`Que sera, sera– Whatever will be, will be’. So why bother to write it down, then, if it’s just going to happen anyway? Maybe the looking at what is written enables the course to completion?

I remember the first day of registration at Denver University lo these many years ago. There was a day coming a little less than four years from that point, on which I was determined to graduate with a Music Degree. My look towards that day guided every course I chose from that first registration all the way through my last semester. It was beyond my capacity to keep that day from arriving, but whether or not I was a college graduate on that coming day was totally dependent on the direction of my gaze over that course of time. It wasn’t enough to just sit back and let the passage of time take care of my destiny. It’s success would only be determined by a written goal that stated my major course of study. Many well-intended friends I met that first day never made it through to walk across the stage and shake the Chancellor’s hand. Their initial intentions could not take the place of a steadfast gaze on an unwavering, written down goal.

The future is a force of inevitable arrival, but this force is not without the potential influence of a written-down goal that is completely within our capacity in Christ. Four years, ten years, a lifetime will pass and whether or not those milestones include the abundance and fulfillment that He’s provided for us in His resurrection will have everything to do with how steady our gaze remains on the written revelation of that goal and that prize. For every area of life– personal, family, occupation and church body- there is need for a simple, definite, written goal that will influence decisions of time, energy and passion commitment. ‘What will be’ has everything to do with ‘what we see’, and, praise God!, the ultimate responsibility for this has blessed success as we look unto the Author and the Finisher of our faith. A written determination to know Him will bring into line every choice in between now and that great day of honor as we stand before Him face to face.

I’m definitely not a farmer myself, but I did grow up in a part of the country where corn, sugar beets, and wheat covered a great deal of the countryside. And, I did get to work on some of the farms, driving tractor. While it was quite fascinating to watch the machinery work the ground, and though it was necessary to make certain that it was operating correctly from time to time, it was most important that the great majority of the focus be given to where the tractor was going rather than where it had been. Keeping the wheels headed straight down the rows really wasn’t all that difficult to maintain, but if for a second the front wheels were allowed to stray from the true straight line crossing the field, it would create a swerve in the rows that was unacceptable to any legitimate farmer. The days might get long, hot, and dusty, but the attention had to be kept on where the tractor was headed at all times, even during the occasional backward glance. Everything about where you’d been with that tractor would be clearly seen by anyone who might later drive by the field, and where you were looking while driving would be the greatest determining factor as to whether or not you created a success or a mess.

The end of the year is the usual time for retrospect, when experiences of the past year are acknowledged. There is power in this backward glance to maintain an assurance of operability and use those remembered moments for adjustments and lessons learned. However, there is also power in that backward glance if too extended to get completely off course and create an unacceptable past. There is one other power of the past, though, that has been provided for us in Christ, when the future is given significance and hope by the past we’ve been given in Him. Everything we’ve gone through, both good and bad, when taken to the cross can be part of His working all things together for our good. (Romans 8:28)

There is a significant work for each of us in the kingdom of God, all of which requires a forward focus, with only a backward glance that keeps things in the perspective of the cross. Victory, forgiveness, and especially the overcoming power of love are the lessons to be learned there, resulting in a heightened lively hope of a productive and gratifying life in Him.

With the house full of Christmas décor and lights, and while food was being prepared for our family Christmas Eve gathering, another Christmas movie was playing on the television. It was the second in ‘The Santa Clause’ series; you know the one where the new Santa is required to find a Mrs. Santa Clause in order to continue in his role.  He goes with a beautiful young woman to this party of very boring, skeptical, and older people and transforms the whole nature of the party by giving special gifts to each one of the guests. Toys that each one of them had wished for as children were magically presented after all these years and in receiving them it was as if those children from so many years ago were joyfully awakened.  The solemn crowd was turned into a true party with all these old ‘children’ playing with toys and games that turned skepticism and doubt into belief and joy. Specifically for the particularly doubting young woman he was seeking to woo, Santa had a baby doll that was exactly the one she had wished for as a child. In receiving this magical gift, her heart was returned to the state of her childhood and opened up to eventually receive the love of its giver.  Yeah! Christmas could go on with the proper Santa in place with his new mate.

