Weary of waiting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iWj8wPhimE

"We Will Wait"

We will run and not grow weary

We will walk and will not faint

For the Lord will go before us

And His joy will be our strength

Mounting up with wings as eagles

As our spirits start to soar

When we come into His presence

And we wait upon the Lord

We will wait upon the Lord

For in His presence is fullness of joy

And our strength will be restored

As we wait upon the Lord

CCLI Song No. 833465

© 1992 Integrity's Hosanna! Music

Martin Nystrom | Tricia G. Allen

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water. (Ps. 63:1 NIV)

I've written two blog entries this week and have the start of another one. However, this blog/prayer entry is very specific: I want to pray for the search process for our church's new pastor. We have been without a permanent pastor for 18 months now and actively searching for a year. I am (personally) becoming weary of the process, the waiting, the unknowns - and I'm on the search committee. Tomorrow night we interview (via Skype) three potential candidates.

The past two weeks we have been praying this scripture from Colossians 1 over ourselves and the new pastor. Now I ask you to pray it with us.

⁹For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. ¹⁰And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully ¹²giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (NIV)

We pray for knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

We pray that we and he may live a life worthy and pleasing to God, bearing fruit in every good work.

We pray we would continue to grow in the knowledge of God.

We pray we will be strengthened with all power according to God's glorious might.

We pray for great endurance and patience.

We pray for joy to inhabit this situation.

And we join with the words of the Psalmist:

² We have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.

³ Because your love is better than life,
our lips will glorify you.

⁴ We will praise you as long as we live,
and in your name we will lift up our hands.

⁵ Our souls will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips our mouths will praise you.

⁷ Because you are my help, we sing in the shadow of your wings.

⁸ Our souls cling to you;
your right hand upholds us. (Ps. 63 NIV)

Uphold us, God; help us not to be weary. Help us run with endurance the race set before us. Help us trust your ways, your thoughts, your timing. Give us strength and hope - and patience. May our hearts be in tune with yours and our spiritual ears be able to hear your voice. May our wills do what you want and may your Kingdom be honored and furthered. In the strong and comforting name of Christ we pray. Amen.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isa. 40 NIV)

Preparedness

"Disaster strikes like a cyclone, whirling the wicked away, but the godly have a lasting foundation. (Prov. 10:25 NLT)

"A prudent person foresees the danger ahead and takes precautions; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences." (Prov. 22:3)

"Those who fear the Lord are secure; He will be a place of refuge for their children." (Prov. 14:26 NLT)

Several months ago I connected with a website that helps with disaster preparedness. Later I realized that the very helpful, perky young women on the site were probably members of the Mormon church. And that got me thinking.

What if there really was a disaster or series of disasters? Who would help hurting people? Would the local Christian church be prepared to reach out in love with food, water, shelter, medicine, resources, etc. if there was some type of major event?

And what would our witness be to the community? Because I believe there are major theological problems with the Mormon faith, I do not want pre-believers being led astray while the real Church is trapped in unpreparedness, indecision, infighting, or a myriad of other things.

And for the real Church to be prepared, we have to have our financial houses in order - both our corporate church and individual family houses - so that we have resources to give. We need to have our priorities of time and talents and treasure (even non-monetary) set according to God's principles. And we need to be prepared to extend grace and love no matter what - even during and after a disaster.

How do we do this? I'm not sure exactly. I do think any step in the direction of being prepared is better than sitting in a feeling of frustration or helplessness - or just being lazy. But I think that the Kingdom benefits of being prepared to minister to people - especially pre-believers - are huge. If disaster victims know "know we are Christians by our love" we can help fight back the forces of fear, confusion, despair, loss, and (especially) spiritual darkness.

Proverbs 11:24 says "It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy..."

May our love and grace - and our material preparedness - help us to give freely to a world being suffocated by darkness. May our love freely given come back to us pushed down, running over, and enriching us.

