Remember to Look Up!

Have you ever looked at something right in front you, then refocused your eyes on something in the far distance? I think it a wondrous thing how our eyes can work like a magnifying glass then suddenly transition to a hubble-like telescope with a mere thought!

I am a detail girl who often feels at home in minutia. The problem with working in details for a long period, however, is that sometimes you forget to look up.

Today I read about the moment God reminds Abram of a promise given years before. God speaks a covenant blessing, but Abram’s response is tainted by the minutia of the moment.

I giggled with nervous laughter as I read it because it’s almost a little snarky😬 He honors God by addressing Him as “O sovereign Lord,” but then asks:

“What good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son?”

When you look at the details however, his question kinda makes sense:

• Scriptures clearly tell us that his wife’s womb was barren

• God promised Abram would be a father of nations at the ripe age of 75

• Now Abram is in his 80s & has yet to see the fulfillment of the promise 

If this were a movie, I could see the moment right after Abram asks the question.

He & the Lord are inside his tent.

The silence is deafening & the tension is palpable.

The viewers squirm uncomfortably in their seats as they wonder if the wrath of God just might fall.

But suddenly, God does the most amazing thing…He puts His arm around Abram’s shoulder & takes him outside. It is there, underneath the starry array above, that the Lord says this:

“Look up…& count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”

Abram was focused on the details & needed a gentle reminder to look up to the sky filled with stars that his God put in place!

God knew he couldn’t count the stars, but it was a reminder for Abram (& us!) that there are details FAR beyond our comprehension or imagination when it comes to our Creator God!

I don’t know what you’re facing, but know we serve a God whose promises always prove true.

Father, when circumstances incite unbelief, put Your arms around us & remind us to look up! May we fix our gaze on The only One capable of fixing the things we face!

#OneYearBible

January 6th One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 13:5-15:21

💡MATTHEW 5:27-48

💡PSALM 6:1-10

💡PROVERBS 1:29-33

Be Wary of the Temptation to Stop Short & Settle

I find it interesting that this year, 2022, has 3 twos in it. The number 2 represents union, division & verification of facts. It makes me wonder if there is any sort of significance? Like, what would these 3 things multiplied by 3 look like for the year ahead?

At first glance, it feels kinda opposite that both division & union are in the same definition, but not when you consider this:

Division must happen before union can be complete. In order to cleave, one must leave.

As I read about the journey of Terah, Abraham’s father, the definition of 2 came to mind.

Genesis 11 tells how Terah takes his family & “moves AWAY from Ur of the Chaldeans.” The land probably reminded him of the death of his 1st son,  Haran, but it was also rife with polytheism.

The very next sentence, however, tells us that they didn’t make their intended destination, but rather stopped short & settled in Haran. It makes one wonder if the grief was too great, so he stopped short & settled in a place he names Haran?

Sometimes when the Lord sets a journey before us, it requires leaving something behind so we might cleave to what’s ahead.  The danger in the journey, however, is the temptation to settle along the way.

As we stand at the brink of a new year, we all have individual journeys ahead.

Where is the Lord leading? Like Abram, He may not give the end destination, but He will give marching orders for today that might require a leaving of self, to cleave to what He intends.

Or maybe it’s a leaving of:

• a habit to create a new one

• a circumstance to embrace a new one

Whatever it may be, union with God’s Way 1st requires division.

If we stand with our Lord 360 days from now & look back on our year, will we bear witness together to the facts that we left whatever was holding us back to cling to Him & His Way?

Father, thank you for the reminder that cleaving requires leaving. Show us what we’re clinging to that may be holding us back from the good You intend.

Every time we see 2022, may we be reminded that Your Way requires division so that we might have union with You. May our lives verify the facts that we didn’t settle along the way for something less than what You intend!

#OneYearBible

January 5th One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 11:1-13:4

💡MATTHEW 5:1-26

💡PSALM 5:1-12

💡PROVERBS 1:24-28

When God Tells You to Abandon The Ark

It was 1 year ago that the Lord began to speak very clearly about something I didn’t want to hear. My husband & I, along with a few others, spent the last 12ish years helping create a new model in education -  a hybrid academy whose primary aim was to develop servant leaders who would shape culture rather than being shaped by it.

Even as I write the intertwined vision & mission, I’m reminded of the amazing things God created through a group of educated folks with no degree in education 😂

This morning as I read about Noah & how the ark rested on top of Mt. Ararat, I had an immediate thought:

The ark rested, but Noah could not.

The very thing he spent a good 75 years building served its purpose & soon the Lord would tell him to essentially abandon the ark.

I’m not sure how Noah felt, but it caused empathy memories rise like wisps in my heart.

When the Lord began to give evidence that my time at the school was coming to a close, I resisted for a good 3 months.😬

I kept asking the Lord for 1 more sign that I was really hearing Him tell me that my end date was near.

By the end of January, I had 40 facts gathered - yep, same number of days it rained 😂 It took 40 confirmations through Scripture, conversations, songs & circumstances for me to finally be convinced that the Lord was instructing me, like Noah, to abandon the very thing I helped build…blood, sweat & tears were shed over the years as we built something that seemingly lacked a blueprint.

Sometimes, God calls us to do something inexplicable like He did Noah. We might be coasting along in a boat we built only to have it rest so that we might not.

Starting over is hard. It’s even harder when you leave behind something you helped create. And yet? Following the Father is worth abandoning any ark we helped build!

I’m grateful for His gentle wooing away for I now sit in a new place that would’ve been unfathomable had you told me then 😉

Father, help us follow your wooing ways. Sometimes they seem scary, like we’re starting from scratch, but we trust You. Your blueprints for our lives always build something beautiful! May we abandon any ark that’s holding us back from the much that is beyond its walls!

#OneYearBible

January 4th One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 8:1-10:32

💡MATTHEW 4:12-25

💡PSALM 4:1-8

💡PROVERBS 1:20-23