While the true reason for the season is being denied recognition in more and more locations around the country there is an observance of why He came in the giving of gifts. Every gift may not produce the desired effect, but you can tell the ones that do. These are the ones that quickly absorb the recipient, with attention displaced completely from other gifts and relationships to focus with heightened excitement and pulse rate on the thing that is obviously transforming them to the state of – maybe – a child? The book, Ipod, PSP, computer, instrument, clothing, etc. that awakens the child within (no matter the age without) is the gift that touches the place where brightness lives, joy is displayed, and hope is given validation and support in believing. So much of what takes place in the heart to displace hope and believing takes place in the child realm where things desired may have been denied or postponed indefinitely.

The true reason for Jesus’ coming as the special gift to each of us from our heavenly Father was so much more than to introduce religious décor and displays that might cause offense in some. Those things might be a means of celebration expression, but a much more significant expression is the desired result and actual purpose intended by the Giver. It is only when the Father’s gift awakens the child within to a displacing and exclusive focus that real hope and real joy and real faith will be given place and true Christmas celebration expression. Like those children in large bodies at the Christmas party in the movie, there is a transformation coming for each of those that let Jesus be the fulfillment of a heart’s wish and the removal of disappointments and faith-killers. He will satisfy when He becomes the gift that receives exclusive focus in the heart that is ever childlike in its expectation and continually gratified in its reception of Him.

May there be a setting aside of all other gifts for the One each child within is truly hoping to awaken to. May He bring renewed hope and strengthening joy.

The load gets lighter, the time gets shorter and the difficulties have meaning once it is known there is purpose and reason for it all. There is such a tendency for the weight to become unbearable and the time unendurable when it seems like it is all for naught, but as soon as it is fully understood that each difficulty, each effort and each moment is but an investment in something that is exponentially greater in glory, the step takes on a spring, the face a smile and the timer loses its tick.

Several years ago, while living in Tulsa, I was employed as a night clerk at a convenience store. It was actually a chain of stores with several locations around town, and I was privileged to work at some of the more interesting and challenging ones. There was one especially that was located on the opposite side of the city in a particularly dangerous and seedy area just beyond the city center. It had more of a robbery risk than most and was actually robbed just before I arrived for my shift one evening.
While the night clerk had to run the register, the main duty was to have the whole store cleaned and presentable by the time the manager arrived at 6:00. There was always something to do and you could pretty much keep moving all night long, but those hours from 2:00 AM to 6:00 were long and quiet. You also never knew who might join you in your aloneness and in what condition they might be.

As long, lonely, dangerous and physically exhausting as it was to work my little job, there was something that somehow made it worth all the effort- every other Friday when the paycheck would be in my slot. Sometimes there would be an opportunity to work an additional shift, and even as much as all three shifts in a row. You would think that those working the additional shifts would be too tired and worn out to be of much use, but for whoever was working all those additional hours, there was an understanding with the employer that the rate of pay would go to time and ½. Instead of the normal amount on the check, there would also be an amount that was nicely increased at the expanded rate. Those people whom you might expect to be dragging were oftentimes energized and motivated by the understanding that an increased reward was directly related to their efforts. Now, nobody was getting rich, but there was something very real about the reward and its ability to take the mind off of the clock and work effectively through the night. As rewarding as it might have been to work hard and just take pride in a job well done, once the monetary compensation ceased to adequately offset the effort and time, there was no problem with saying, ‘adios’, to the folks at the store.

Jesus said that in this world we would have difficulties and things that we would be ‘afflicted’ with. I love it, though, that rather than just enduring each difficulty with an eye ever on the clock and a scale ever determining its weight of difficulty, we can know that directly related to everything that might tempt us to give up and quit is a reward of far greater magnitude. We are here promised that no matter the length of our endurance and how great the load we’re made to bear, every moment and every ounce is directly impacting our magnitude of timeless and unending heavenly blessing that is ever growing exponentially in size. Though it might seem like the night is lasting forever it will be shown to be the mere moment it truly is, and though the weight seems unbearable it will be shown to be but a feather in comparison to the glory our efforts are affecting. Every trial is not only much smaller than it seems, but it’s also being used to make our glory paycheck one that is more than worth it all. It will never be necessary or even conceivable to say ‘adios’ to the folks at the store when it is fully known that the balance will always go to the weight of God’s glory reward- just need to keep working till He shows up at 6:00.

28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)

Milestone syndrome: getting too consumed with accomplishments and achievements and weariness to press on.

