Wait .. Waited.... Waiting

Bald Eagle waiting/looking for food

Waiting just seems to be a part of life, for both man and beast.

I have just had an exercise in waiting.

An accidental observation in a lung x-ray revealed to my rheumatologist a widening of my mediastinum.

That began a long series of blood tests, scans, biopsies.... all of them in the plural and all of them followed by waiting periods often extended by doctors going 'out of town' or tests lost or needing to be redone.

Waiting, waiting, waiting -- that extended into weeks, then several months.

Finally, this week I got that call I had been waiting for that gave me some definitive 'answers' or at least an indicated direction of resolve.

The suspicious nodule in my substernal goiter is impossible to biopsy for cancer. The only way is be sure is to biospy it after removing my thyroid gland. But, my oncologist/surgeon explained, in my case that is not a simple surgery since it will take two surgeons and my breastbone needing to be broken to help get the thyroid gland out.

So I am scheduled for more appointments and waiting for the inevitable surgery.

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In thinking about my situation ....I have realized some things about waiting.

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1> The feeling of being alone. Perhaps the common childish fear of being abondoned by parents is a fear that never really leaves and we feel remnants of it throughout our lives. When we are standing outside a building waiting for someone to come pick us up or waiting in a coffeeshop for a friend who is late. we feel suddenly alone and the fear of abandonment threatens to surface even though reason tells us the wait is only temporary.

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2> Waiting involves dependancy on someone else.

There is only one reason to 'wait'. Someone/something is needed in our life that we have no control over. Someone else has the power or authority to make it happen but for some reason their action is delayed.

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3> Waiting is emotionally demanding.

Waiting draws an intensely emotional focus on the thing we are waiting for, causing the other things in our life to pale in importance. When we are waiting for something, it is difficult to impossible to prioritize any other way than to keep that waited-for-thing at the top of our 'focus on' list.

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Waiting - how happily we would banish it from our lives.

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And then - when we turn for comfort to the scriptures we are simply told ... "Wait on the Lord!"

How can that be comfort?

We wait feeling so alone struggling to trust/believe that He will come through, somehow, sometime.

But will He? Perhaps His will is not what we are hoping for...perhaps His timing is not our timing...perhaps we are undeserving of His attention.... are we abandoned?

Fear arises in our hearts minimizing our faith.

We wait... watching, hoping, longing for that one thing that will make our life better .. if only the Lord would act on our behalf.

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But wait .... we have it all wrong ... there is something beautiful we have missed !

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Psa 27:14 "Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!"

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The way we read the verse we subconsciously read into it all of the emotion of what the word 'wait' brings to mind and heart.

But there is something VERY different when God calls us to 'wait' for Him - something I only learned recently.

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The Hebrew word for 'wait' is a word that means 'to bind or entwine'. That word meaning suddenly changes the whole situation.

What God is inviting us to do .. rather than sit alone and afraid... is to come and wait 'entwined' with Him.

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We are not asked to wait alone.

He Himself will wait with us, His arm protectively around us as we wait together.

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We wait, not dependent on the frailty of man or the unpredictability of circumstances.

We wait knowing that God has all things under His control. We need not fear.

God asks us, rather than struggling to keep our emotions from frustrating or terrifying us, to bind ourselves to His word, to His promises as we wait together with Him.

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Then, instead of being focused on the 'thing' we are waiting for we are focused on Him... our hearts entwined with His... our thoughts following His thoughts, our mind grasping hold of His promises , our emotions 'resting' in the security of His peace, our hearts rejoicing in praise and thanksgiving.

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THAT is what 'waiting' on the Lord is !

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Something Fishy about that Face

My husband and son-in-love had gone fishing and thanks to my SIL's generosity this 28" Coho was waiting in my kitchen sink to be fileted.

My first thought when I looked down at the fish was .. ."There is definitely something fishy about that face!"

I'm often curious about how expressions get started and so I googled my question regarding why we refer to things we mistrust as 'fishy'.