God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who knows the hairs on our heads, and the numbers of our days, teach us to make our days count as we walk this earth. Help us to know your wisdom and your plans for our future with hope. Help us to be prepared without hoarding, to live as good stewards of our resources, and to honor you with our actions, words, and thoughts. May the Light of your Church shine brightly as you call all people unto yourself. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

from "Live Like We're Dying"

by Mark Sheehan and Danny O'Donoghue of The Script/recorded by Kris Allen

You never know a good thing till it's gone
You never see a crash till it's head on
Why do we think we're right when we're dead wrong
You never know a good thing till it's gone

Yeah, we gotta start
Looking at the hands of the time we've been given
If this is all we got and we gotta start thinking
If every second counts on a clock that's ticking
Gotta live like we're dying

We only got 86,400 seconds in a day to
Turn it all around or to throw it all away
We gotta tell them that we love them
While we got the chance to say
Gotta live like we're dying

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbfeSImDntw

Darkness & dawn

"In your unfailing love you will lead
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide them

to your holy dwelling." (Ex. 15:13 NIV)

Yesterday I had a strong sense of "It's always darkest before the dawn." Every so often I wrestle with a strong sense of discouragement and/or fears. This past weekend I had a strong spell of that. You could say that is because the devil wants to keep me from doing what God wants. Maybe. Maybe it's my sinful nature. I don't know. But when I got up the next day and the spiritual "fog" had lifted I felt much better.

I have parents and friends who go to chiropractors in order to get their necks or spines adjusted so they don't have pain. I was thinking the other night that when my internal world-my spirit-gets all out of whack, I need a spiritual chiropractor to snap me back into alignment with God. Thankfully, our God is a god of redeeming the hard stuff and using it for his purpose.

The group Selah has a song out that speaks, in part, to this: "UNREDEEMED." Thank goodness God works in places where grace is soon to be so amazing...

The cruelest world
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every lie that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhOSspNj84w

But God will redeem my life from the grave;
he will surely take me to himself. (Ps.49:15 NIV)

Thank you, God for redeeming our lives when we feel we are in the pit. Thank you for taking the unfulfilled, unrestored places and creating beauty out of ashes. Help us see your miracles, your work, your redemption. Take us to yourself we pray. Amen.

Every Season

"Every Season" by Nicole Nordeman

Every evening sky, an invitation
To trace the patterned stars
And early in July, a celebration
For freedom that is ours
And I notice You
In children’s games
In those who watch them from the shade
Every drop of sun is full of fun and wonder
You are summer

And even when the trees have just surrendered
To the harvest time
Forfeiting their leaves in late September
And sending us inside
Still I notice You when change begins
And I am braced for colder winds
I will offer thanks for what has been and was to come
You are autumn

And everything in time and under heaven
Finally falls asleep
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation
Shivers underneath
And still I notice you
When branches crack
And in my breath on frosted glass
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter
You are winter

And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced
Teaching us to breathe
What was frozen through is newly purposed
Turning all things green
So it is with You
And how You make me new
With every season’s change
And so it will be
As You are re-creating me

Summer, autumn, winter, spring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dwpdZdvCl8&feature=PlayList&p=12234E01DDC3B046&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=12

Several years ago I attended a conference that started with a "heart check" - how's the state of your relationship with God? The speaker talked about life, especially our spiritual life, as having seasons - spring (new life beginning), summer (great life), fall (transition/things falling apart or dying), winter (spiritual hibernation/death). I have experienced at different times each of those seasons. The fall and winter ones are really hard, but often have the most beautiful and unexpected blessings. The beginning of a spiritual spring or summer can be hard to recognize - sometimes we don't want to believe it or we don't even realize it's come. And yet those spring and summer times are great times of living life to the full. The writer of Ecclesiastes says that "there is a season for everything under heaven" (3:1) and that "there is nothing new under the sun" (1:9). So, I (we) are not the only ones who believe life has seasons.

I was thinking about writing on the "abundant life" this week. In John 10:10 Jesus said he came to give us life more abundant - life to the full. I've been thinking lately that I am living that abundance, at least as much as we can here on earth. It dawned on me that I am in a "summer" season of life - home life, kids, marriage, church, friends, etc. all are basically great. Realistically, I know that things change. But I also recognize that I need to appreciate, enjoy, and relish this piece of (earthly) abundant life. Life IS good. So, it would be easy to write and celebrate my slice of today's abundant life.