Though I didn’t actually grow up in the mountains of Colorado, my parents did, so we frequently got to visit our grandparents in Buena Vista, right next to the continental divide. (Alas, I still don’t live in the mountains of Colorado, but my parents have built a beautiful home just over the pass from their home town to which we now go as frequently as possible.) My Dad, having grown up tramping all over the mountainside, either fishing or in pursuit of Elk or some other game, was quite developed in his physical ability to climb, while also possessing some critical wisdom and understanding about the best way to finally make it to the top. From an early age I was taken along with Him on some of these adventures that for me were much about just trying to keep up with him and somehow make it to wherever he had set as a goal. Though it was incredibly beautiful with clear mountain air and drinks from clear cold streams, after awhile my greatest focus would be upon that next rise in the trail, hoping that it would be the last. There would be several times along the trail that we might take a break for a few moments, but there was something Dad would not let me do at any of those intermediary arrivals- sit down. I imagine there could be several reasons for standing through those times, but for me I can remember that it kept my legs from cooling down too much, but it also kept me from even thinking about giving up and allowing this temporary achievement to be the end of the trail. There was something so much more significant to which we were pressing and no matter the view from that spot and no matter how far we had already climbed we were about something much higher and he wouldn’t allow our bodies or our minds to let half way be enough. Of all my complaining and of all the hikes we went on, some of which were several miles, I don’t recall us ever failing to reach our intended destination. We never sat down, never rested too long at any point along the way, and were never satisfied until the peak was reached.

There will most certainly be things we apprehend along the way, and there will definitely be noteworthy achievements that mark our path, but as long as we’re trekking this earth we will never have reason to sit down and let half way be enough. After a particularly difficult section of the trail with a slippery, steep grade it may be quite tempting to let weariness dictate and resolution set in, but when the heart is beating the fastest and air is being sucked the most there will be a need to keep standing with an eye ever on the final goal. Getting stopped anywhere along the way or letting anything on this earth become the arrival, destination or goal will inhibit any progress towards the real destination of purpose in Christ. The only significance of any milestone in life will be that it is a place to stand as we get set to press on again over the next rise and through the next meadow or ravine. I’m thankful that while we remain at our Father’s side He will keep us from sitting, ever encouraging us about what lies ahead, and as long as we’re following Him, there will be no doubt about arriving; it will ever be before us as a surety and hope.

Quite often that urge to respond and react is the most dangerous and most destructive. There may be a time for an appropriate response or action, but at the time of trembling life or death is possibly riding upon what is said and what is done. Though there is definitely a moment when action is necessary, while the enemy is approaching your place of hiding, when the bottom has fallen out from under your financial security, when that family member has failed to please, or when that driver has invaded your space there is an emotional response that, while demanding and insisting on expression, will only make matters worse if allowed escape. Trembling may not be an option, but whether or not that trembling dictates action is a critical choice that needs control. Better it would be to remain still and quiet, even steal away to a place of repose, where the heart can get in its two cents worth and wisdom can prevail, than to deal with the consequences of a tremble-imposed sin.

I was recently given the privilege of taking a defensive driving course that allowed me to avoid a penalty incurred by a case of lead foot. The state of Texas graciously provides this option and there are several different schools where a qualifying course can be taken. I chose this online version that was actually presented in a humorous and enjoyable format. It included several videos and illustrations of the dangers associated with reactionary driving- where the actions and behaviors of other drivers could cause you to respond in a less than safe way. As the course progressed this seemed to be the prevailing theme, that the most common danger on the road is that of emotional response, where anger, fear, frustration and impatience become the basis for driving decisions. While you may be able to get away with it for quite some time, this kind of behavior places you in a very volatile and precarious position where accidents are probable and punishment of some kind eminent. The course encouraged counting to 10, staying focused on your own course and destination and staying away completely from any reactionary response. As is most clear on the road- this can be a matter of life or death and a functioning vehicle or a dented and totaled one.

The heart really has something to say if the din of tremble inspiring fear and frustration can be suppressed by stillness and rest. It is the heart alone that will have the right course of action, the correct path and the appropriate word, but until the still small voice that it uses is heard, there will only be an atmosphere of danger and probable destruction. On the road and in the car this danger is apparent, but this reactionary behavior will also have a similar effect in relationships, business dealings, and personal gratification.  That learned response of a harsh word or yielding to emotional demands can wreak havoc on a family, bank account, and personal psyche leaving a dented or totaled vehicle with little means of reaching a significant destination.