I found this explanation to be of interest... The meaning of 'there's something fishy' is something of doubtful character or of some shady deal where the motives are suspected. The term 'fishy' is thought to have arisen from the notion "as slippery as a fish" or as an allusion to meat with a "fishy" taste, an indication that the meat is bad. A simpler explanation is that old fish (not good to eat) smells fishy with bad odour caused by a chemical named trimethylamine which is released when fish begins to break down. (from ttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic…)

How naturally we are drawn or repelled by the sensitivity of our noses .
A stench or a sweet smell invoke such opposite responses.

What God has put into our physical world so often has a spiritual lesson.

I wonder how often a Christian invokes the "something's fishy" response from the world that is watching them.

When the world blasphemes God, He places the blame on His children. (Rom 2:24)
Is it because Christians are too often guilty of something in their life giving off a foul smell ?

What 'chemical' released within them would give off a 'fishy' smell ?
Would it not be the chemical called 'sin' ?
When we walk in disobedience, when we indulge our fleshly lusts or pleasures, when we do not walk in the light nor in love one to another .. when we harbour unforgiveness, or selfishness or discontent, we give off a bad odour .

As believers we are gifted to give off a sweet fragrance, the fragrance of Christ in us.
2Co 2:14 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. " 2Co 2:14 NKJV

We are admonished in II Cor. 13:5 to "Examine yourselves..." I think that means ...'Do the sniff test!' ... Is there something about you that smells fishy or are you a diffuser of the fragrance of Christ?
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Ask not Why but What

I love the innocence of a child. I love her curious seeking to understand her world. There is no backward paralyzing introspection of the 'why-s' of her existence or the circumstances of her life.
That to her is an unchangeable given. Her desire is to know the 'what-s' . What is this ? What does this do ? Where does this go? How does this work ? What can I do here?
And so the beginning of her journey through life is a joyful stepping stone from discovery and growing until , sadly like the adults before her, she is old enough to ask the unanswerable 'why-s' .

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes a stream of running water feel so peaceful?
There is something deeply soothing about the rippling musical sound of water moving to it's predetermined goal - the ocean that ultimately embraces all streams and rivers.
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Still water stagnates --- and so does our soul when we cling to the question 'Why??'
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Asking 'what' -- "what do I do now?" "what is the next step?" moves us forward, like the stream to the end that God has already pre-determined -- of good and not of evil.
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I thought about how the quote "ask not why but what" would look laid alongside scripture.
I considered some examples of bible characters that could well have asked "why?" but instead asked "what?" and thereby found the God-answers that satisfied them.

Job
Job's agonizing experience was so horrendous we still today use him today as a standard against which to measure our tragedies .
God never answered the why questions. WE know the why, but Job didn't.
If God had told him the 'why' Job would have missed the goal.
When Job finally came to the place where he stopped listening to the people around him seeking the 'why' and was willing to ask 'what' .... he moved forward to the goal God had intended all along ... "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, But NOW my eye sees you...." (Job 42:5) and he flowed into the ocean of God's multiplied blessings.
Job's friends considered ONLY the 'why?' of Job's tragedy and in the seeking of 'why' made the mistake that is so commonly made by all who get stuck crying 'why?' They, like Job's friends, speak of God what is not right! (Job 42:7)

The Shunammite Woman
The Shunammite woman who provided for Elisha an upper room for his comfort and rest, had lived her life with the stigma and heartbreak of being childless. She had come to the place where she felt it was better to live with her buried pain than to risk a vulnerable heart -- opened to the bliss of loving a child only to lose it. That was something beyond what she thought she would be able to bear. (see II Kings 16,28)
We know the story how God DOES open her heart and lays a son in her bosom but her greatest fear comes to pass.
The son is still tender in years when he dies in her arms.
Does she wail in grief , refusing to be comforted? Call her husband and household around her to cry the 'why's' with her?
No ... she knows only one question .. "what now?" -- She moves.
One person comes to her mind - Elisha. She puts her 'what now' into action.
Camly, she asks her husband for a donkey and an escort to go visit the prophet. The husband sees no sign of grief or distress in his wife's face -- he is only curious why she should want to see the prophet. She does not tell him.
The only urgency we see in her is the fact that she tells the young man to drive as fast as he can!
Elisha comes and raises the boy from the dead and restores him to his mother's waiting arms. The ultimate 'what now? ' is that God used this 'tragedy' to restore to the woman her property after her husband dies without which she and her son would have been destitute. (II Kings 8)
Had the woman stagnated on the 'why' .... and not moved with the 'what now' , we would not have her life story to encourage and teach us by example today.

