He Makes Me Lie Down In Green Pastures... or Not

Judges 7:15 NLT
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands."

A few years ago I was reading my daily devotional when the words of Judges 7:15 just sort of jumped off the page at me. My husband, George, and I had been going through a deep dark valley that appeared to have morphed from a valley into the Grand Canyon. When I shared that thought with George, he said he had just heard on the news they were going to flood the Grand Canyon. Doesn't that just figure! But I was so excited about this Word that nothing could get me down ...or so I thought!

There I was ... called to be a minister in missions, called to walk away from my employment of 16 years leaving benefits, salary, everything to walk in real faith with Him. I got out of the boat like Peter and was spiritually walking on water. In the natural realm, all hell had broken loose, but I will unpack that for you in just a minute.

This day, the day Judges 7:15 jumped off the page I was energized, I was encouraged, I was on a spiritual high. I couldn't wait to call George and share my revelation with him. I called my family and shared. I shared with my spiritual daughter when she called to check in, and I shared with everyone I saw and talked to for the next two days. I even shared it at our church staff meeting, and I didn't stop there. I shared it at our church at our Wednesday night service. Then Friday came. (Note to self - keep your mouth shut unless God specifically tells you to shout it from the rooftops!)

Yeah, Friday hit me. You know the story of the crucifixion - Jesus was crucified on Friday ... Friday was the bad day. My Friday arrived on Saturday morning at 5:30 am!

Several years prior I had been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and several accompanying disorders which can and do cause intense muscle spasms. That Saturday morning the spasms hit hard and fast with no advance warning. It woke me in the rudest way. I jumped up and stood beside the bed trying to relax the spasm out of my thigh. It finally relented, and I began to crawl back into bed when it hit again - harder and faster. This time my leg locked up, and I couldn't move. I blacked out momentarily and fell to the floor. When I hit the floor between the bed and the wall it jolted me "awake", and I began calling for George. Immediately I realized my right foot was turned in an unnatural position and was up under the bed. It had already begun to swell, and I knew that I knew, without a doubt, it was broken. To sum up the next few hours that turned into days, George took me to the Emergency Room where they confirmed my foot was broken and had some "mangled" bones in the top of it. They splinted my foot and said the orthopedic surgeon would have to determine the best course of action for the "mangled" part.

I saw the orthopedic surgeon on Thursday and was told I had a severe LizFranc fracture. I had surgery the following Monday. They said I would have to be completely off my foot for a minimum of four months. I had four screws and two pins in my foot and could move only with the aid of crutches, a walker, and a wheelchair!

Welcome to green pastures!

God Moves in a Mysterious Way

God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines with never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs,

and works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread

are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His Grace;

Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour;

The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan His work in vain;

God is His own interpreter, and He will make it plain.

by William Cowper

How many times have you seen God move in a mysterious way? If you're like me - the times have been countless. So many times I want so badly to understand His ways, but they're so far above me I cannot even begin to comprehend. 

I'm sure the disciples wanted to understand His ways, too. Matthew 14:22-27 is a prime example of His ways being so far above ours.  Jesus knew when He told the disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake ... He knew there was a storm brewing (He was Jesus, after all). He knew the disciples were going to face a huge battle, and He knew they would doubt; they would be afraid; they would mumble; they would wonder where He was. He knew all of that ... and He sent them anyway. Why? Ah, that little word ... it plagues our minds so often - or at least it does mine!

Sure enough, the storm that was brewing erupted into a massive storm. I often think of it being like a hurricane or maybe even a typhoon. I've been in both, and I can testify that neither are fun. The storm rocked their boat, flapped their sails and tossed them around like ragdolls. 

SIDEBAR:  Are you in the middle of a storm? I am! Are you waiting for a billboard to let you know God's still on your side? Me, too! Guess what?! Even with the signs (which I've been getting a lot of) - there's still the fear factor! Really! We've been in this funk all of this calendar year. I have screamed (inwardly) "Where are you, God? Did you just leave us in this mess to drown? Don't you care about us anymore?" And yet there are signs - literally. From out of nowhere, I will get a post from somebody that basically says "hold on". Somebody new will follow me on Instagram, and all of a sudden there's another post that says "God's got this." Or even better there will be one that tells me not to fear, not to doubt - that everything is turning around and there will be abundance and overflow! And I'm sitting here like "When, God, when?" 

Just like the disciples, I doubt. I fear. I cry. I throw a fit, I accuse God of not caring. And just like on the other side of the lake that stormy night He comes to me and says "it is I, be not afraid." 

Yes, His ways are mysterious. We will never understand them on this side of heaven, but be assured my sweet friends, He cares and will not let us down.

My New Name

You know how sometimes you just read the Bible, and then there are times you READ the Bible? It's usually times like the latter when we get a real revelation. I did that this morning. 

It started in Phil 1:6 (which has been my life scripture for as long as I can remember). 
I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again. (ERV) So...I'm a work in progress until the day Jesus returns. For that matter, so are you! We won't be perfected until that day. In other words, we need a LOT of work! Hmmm...what about the ones who have died? Are they just sleeping until that day because they were already finished? God was through perfecting them? So...maybe they didn't need as much work as I do? (or you?)  Leave me a comment at the bottom of this page if this speaks to you. Share your thoughts with me.