There is a secret place, a place of rest, though, where the heart volume is turned up and the hubbub of the world’s influence is shut out. It is here is the presence of the Prince of Peace where the right words of faith and love can be formed and the steps of confidence and boldness can be taken towards a righteous and productive end. This place is forever the refuge and the hope for the time of trembling, when sin is so near in an emotional response. All the threats and all the arrows are made to be insignificant in the quietness where the Christ counseled heart is given voice.

We had this great wood shop in high school, and I was fortunate enough to take a woodworking class and learn how to build things from rough cut lumber. We could pretty much make anything we chose, and I ended up making a footstool, a waterbed frame and a red oak cradle. The last one was quite an industrious undertaking– for me anyway. I had come up with this idea for a cradle because of my sister’s recent pregnancy and I chose plans that included raised panels and several turned pins for around the top. There was limited time to take lumber that had no uniform or finished surfaces and produce a functional, smooth, and completed cradle. Although it was close, because there was progress made on it every day, and because I had access to the right tools, the wood that had been sitting in the storage room, because of my idea, was transformed by my hands into a beautiful piece of furniture that has been used by many of my relatives and now sits in our living room.
There was a time when we were just a rough piece of wood lacking uniformity and structure. There was an idea, though, in the mind of the Master to take what we once were and craft something really quite special for a specific need. Much would have to be cut away, drilled and turned. As His plans involved an extended process, He would require daily access to our parts with His special tools and resources in order to complete His project. While it would be the wood that would be presented as a finished work, at no point in the process was the wood responsible for anything other than responding to the touch of the Master’s hand.
It’s His work from concept to finish, and as long as given continual access to our hearts and lives, the only thing impeding His progress will be a lack of response to His presence and His touch. May there be an overwhelming response of worship in our hearts an lives today as the One who is the great Finisher takes what He has authored on another step towards completion.

It’s interesting how being a parent can provide a totally different perspective on how maybe God sees us and the reasons why He treats us the way He does. This verse from Colossians has always been a source of encouragement for me with its declaration of Christ being in me and the hope that I can have as a result. For some reason, though, maybe because I’ve been seeing things through parental eyes lately, I saw this a bit differently just now. I saw the hope referred to here as not just a hope that is ours, but a hope possessed by the Father when He looks at us. He’s not just seeing our hang-ups, failures and ugliness, but He is looking way past the ‘now’ to the ‘what-will-be’. He knows our limitless potential because of His Son’s residence within, and will not allow His love for or belief in us to be constrained by those things that might constrain anyone else in their attitude towards us. When He looks at us His love is motivated by a glorious hope to forgive, restore and provide for everything our success will require, no matter how much we may or may not deserve it at the moment. Based upon who is living on the inside, the brightness of our future’s image for Him is kept undimmed.

Before I had any of my own, I had very little tolerance for the acting out of other people’s children. From my naïve perspective, it was obviously just a discipline problem or the child was just a little brat. I would see a toddler repeatedly dropping a utensil at a public restaurant and find myself with negative thoughts about him/her and their ignorant and lazy parents. Little did I know that three long term lessons were coming my way. The first of our children had to experience my lack of experience and ignorance with regard to these things the most as my opinions about children began to take a bit of an alternate route. My understanding has gone from feeling that it was my duty to find what was wrong and somehow correct it, to recognizing the incredible potential within and doing my best to nurture that. Instead of responding with disgust and disfavor to the bad behavior, there is a growing understanding that in spite of this negative episode there really is a future for this child, not because of what is presently being observed on the outside, but because of what I believe to be resident on the inside. Hope has become a large part of my experience, and while there is so much more to know about its implementation, there is much less tendency to let the negative behavior disrupt the stance of hope and certainty that no matter what they look like at the moment, they are destined for excellence and a fulfilling and productive life. Future vision has enabled present vision to direct the actions from me that have the best chance of helping them on their life journey. Love has begun to rise above the desperate doubting reactions to make hope its foundation for proactive belief actions.

In a growing relationship with the Father, I believe this understanding is a necessary one, that His gaze in not a disgusted, judgmental and condemning one, no matter the magnitude of our transgression or the goofiness of our bad hair day. Just because we may have been born into a certain culture with a set of genes that predisposes us to certain tendencies doesn’t mean that we’re disqualified from being a Christ residence. Where He has come to dwell there is an entrance into this place of God hope, where the very God of creation has committed Himself to the proactive nurturing of all it will take for Jesus to be completely formed in us and our kingdom potential fulfilled. From the aftermath of our own poor choices, better ones can be made from an assurance that our hope is not alone; it’s standing right there with the Father Himself.