Jesus' Disciples
When their beloved leader was crucified, the disciples were devastated in their bewildering wilderness of 'why'. Jesus was buried, gone from among them , nothing made sense. Numb, they just gave up and said .. "we might as well go back to fishing."
UNTIL ... the 'what now?' took hold of them, and changed the rest of their lives. They caught the vision!!
What now?? oh yes ! because of Jesus' sacrificial death, we have new life ! We have a ministry of reconciliation ... a message of hope to bring to a dying world.
What now ?? oh yes.. we can move through this life with purpose toward an 'ocean' of eternity - forever to live with our Lord and God !
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"Oh Lord, may we have that child-like attitude to ask 'what now?' May we never give in to the discouragement or grief that threatens to overwhelm us in the bog mire of 'why' but may we look up to you and know that you will never forsake us and that you have already gone before and laid out every 'what now' path. May we put our hand in yours, and with unwavering trust walk where you lead us. Amen"
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Be Thankful!

It is Thanksgiving Day week-end in Canada. Families everywhere will be giving thanks around a thanksgiving dinner table. We all have so much to be thankful for ; a list flows from most lips without much effort!

It was a beautiful day today, and we enjoyed a drive admiring farms set in rolling hills with the mountains as a backdrop. Just as I snapped the above photo, an older lady stopped beside us and said, "I am from Switzerland and you will not find a more beautiful picture than that in Switzerland !"
I know I live in a beautifully photogenic part of the world and to see God's beauty around me every day is something I am deeply grateful for.

Thankful ! We all know what it means , right ? Maybe not...

I was reading Col 3:15 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." and was curious about the Greek word for 'thankful'. What I found was very interesting.

A word study on the Greek word translated 'thankful' in this verse, revealed that it contained within its meaning much more than expressed thanks for the things we appreciate.

The word encompasses a lifestyle that flows out of thankfulness. It describes a person who is attentive, watching for things that promote thankfulness, not just in his own life but in the lives of others. He never misses an opportunity to do something pleasant or grant a favor. He can be counted on to be there in time of need or a moment of crisis. He is described as someone who is kind, benevolent and a gracious giver. He is also someone who is quick to grant forgiveness, overlooking the other's faults. His life is so full of thankfulness and gratitude that it overflows with generosity to others in every way. Restoring relationships is something close to his heart, as is offering his help to deliver someone in trouble.

Who would not love to have this kind of friend? Are WE this kind of friend? Our Greek word reveals that being grateful can be measured more by our actions and interactions with others than it can be by our words.

May we all prove our thankfulness, not just by our words, not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day. Let us begin each day with a thankful heart to the Lord who has given us soo much and then , as we have received, give with selflessness to others.

Matt. 10:8b "Freely you have received, freely give" out of a thankful heart.

Is It Nothing to You ?

We a had a friend named Clyde who died of a sudden heart attack several years ago as he stood whistling at his work bench.
Clyde was born and raised in India and while his family was not Christian he was sent to the British school to get a better education.

He told of a large painting that hung in a prominent place in the corridor of the school building. Every day he walked past that painting, and always his eyes were drawn to it.

It was a painting of Jesus ..... and underneath were the words....
"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"
Poignant words from Lam. 1:12

Clyde said that those words tugged at his heart until he could ignore them no longer and he declared "No, it is NOT nothing to me... I accept the sacrifice of Jesus for me ! I want to follow Him!"

The words from Lamentations often flash across my mind..

When I see people rushing about so encumbered with the cares of this world.
When I see the carelessness of people concerned with petty things.
When I hear Jesus' name so disrespectfully used.

When I see a cross hanging from a gold chain around some one's neck, I have learned not to take for granted that they are wearing it to declare their faith. I will often ask, "Does your cross mean anything to you ?" Often the answer is "No, its just something I like the shape of." Sometimes the eyes light up at the question and the answer is in the affirmative.