But tonight I had an email conversation with a friend whose life is in a huge fall stage - in some ways "falling apart." Choices and circumstances combine in such a way that this friend is having trouble recognizing where the abundant life is in the midst of the chaos. Even as I can (and should) celebrate my summer season - giving thanks to God for this gift - my friend's fall season is heavy on my heart.

God is able to speak, move, exhort, and bless us in whatever season we are in. And we should give thanks that God IS in every season. So we pray...

God of all seasons, all places, all times,

We thank you for being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Thank you for your faithfulness and that your promises are true. Thank you for watching over us, loving us no matter what, and offering grace & mercy. Thank you for celebrating with us, for helping us absorb change, for carrying us when we are too tired or broken or confused to walk for ourselves.

We pray for those who are in fall seasons of life...bracing for colder winds & change...

For those trudging through winter seasons...wating for opening doors and for life to enter...

For those, perhaps unknowingly, starting to see spring arise...and realizing you are making all things new...

And for those who are living a spiritual summer...for those immersed in fun and wonder...

Help us embrace your abundant life in every season of our lives.

In Christ's name we pray,

Amen

Is anyone out there?

Just out of curiosity...is anyone reading this?

Easter: So What? OR Salvation Spring Up

"Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory." (Isaiah 45:8, 2 Timothy 2:10).

"I pray that my children may grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18).

"Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to live a life of love, through the Spirit who dwells in them." (Galatians 5:25, Ephesians 5:2).

"It's Easter. So what?" our pastor said yesterday. I wonder how many non-church people thought that. I was driving between church & home about 9:15 a.m. and saw two different people out jogging. Perhaps they'd already been or were planning to go to church, but it seemed strange to think of not being in church on Easter.

Last week my best friend from 5th-10th grade contacted me on Facebook and wanted to be my "friend." Being somewhat curious as to whatever happened to her, I said yes. Then I got to looking around her FB posts, which led me to other "friends" of hers on FB - some of whom I was in high school with and I've long since lost touch with.

Twenty years later the 41 of us in our class have, as expected, traveled different life paths. Inferring (or judging) from the FB posts of some of them, they are not Christians, or at least aren't living a life of Salt & Light. One's FB talks about Buddha....another going out drinking to forget the ex-spouse...but another surprises me by putting "He Is Risen!" up as a post. "Easter. So what?" could very well be what some of them had been thinking. [Insert all appropriate disclaimers to what I don't know, how God sees things, what may be going on behind the scenes....]

The reason I bring this up is because I have been wondering lately about who we will see in heaven. I spent 13 years of my life with most of the kids I graduated with. But will they be in heaven?

Several months ago I began to pray over my children the "31 Biblical Virtures to Pray for Your Kids" by Bob Hostetler. The Isa. 45:8 and Charlie Hall's song "Salvation" has been my prayer - that Christ's salvation would "spring up" in my children so that I would someday see them in heaven.

And now I have a new 'burden' - for people whose lives my life path has crossed but are not living a life of love in the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. I'm not sure what to do, except pray, but I do hope I will see them in heaven.

God, we know you want to gather all your children to yourself. We know you came to seek and save the lost and your heart aches for those who reject you. You said you came to give the abundant life in Christ and we praise and thank you for that gift. But today our prayer is for those who do not yet know you.

Salvation, spring up from the ground
Lord, rend the heavens and come down
Seek the lost and heal the lame
Jesus, bring glory to Your name

Let all the prodigals run home
All of creation waits and groans
Lord, we've heard of Your great fame
Father, cause all to shout Your name

Stir up our hearts, Oh God
Open our spirits to awe who You are
Put a cry in us so deep inside
That we cannot find the words we need

We just weep and cry out to You*

By your Spirit, draw your loved ones to you. Use us for your glory so that when every knee bows and every tongue confesses you are Lord, there is no one missing. Seek the lost; heal the lame; we wait in expectation for the fulfillment of your promises. In the strong name of Christ we pray. AMEN

* (by Charlie Hall (c) 2000 worshiptogether.com songs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqSNDWC2yn8

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px2dDZO2WZ4