There is this notion that is trying to take over our society– that sin is the norm, profanity is the language, and perversion is the way of life. For the person like Lot who seems to be having a case of the vexed soul, it could be a bit daunting to consider the prevalence of darkness in a world that appears to be getting ever more shady.

For those with a healthy fear of God and concern about the consequences of sin upon our society, however, there is a considerable hope to be had in the grace and mercy of God. In fact, the greater the apparent prominence of sin, the greater will be the display of God’s superiority in the implementation of His grace. There will be an end to the foolishness of Godlessness, but in the middle of its apparent dominance, there can be significant triumph for each and every one who enters into the grace and mercy of God. It is His very pleasure to take the inevitable consequences of the most rebellious and foolhardy life and, by the touch of His mighty hand, transform them into the blessing, favor and abundance of the righteous. There will be way more than enough power to not only remove the chains of sin’s bondage, but to also lead into a productive and fulfilled existence. With God will always be a willingness and ability to come in and overwhelm the inferior sin opponent in the heart that has opened its door to His knocking. In worship’s reception there will always be an atmosphere for this reign of grace, and the fear for sin’s condemnation can be transformed into a dogged and victorious expectation for faith’s reward.

Once again there is this incredible opportunity today for this greater grace to surround, empower, encourage and strengthen. As other’s beckoning becomes inaudible for the sounds of worship, grace will reign in a big way.

Some things are much easier when- you’ve done them before, you’re more mature and strong, you know the tricks and work-arounds, and you can see the bigger picture- right? I know that whenever I’m around my Dad there is this natural tendency to just let him take over and do whatever I’m up to, from playing the guitar, fixing the sink, or measuring a roof. From childhood to the present he has this way of making things appear easy and doable after I may have been attempting them for some time. We actually did that last one recently when Mom and he were visiting and he characteristically wanted to go along with me for my day of work. We came upon this house that was really next to impossible to figure out. Normally I would try to get up on top and actually run a tape along all things measurable, but this one was very high, very steep, and all access points had some restriction that made climbing up on top of it too difficult for me anyway. I applied several little tricks that I’ve learned along the way, but there was one measurement that was eluding me as to how it could be measured without just making a wild guess. He just looked at it for a while and came up with a very accurate method that could be done safely from the ground and with a great deal of ease. He again came through as always before with a way that relieved me of so much effort and exertion I would have been up to on my own.

It’s not that we’re to remove our involvement altogether, because the passion and care that has driven our hearts to work so hard to this point is exactly what God would like to partner with. He sees and cares for everything that concerns us in the least, and really all He’s waiting for to get His hands dirty is a little, “Dad, could you help me with this?” He’s been there and done that, He’s way more strong, He knows all the tricks and work-arounds, He knows the end from the beginning, and if need be, He can just create or transform whatever needs changing. He does like to make it a team thing, though, because He wants us to be strengthened, empowered, skilled and capable in the Spirit together with Him. He wants this to be a growing experience as our pulling is a pulling that is yoked together with the One who knows just how it needs to be done. He also wants for us to be eased from the burden this life experience has placed on us. He wants to bring joy and fulfillment to a life where failures and impossible circumstances would prohibit them. As the work becomes something that is shared with Him, there will be, as evidence, a significantly lightened load, letting you know that indeed His yoke has been taken. There may be a whole day of plowing ahead, but with Him doing most of the pulling it can actually be a gratifying experience.

This is His desire and this is His prepared purpose in Christ for us that we no longer have to bear the weight of our heart’s most anguishing loads in personal failures, relationship challenges, financial mountains, or suffering self image or identity. Our Dad has come to stay and He’s really great with starting the mower on the first pull after you’ve been trying it all day, making the sink seal completely after you’ve never been able to keep that last little leak from dripping, or measuring quite safely things that have been threatening to cause a fall with great injury and damage. All He needs is for us to take our seemingly impossible situations to His side where they can be hooked up to His ability that has never even been closely challenged. Then, He has to be allowed to carry the real weight of the load, while ours is but a prayer of faith, acknowledging that He really is at work on our behalf. That fervent prayer then becomes the only part we need to bear as it is made to be most effect in His hands.

Seems like Dad’s gonna be staying for quite awhile- like, eternity – yeah!