Perhaps you stumbled on this post and have never considered what Jesus did for you. He was God, yet He humbled Himself to take on human flesh and walk this earth as a Man. He lay down His life, suffering the death of a common criminal. It was YOUR sin that put Him there... His love for you that held Him there !
Is it nothing to you ? Do you simply pass by?

Perhaps you have been a Christian all your life, and Jesus' sacrifice - His cross - has become 'common place' to you. Something you take for granted.
Can you go through your day and never once look up in thanksgiving? Has it become nothing to you also? Do you leave Him standing at your door knocking as you pass by, busy with the things of your day?

Jesus stands with His arms outstretched in love to you ... wanting you to know Him, wanting to be the most important Person in your life... How often does He speak and you turn away ? How often do you simply not hear ?

"Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?"

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What are you Holding?

Except for a very few years of my life, my calendar planning has always been governed by the rhythm of the school year.
Since my daughter and son-in-love are both teachers and my two granddaughters are both in school, there is no way of getting around it – so much of what we plan and what we do depends on school scheduling , whether it is a Pro-D Day (day off for kids- professional day for teachers) spring break, Christmas break or SUMMER HOLIDAYS.

It is again summer holidays.

Immediately, what comes to mind are long, sun drenched days when people plan vacations, lazy days at the beach or the lake, camping , outdoor activites - whatever is the pleasure of choice. Beautiful memories are built and treasured around summer holidays !

But !
With the summer fun I see good things set aside. I see churches emptying, bible studies, prayer meetings, Sunday School put on summer hold.

I’m really NOT suggesting people should not withdraw from day to day activities to refresh, renew and spend valuable time with family or friends. We all need that to stay strong in body, mind and soul and in our relationships.
But I remember when churches first began to accommodate people's shift in focus in the summer and gave up trying to keep Sunday School and church programs going. I remember being so puzzled as a child -- and asking "Is God not important in the summertime?"

As I thought about this recently, the first verse from I John came to mind and it pictured for me the different ways people relate to God and how major a role He plays in their lives.

The first line of the verse is “That which was from the beginning”
How many people never go beyond this realization. They are vaguely aware that somewhere there was a beginning.. and acknowledge that God was there… but there is little conscious effort of going beyond that point.
The people in Noah’s time would fit here. Self-indulgence and pleasure for the moment had long removed any thought of God beyond the very distant “once upon a time” concept of Him.

The next line says “that which we have heard”
There are those who have heard of God, who know Him through the words of others. These people relate to God from a distance, doing the religious things as a duty or habit but never experiencing a personal relationship.
Job , before he was tested, was one of these kind of people - by his own admission.
Job 42:5 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear…”


The verse continues with “That which we have seen with our eyes”
God is coming closer into ‘personal’ view. We have all watched our young children busy at play. We call and we know they hear us …but their eyes and attention remain focused on their play. We call them by name, “Johnny, LOOK at me!”
We are far more attentive to what we are hearing AND seeing !
Job moved to this level after God said, “Look at me, Job!” and Job looked and listened and exclaimed… "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear…But now my eye sees You.”

Do we stay there or do we follow the progression of I John 1:1 ? The next step is “That which we have looked upon!”
Do you see? Something happens between “seeing” and “looking upon”. There is a getting up from where we were and walking over to take a closer look.
We are now engaged mind and emotion….examining …. Interested!!
Perhaps we could use Zacchaeus as an example here. He quite literally was not content to see Jesus from afar. He climbed up a tree so that he could get a good look… quite literally “to look upon” Jesus. He felt the stirring in his heart that this was no ordinary man !

Then comes the last step ! “and our hands have handled”
We have now reached out and taken something. It is in our hands!! We are hearing, seeing , touching , feeling – other things have been put down, forgotten – what is in our hands is most important. This is where relationship happens, as Zacchaeus found out. To his delight, Jesus looked up and I’m sure with a smile that melted Zaccaeus’s heart, said, “Come down, Zaccaeus, I must come to your house today and sit at your table.”

That is where I want to be! No matter how busy my life is , how much joy God’s world gives me , I want to keep Him in my hands and heart…. I want to give Him first place…. I want Him to know that He is always welcome at my table.

The verse ends with defining the subject…. "The Word of Life"…. The Word of God made life for us --- Jesus!
How much time will you give Him this summer ?

