rock was Christ…


Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

You lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
You set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand…

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

In the day of trouble You will keep me safe in Your dwelling;
You will hide me in the shelter of Your tabernacle and set me high upon a rock!

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

The eternal God is my hiding place, You carry me in Your arms
Put me in the cleft of the rock and cover me with Your hand
I will trust in the Lord, for the Lord, the Lord is the Rock eternal.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress and I will never be shaken.

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

You would say to me:

My name is the Lord Almighty, and I have hidden you safely within My hand. I have called you by name, and you are mine. I set all the stars in place and established the earth Is there any God besides me? No there is no other Rock;

Lead me to the rock that is higher than I…

The Lord lives! Praise be to My Rock! Exalted be God my Savior
Come let us sing for joy to the Lord;
Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Oh What A Difference Prayer Makes

Reflections on prayer by Cathy Letkeman

Oh, what a difference prayer makes.
When will I realize just how little breath it takes
To turn my anxious thoughts and sighs
Into prayers?
There can be no earthly doubt
That my Father hears each whispered shout
Though no words may pass my lips
He knows my cares
He waits in loving silence as I fret, and frown
And simply drown
Trying to keep my world afloat
He sees my fear
Longing to take my hand,
and put my feet back on dry land
and whisper to my storm-tossed heart
“I’m here”
Here to take my burdens from me,
share my grief, and simply love me
Here to give me wisdom
And relief
Joy, and peace, and understanding
Strength, to meet what life’s demanding
Faith and hope
to nurture my belief
that angels wait with bated breath
to fight my battles, and remind Death,
that it has no hold, eternal life is mine
because of Christ’s victory o’er the Grave
The Spirit whispers, “Child, be brave
and know you share in all that is divine”
And then when I am finally silent
When my heart and mind are quiet, and still
I can hear gentle reproof in tones of grace

He calls me back from restless wandering
Turns my thoughts from self, and sin
And brings my gaze to rest upon His face
And it’s there
In that quiet place
Resting in His wondrous grace
That I marvel at how little breath it takes
To turn my anxious thoughts and sighs
Worries, complaints and heartfelt cries
To peace that silences the enemy’s lies
Oh, what a difference prayer makes.

Trust

The God of the universe who holds the stars in His hand
Knows all things
Sees all things
Is Everywhere

The fingerprint of His design marks the canvas of all creation
He knows my name
He knows my heart
He knows my need

His message of love is written with the ink of His grace across the pages of my life…
both the pages that are filled, and those yet to be written upon….
Grace in place before I even ask…

All of this so true, and yet I shudder to think of the many times I fail to approach His throne of grace, and seek the wisdom that I need…
He waits lovingly, longing for me to leave my burdens in His care
“Lay them down”… He whispers gently
Yet I march resolutely on, endeavoring to carry the full weight of
my burdens and leave my faith behind instead…

Even when I ask for the Spirit’s help, I treat Him as though He is at my disposal,
a tool in my hand to shape my world the way I see it… according to my plans,
instead of yielding humbly to His leading; submitting and surrendering
myself to His will, at His disposal, a tool in His hand to shape my world the way He sees it, according to His plan…

You see it’s all a matter of in whom I place my trust.

“Trust Me…”
But Lord I…

“Trust Me…”
But Lord….

“Trust Me…”
But….

“Trust Me.”

Lord… I surrender.

Reflections on the Call of Mary

Reflections on The Call of Mary

A simple young woman like you or I
Became the Lord’s servant without an answer for why
God chose her,
How was it that she was ready to give her all?
How did God prepare her life for His Call?
To be mother, nurturer, protector, guide
Yet aware of her need of the One inside
Her womb,
God and Savior, child and son
Messiah, Christ, the Anointed One
The Father gave her a gift of grace
To see reflected in another’s face
The joy of growing a special son
Away from eyes that would judge and shun
A place of refuge in Elizabeth’s care
Shared wonder that their sons were there
Inside of them, a miracle Heaven made
God’s reminder that “with Him nothing’s impossible”, conveyed
Then returned to the shelter and protection
Of a man, who though their family had begun without him
Surrounded her with the mantle of his name
Doing all in his power to guard her from shame
That others would surely cast upon her
He stepped into the place of husband and father
Though her child was born in a humble place
Their crude surroundings could not erase
The truth,
That her child was a King
God sent His angels to rejoice and sing
And from the lips of humble guardians of sheep
God confirmed her child was Messiah, proof that His promises He’ll keep
And Mary treasured these things inside
Where I’m sure the Enemy would have tried
To sow seeds of doubt about the truth of this One
But God’s purpose would not be thwarted for His son
For though to the Wise Men Christ’s resting place was revealed
From Herod’s murderous eyes His presence was concealed
What would it have been like to flee in the night?
To find refuge among strangers,
Did she feel fright?
Did she think of Egypt as a place where her ancestors were oppressed?
Or did she recall it as a place where through Joseph, they were blessed?
A place where Israel’s sons found provision for their need,
And how even there, in a foreign land, God protected His seed?
Over and over God confirmed who Jesus was
Through people and events, in the gracious way He does
Through Elizabeth, the Shepherds, and the Wise Men too
Through Simeon, and Anna, because God already knew
Mary would need to remember her precious little son
Was not only Son of Man, but Son of God, The Holy One
As she watched Him grow in height and wisdom, and watched Him grow in fame
As He began to live up to the purpose of His name
Did her heart begin to ache, was there soon a gaping hole?
As she recalled these words of Simeon,
“and a sword will pierce your very soul”?
Did anguish, awe, and angst continually fight within her breast
Did she wait with worry and wonder if she was up to the test?
To watch Him be rejected by His very own
To watch Him lay down His life for those who’d never shown
The reverence or respect due the Son of God
They deserved His wrath! Not His love, so pure, unflawed
When she watched His life’s blood flow for all mankind
Did she wish with all her heart that she had been born blind?
Though then her eyes would not have seen her son restored to life
A sight that must have filled her with a joy that redeemed strife
And so is the extraordinary journey of a simple girl who believed,
Who became a willing servant, and with open womb received,
The seed of Abraham, the Root of Jesse, Messiah, Emmanuel
Jesus, Lord, the King of Kings, Redeemer of all who fell,
Though mother of the Son of Man, she was child of God, rescued from sin
Though she gave Him life on earth, He gave her Life within.