As I continued to read I was reminded of something else. Not only am I a work in progress that won't be completed until Jesus returns ... but God's got a new name for me. I won't be Ruth or Lyne ... when God says He makes all things new - He makes all things new. Thank goodness! We'll have a new home, a new body (whew), a new life (awesome) and a new name!

Rev. 2:17  (CEV) To everyone who wins the victory, I will give some of the hidden food. I will also give each one a white stone with a new name written on it. No one will know that name except the one who is given the stone.

Is that cool or what? I had to stop long enough to think about the hidden food - that refers (according to my Concordance) to when the people of Israel were going through the desert, the Lord provided a special food (manna) for them. Aaron placed some of it in a jar and stored in the sacred chest (Exodus 16). According to later Jewish teaching, the prophet Jeremiah rescued the sacred chest when the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. He hid the chest in a cave, where it would stay until God came to save his people.

So what about the white stone? Nothing I could find really defined it exactly. It is believed by some that it may be kind of like a ticket that gets the bearer into God's banquet where the "hidden food" is eaten. Immediately I thought of the "new name" as God's own special password for me. Yeah, I'm geeky like that. But, isn't that dope!? I mean God is so in love with you (and me) that He is saving the best for last!

Once we faithfully get through all that we are going through on this earth - He makes all things new - even our name! He's got a special one just for you - just for me. I like to think of it like a password - something He's thought of especially for each one of us. AND ... "no one will know that name except the one who is given the stone."

Wow! That's all. Just WOW!

Love - what does it mean to REALLY love someone?

The following statement really hit me between the eyes this week. Maybe it doesn't convict you or make you stomp on the brakes of life, but it did me. And I just have to share how it spoke to me.

Love means this: I accept you, and I embrace you just as you are.

It is not my job or desire to try to change you.

If you are constantly looking to people for approval - or even for correction, you have positioned them in a place they were never designed to be.

Humans cannot be God. (Aren't you glad?) They cannot be the Holy Spirit. A good friend will sit with you and gently direct you towards hearing God's voice on your own and will champion whatever that voice says to you.

And when you feel like you just want to love someone enough to try and change them, remember they don't need YOU to be God. They need Jesus. That's it. The end.

LOVE IS NOT A TOOL TO CHANGE PEOPLE.

IT NEVER HAS BEEN.

IT NEVER WILL BE.

THE GOAL OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT TO CHANGE PEOPLE.

Whaaaaaat, you say? Just hear me out.

There is a beautiful story in scripture (John 20:19-23) that describes Jesus' encounter with his "friends" (i.e.: disciples). He had just re-appeared to them after being dead for three days, after the crucifixion.

Remember the context: his friends had left him in his time of need, rejected him and completely forgotten what he had told them. If there was ever a time for Jesus to call out his friends on their perceived bad decisions. THIS WAS THE TIME.

What stand out in this story (and what I am totally awed by) is what he said and what he did NOT say.

His first words to them were: peace be with you.

Notice what he did NOT say.

He did NOT say:

Uhhh, hello??? Where were you on FRIDAY WHEN I WAS LITERALLY BEING KILLED?

Or,

Why are you hiding in here? What do you think you're doing? Why aren't you out there telling people to get saved???

Or,

Did you not listen to a SiNGLE WORD I SAID OT YOU? I told you a MiLLION times I would RISE ON THE THIRD DAY???

No. No. No. No.

In this moment, Jesus did not shame. He did not condemn. He did not correct. He did not "fix" his friends into being better followers of him, or to be better ambassadors of his message.

Peace be with you.

He wanted them to be at peace.

Even in their mistakes.

Even in their failures.

He then did something we rarely do: He exposed His wounded parts; he invited them to come close to touch and feel them.

This was in part to show them it was really him, but I also see an amazing moment of vulnerability. Instead of exposing their brokenness, he exposed his own. He exposed the human parts of him that were still healing. And then, in the perfect moment, he spoke to them about forgiveness.

His focus was to:

1. Bring peace to his friends
2. Be vulnerable with them
3. Extend forgiveness

He did not:

1. Shame or condemn them
2. Correct their behavior
3. Expose their failures

CAN I JUST SAY - THIS IS WHY I'M OBSESSED WITH HIM??

In our greatest moments of failure or shame, this is the response we long for from our friends.

This is where we feel the most loved and most protected.

Can you imagine what a difference our churches would experience if instead of frantically trying to fix and save each other, we simply embraced this??

Jesus was about freedom inside of our messes. Grace without limitations. And the beauty of being loved and chosen when we don't deserve it.

It's easy to condemn.
It's brave to extend grace.

It's easy to shame.

It's brave to listen with an intent to understand.

I don't know how we've gotten so far from the message...regardless, I've resettled there.

Through all of this life's valleys and mountaintops, this is now my definition of a brave and holy friendship:

1. They are not afraid to sit with me in my pain, grief or failure until I find my way out.
2. They do not try to fix or correct me - they trust God to do that.
3. They protect/cover the areas I am vulnerable in.
4. They guard my story.
5. They are vulnerable with me, and I am safe to be vulnerable with them without fear of judgment or shame.

When you are hurting, this is the kind of friend you want and need.

And ... when you extend this kind of friendship to others, you are crafting something sacred; people may just feel a little bit like they encountered Jesus after being with you.

I've received some compliments in my day ... but the greatest compliment I ever received (and I'll never forget it) was when I was told "I can tell you've been with Jesus."

Can they tell you've been with Jesus? When you say you love someone ... what does it really mean?