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A Sermon in a Word

I was just thinking this morning ……

I love words… I love how they LOOK as well as what they mean and sometimes what a word has to say to us is lost in familiarity of usage.

Like the word I was thinking of this morning .
Heart

The word starts with an H… the letter itself looks like a protective covering doesn’t it ?
H begins such words as house, home, haven, hut, hovel, habitation, hammock, hat, helmet, hood, hearth, hiding place, hive, hotel .
H points to things that protect, keep us safe, or where we 'live'.
Note the ‘H’s’ in the phrase .. “Home is where I Hang my Hat.”

The word Heart ends with a ‘t’ … looks like a tree… doesn’t it ? And a tree reminds us of a cross… a place of sacrifice …..demanding a price ( such as taxes… tears,… or test)

In between the H and the t in our little word Heart are three little letters than spell ‘ear’. The ear has but one function – that is to hear ! and how interesting that this little word should sit in the middle of the word heart.

Heart… where we live…. Relating to those we love. In our relationships, what is more important than to hear ? to listen?
If we do not listen we do not understand.....
if we do not understand, how can we truly love?
If we love with understanding how easy it is to sacrifice our own wants and desires choosing instead to ‘sacrifice’ ourselves for the sake of others.

I was thinking too of God’s first commandment….. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart..!” (Deut.6:5)

With all our heart…. From the core of our being… where we live… ‘where we hang our hat’. Our physical body cannot live without its heart organ …. It gives life to everything else.
So also what we love with our heart affects everything else we think or do.
What we 'shelter', what we 'love' in our heart determines WHO we are.

We are also called to sacrifice ourselves for Him.. to lay down our life for Him, for others.
Jesus says in Matt. 10:21 ”Take up the cross, and follow Me."

In loving God and taking up our cross to follow Him what is more important than anything else?
To ‘hear’ Him… Jesus cried out …. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matt. 11:15)
Unless we listen - we will not hear His voice , if we do not hear His voice - we will not understand Him and if we do not understand Him - we will not be able to follow Him.

Interesting, isn’t it ? how LOOKING at a word can preach its own sermon ??

Have a ‘h-ear-t’ day today , my dear friends, filled with love for God and the ones He placed in your life !
I LOVE you !

To Be or Not to Be - that is the Question

We live in a world that is fraught with pitfalls and lurking dangers everywhere. Not only in a physical sense but also in a personal, relational sense and our natural reaction is to become protective of ourselves, trying to minimize the opportunity for painful experiences – to keep ourselves from being hurt by others.


Webster’s defines vulnerable as “capable of being physically or emotionally wounded, open to attack or danger.”
That certainly sounds like something to avoid at all cost.
That has the sound of ‘victim’ in its definition, something none of us want to be.
And so we learn to avoid putting ourselves in a vulnerable situation.

However, In putting up the protective walls that keep us from being vulnerable we also keep people out…we are not as accessible, we are not as willingly available for someone who is needy , someone who needs a helping hand to encourage or help them along the way .
We even prefer to give to missions overseas…because then there is no danger of us becoming entangled with the person we are ‘helping’.

But is this how God wants us to be? Is this part of the victorious life we are called to?

Some years ago… before my life-saver spell check … I was looking to my heavy Webster to confirm my spelling of ‘vulnerable’.
I found it…but my eyes caught on a word several entries down from ‘vulnerable’.
The word was … ‘vulnerary’

I had never heard of the word…and I suspect you haven’t either. It is not a word that is commonly used.

The meaning of vulnerary is “used for the healing or treating of wounds”.

There is a beautiful description of the heavenly city in Rev. 22:2 that says, “In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits and yielded her fruit every month and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

I see this verse as a break-through verse… where eternal things break through to be used for earthly purposes. God calls us a “tree planted by the waters of life that gives forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper!” (Ps. 1:3)

There is no room for being the ‘victim’ in any situation if we are a child of the Father !
We are called, not to be vulnerable, but vulnerary !!!
Not self-centered but other-centered… not focused on our own wounds but looking to heal those of others.

And in the reaching out to heal others… we ourselves walk in health. It’s just the way it works in God’s kingdom.

To be vulnerable, or to be vulnerary…that is the question !!

Which will you choose?